Chair of SXSW Sydney Geoff Jones: How SXSW Sydney will change in 2025

Geoff Jones and a poster

‘We believe in the SXSW brand and what was created in Austin 35 years ago, but of course we’re evolving it’

SXSW Sydney 2024 featured more than 1600 events and networking sessions across the key pillars of Tech & Innovation, Games, Music and Screen and saw more than 300,000 visitors attend over seven days and nights.

From The Kid Laroi to Ayesha Madon and Johann Hari to Melanie Perkins, the festival welcomed tech leaders, academics, creatives, journalists, cultural influencers, filmmakers, CEOs, actors, comedians and even Katherine Bennell-Pegg, the Australian astronaut.

The annual iconic event for the Asia-Pacific region also introduced National AI Month to Australia and extended free programming in Tumbalong Park across a week with 163 events that were attended by over 190,000 people.

SXSW was created in Austin Texas back in 1987 but this is only its third year in Sydney and Chair of SXSW Sydney and CEO of TEG, Geoff Jones is under no illusion that the event needs to constantly evolve.

As submissions open for 2025, Jones and his team have spent a long time looking at last year’s exit surveys and listening to feedback from 2025.

Here, he tells Mediaweek some of the key changes for SXSW Sydney 2025.

Geoff Jones standing infront of a window

Geoff Jones is the CEO of TEG and the Chair of SXSW Sydney.

 

“SXSW is just a big and really important content business for us.

We’re all believers in SXSW – I did the deal to bring it to Australia and everyone at TEG believes in it.  We believe in the SXSW brand and what was created in Austin more than 35 years ago, but of course we’re evolving it because it’s important.

We’ve had it for two years and we’ve got better. But I think in 2025 we’re going to put a more APAC slant on it without losing what it stands for.

We learned a lot from last year and from the exit surveys we’ve worked out the predominant reasons people go to SXSW – that’s networking, and education. It’s about getting ahead of the evolving world.

Canva’s Melanie Perkins with Mary Meeker at SXSW

‘We’re going to have more free programming and single pass options’

This year we’re going to introduce more flexible ways to attend.

We know our audience have time constraints, and there’s some obvious budgetary constraints in the world we live in, so we’re going to make what we used to call badges, which was your accreditation, into your pass.

We’re going to call them passes, and we’re going to make it more flexible to attend. We’re going to have more free programming and single pass options, so that people who are time poor, can be more strategic about when they attend.

We’re not trying to gouge people, so we think by making the ticketing more flexible, it makes it attainable to more people. That’s what we want it to be.

‘You need to navigate 1600 sessions on there so how do we make it easier?’

We’re going to revisit our app for 2025. You need to navigate 1600 sessions on there so how do we make it easier?

They can improve that app, and at our core TEG is a tech company, so we can do this and this year we want to make it easier for everyone.

‘Not every speaker is going to appeal to everyone as we all see things through a different lens’

We’d like to make some earlier announcements about the conference and music.

In our conference structure we have so many areas to cover off like tech, innovation, business, leadership, marketing and media, and we’ve had some great speakers and keynotes and we’re really proud of that but we’re always looking for more.

We’re really close to announcing some big names when we put our tickets on sale later this year, and we’re looking at a few that might attract mainstream media attention, so a big Hollywood name maybe.

Some of the submissions are now open and we’re looking for thought-provoking ideas and potential. I’ve been really, really impressed over the two years about the number of sessions we’ve generated and we’re going to keep nurturing that.

Dr Karen Nelson-Field, Amplified Intelligence presentation at SXSW Sydney, 2024.

Not every speaker is going to appeal to everyone as we all see things through a different lens, but that is exactly what SXSW is about, and that’s why it’s so successful.

We’re also going to build in a lot more big performance nights at the ICC. You know, that holds 8000 seats, so every night, we want something on there which ticket holders will be able to go to, as well as some of the general public.

kid laroi

The Kid Laroi

‘We want to go to another level in 2025 and have a lot of free programming’

You know, I think the area of Tumbalong Park was better in year two than year one. But I think we want to go to another level in 2025 and have a lot of free programming.

That area of Sydney is really active. It’s not that it’s new, but you feel there’s a lot to discover there so we want to really grow that and have a lot more sessions there.

Last year we had a lot of rain. We’re very conscious of the weather, and if it’s inclement we can try to keep that programming going in another environment – if we can.

SXSW Sydney day 1

Tumbalong Park at SXSW Sydney, 2023.

‘We’re going to have more professional development’

We’re going to have more professional development, so more workshops and more mentoring programs.

The main reason people told us they come to SXSW is networking, let’s give them more opportunities. Let’s give them what they want.”

More information about the program, speakers and headline names will be released in coming months.

Find out more about making a submission to SXSW Sdney 2025, here. 

Keep on top of the most important media, marketing, and agency news each day with the Mediaweek Morning Report – delivered for free every morning to your inbox.

To Top