Why StratIS built a city out of LEGOs at #SXSW

Catching attendees eyes at a tech conference can be tough, especially at sprawling megaconferences like South by Southwest.

For East Falls smart city software company StratIS, a low-tech gimmick like LEGO bricks was both an eye-catcher and a symbol for the collaborative nature of smart cities.

“No single solution will make a city ‘smart,” StratIS CEO Felicite Moorman told Technical.ly. “It’s going to take a collaborative, piece by piece, effort for the boots on the ground, too.”

5 hours left today in our #lego #smartcity build but how can we top these gems?! #SXSW #AmplifyPhilly pic.twitter.com/kwxOF9K521

— STRATIS (@STRATISIoT) March 14, 2017

And so, showgoers spent last week adding features to the imagined smart city: from high-speed monorails to traffic cameras. According to Moorman, the exercise resonated with “CTOs of Fortune 500 companies to SXSW attendees who just stopped to play.”

“Our booth traffic was absolutely nonstop and our message became more educational pitch than elevator pitch,” said Moorman. “It was fantastic to see the understanding crossing over the faces of everyone who stopped. I don’t know how we’re going to top this. Or if we can ever work a booth without LEGO bricks again.”

Moorman kept herself busy at SXSW, joining this Comcast panel on Philly as a tech town, attended a women in tech brunch and adding her own LEGO trinkets to the simulated smart city.