Semi-Permanent Self Indulgence?

Traffic’s Creative Director, Samantha Moore, attends Semi-Permanent in Sydney.

Is it just me, or are industry events becoming a forum for so called industry guru speakers to self indulge rather than inspire and educate? Why should I pay for the privilege of watching people plug themselves and their companies? They should be paying us to attend and listen.

I recently attended Semi-Permanent in Sydney – a gathering of industry greats who talk about everything from design to advertising to music videos and apps. Admittedly I only had time to see a few speakers, but I would hope the other speakers were much more inspiring and less self indulgent.

I honestly don’t want to hear about someone’s personal obsession with changing hair colour to match clothes or their love of pizza, complete with pictures, unless it’s RELEVANT. Sure, the speakers are obviously very talented individuals, but I don’t need to see their selfies, holiday snaps or videos of their dogs. Forgive my Gen X attitude, but I go to these events to learn and be inspired. Plus I’m incredibly time poor, so please don’t waste it.

When I visited Semi-Permanent two years ago, I came away in awe. I’ll never forget the Indian CD who talked of the campaign he created for a national newspaper which changed his country. Now that’s something I want to hear about – people who are making a difference with their work.

There were some highlights. The water feature that made words out of water, the stunning ‘life is beautiful’ sculpture, and the documentary that highlighted that we take industrial design for granted – ‘Every object tells a story if you know how to read it’, Henry Ford. They were all unique and told a story in a new way that made me think.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been disappointed by a speakers conference in the past 12 months. Many of the speakers at the Cannes Advertising Festival were equally self indulgent. It’s all becoming too self congratulatory, self indulgent, and self obsessed. Complete with selfies.