--- title: President Obama Talks Civic Engagement at SXSW description: The president is participating in a discussion about civic engagement in the 21st century canonical: https://time.com/4255626/president-obama-will-talk-civic-engagement-at-sxsw/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-11T16:37:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:50:08.870Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Talks Civic Engagement at SXSW og:description: The president is participating in a discussion about civic engagement in the 21st century og:url: https://time.com/4255626/president-obama-will-talk-civic-engagement-at-sxsw/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1bc681686a1a2a4c/69888aa8bc6cfc0e713dc1c6/barack-obama-boarding-air-force-one-sxsw-texas.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Barack Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Talks Civic Engagement at SXSW twitter:description: The president is participating in a discussion about civic engagement in the 21st century twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1bc681686a1a2a4c/69888aa8bc6cfc0e713dc1c6/barack-obama-boarding-air-force-one-sxsw-texas.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Talks Civic Engagement at SXSW by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 11, 2016 4:37 PM UTC  President Barack Obama boards Air Force One before his departure on March 11, 2016, from Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Obama is traveling to Austin, Texas to speak at South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) and attend 2 Democratic National Committee fundraisers. President Barack Obama boards Air Force One before his departure on March 11, 2016, from Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Obama is traveling to Austin, Texas to speak at South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) and attend 2 Democratic National Committee fundraisers.Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 11, 2016 4:37 PM UTC President Obama traveled to Austin, Texas on Friday to participate in the annual South by Southwest Interactive festival. The president will sit down with the Editor-in-Chief of the Texas _Tribune_, Evan Smith, for a [discussion about using technology](http://schedule.sxsw.com/2016/events/event%5FPP93149?%5Fga=1.101677761.197044165.1457636643) to get more Americans interested in participating in the political process and tackling issues like climate change. The [South by Southwest](http://www.sxsw.com/about) festival is an annual gathering of innovators in music, film, and technology; this is the event’s 30th year. In the background of this years’ festival is the implementation of a new Texas open-carry law. Though the festival is private and has a policy that bans weapons from its facilities, a local gun group has plans to gather outside of the complex to [demonstrate that open-carry laws shouldn’t be a cause of concern](http://time.com/4254443/open-carry-group-sxsw/). 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