Heading to back to SXSW this year, I went armed with an official badge, a Google Sheet event tracker, a playlist (obviously)— and my wing woman (and sister) Holland Saltsman of The Novel Neighbor. For those of you who've been following along, Holland, among many other things, is the person who makes movies, books and generally everything significantly more fun when she’s around. 

The start of a new year always brings a mix of energy and pressure.

Many of us are sitting down right now to think about our marketing, communications, and content plans for 2026 — what to start, what to keep, what to change, and maybe even what to finally let go of. And if we're being honest, that planning process can feel even heavier than it used to.

There are more tools. More platforms. More advice. And now, more AI — promising speed, efficiency, and scale, while adding another layer of decisions and noise.