Gen Z Professionals Meet Up

Event ID: PP1162423

Fri, Mar 13, 2026 | 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Venue: Room 408 (Hilton Austin Downtown)

View on Official SXSW

Summary

As Gen Z enters the workforce during a time of cultural, technological, and workplace change, the need for career-building spaces that reflect our realities has never been more urgent. The lines between brand, communications, and content continue to blur. Gen Z professionals are being asked to think holistically across platforms, communities, and culture, often without clear mentorship or support. This session will spotlight how we, as young professionals, can build meaningful careers and elevate the standard for inclusive, cross-disciplinary brand storytelling in the process.

Contributors

Raw Event JSON

Large nested arrays are compacted for page readability. Full payload remains in dataset files.

Open JSON payload
{
  "id": "PP1162423",
  "track": "Culture",
  "focus_area": null,
  "category": "Meet Up",
  "event_id": "PP1162423",
  "event_type": "panel",
  "format": "Meet Up",
  "genre": null,
  "subgenre": null,
  "name": "Gen Z Professionals Meet Up",
  "presented_by": null,
  "publish_at": "2025-11-03T17:48:00.000-06:00",
  "reservable": false,
  "reservable_id": null,
  "reserved": false,
  "date": "2026-03-13",
  "end_time": "2026-03-13T12:30:00.000-05:00",
  "start_time": "2026-03-13T11:30:00.000-05:00",
  "message": null,
  "image": null,
  "credentials": [
    {
      "name": "Platinum Badge",
      "type": "platinum"
    },
    {
      "name": "Innovation Badge",
      "type": "innovation"
    }
  ],
  "contributors": [
    {
      "id": 78919,
      "company": "Breaking & Entering",
      "credential_types": [
        "innovation"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2239891,
      "name": "Geno Schellenberger",
      "speaker_types": [],
      "title": "Co-Founder & CEO",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Geno Schellenberger",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/wLmoir1dKuC1ZWgup_TyZWssdEY=/0x0:400x400/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/93d62304-8e76-456d-970e-41e4aece70dd/pcid-1624351"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Geno Schellenberger is the CEO and Host of Breaking and Entering Media, a platform helping aspiring advertisers, marketing executives, and creative professionals thrive in the industry. Launched in 2020, Breaking and Entering has grown into one of the top five advertising podcasts globally, with over 150,000 listens. Named Young Advertiser of the Year by Campaign US Magazine and featured on Ad Age’s 23 Gen-Zers to Know list in 2024, Geno also lectures in the advertising department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He continues to lead Breaking and Entering Media in bridging gaps between agencies, brands, and talent.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    },
    {
      "id": 78917,
      "company": "The PR Habitat",
      "credential_types": [
        "innovation"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2239889,
      "name": "Damaryan Benton",
      "speaker_types": [],
      "title": "Founder",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Damaryan Benton",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/hZjhVX3QNN8gt3bq-xPRAXql1nc=/0x0:4158x4158/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/80640a7b-eadb-4451-942c-e7b9761e329a/pcid-1624350"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Damaryan Benton is a powerhouse in public relations and community building. As the founder of The PR Habitat, he has built a growing digital-first community that empowers Gen Z PR and communications professionals to reshape the industry. In 2025, he was named to PRWeek’s Pride in PR list as part of its first-ever Gen Z class. Damaryan’s transparency about his early career experiences has helped him foster a community of over 30,000 followers, cementing his place as one of the leading young voices advancing the future of PR.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    }
  ],
  "venue": {
    "accessible": false,
    "age_policy": null,
    "floor": "4",
    "id": "V0519",
    "indoor_outdoor": null,
    "name": "Room 408",
    "parent_id": "V0365",
    "parent_venue_name": "Hilton Austin Downtown",
    "venue_entry_info": null,
    "formats": null,
    "location": {
      "address": "500 E 4th St.",
      "lat_lon": [
        30.2651364,
        -97.7381904
      ],
      "city": "Austin",
      "postal_code": "78701",
      "state": "TX",
      "name": "Hilton Austin Downtown"
    },
    "root": {
      "accessible": null,
      "age_policy": null,
      "floor": null,
      "id": "V0365",
      "indoor_outdoor": null,
      "name": "Hilton Austin Downtown",
      "parent_id": null,
      "parent_venue_name": null,
      "venue_entry_info": null,
      "formats": null
    },
    "events": "[omitted 5 venue events]"
  },
  "description": "As Gen Z enters the workforce during a time of cultural, technological, and workplace change, the need for career-building spaces that reflect our realities has never been more urgent. The lines between brand, communications, and content continue to blur. Gen Z professionals are being asked to think holistically across platforms, communities, and culture, often without clear mentorship or support. This session will spotlight how we, as young professionals, can build meaningful careers and elevate the standard for inclusive, cross-disciplinary brand storytelling in the process.",
  "experience_level": "Beginner",
  "accessibility": [],
  "accessible_venue": false,
  "add_bcl_url": false,
  "add_slido": false,
  "age_policy": null,
  "american_sign_language": false,
  "apple_url": null,
  "audio_description": false,
  "caption_url": null,
  "closed_captioned": false,
  "cpe_credit": false,
  "has_subtitles": false,
  "hash_tags": [],
  "high_sensory_experience": false,
  "live": false,
  "long_description": "As Gen Z enters the workforce during a time of cultural, technological, and workplace change, the need for career-building spaces that reflect our realities has never been more urgent. The lines between brand, communications, and content continue to blur. Gen Z professionals are being asked to think holistically across platforms, communities, and culture, often without clear mentorship or support. This session will spotlight how we, as young professionals, can build meaningful careers and elevate the standard for inclusive, cross-disciplinary brand storytelling in the process.",
  "meeting_url": null,
  "meeting_url_live": false,
  "mentorly_url": null,
  "mobile_audio_url": null,
  "open_captioned": false,
  "playlist_tag": null,
  "rebroadcast": false,
  "recommended_ids": [],
  "search_conversions": null,
  "short_program": false,
  "slido_url": null,
  "sort": "GEN Z PROFESSIONALS MEET UP",
  "source": "Official",
  "squad_up_url": null,
  "stream_embed": null,
  "stream_id": null,
  "stream_url": null,
  "strobe_warning": false,
  "subdiscipline": null,
  "summit": null,
  "summit_display_name": null,
  "tags": [],
  "talent_attending": null,
  "title_only": false,
  "track_display_name": "Culture",
  "trailer_id": null,
  "trailer_url": null,
  "video_on_demand": null,
  "vimeo_id": null,
  "vod": false,
  "xr_project_type": null,
  "youtube_id": null,
  "related_sales_client": null
}