SAN MARCOS, TEXAS – Former Texas Tech graduate, Dax
Patton, recently accepted a new position at legendary Austin conference and festival, SXSW.
Patton spoke to students with various majors on Thursday, Oct.27, on how to
navigate in the professional world once you graduate from college. The biggest
point that Patton emphasized to the students was that you need to constantly
network. In fact, he accredited all of his success to his ability to constantly
network himself combined with the fact that he has worked hard at every single
task he has been presented with.
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| Dax Patton networking with students after his talk. |
He began his talk by giving the students a quick timeline of
his professional life and how his career has progressed from one point to the
next. Graduating in 2008 in the middle of a recession, Patton said that it was
hard to get a job, especially in advertising. He began work at a large agency,
something he recommends for recent graduates. Patton told students to “take
educated risks and think critically about the future,” and that’s exactly what
he did. By March 2010, Patton had launched Digital Touch Systems, Inc., a
company that builds large, durable touch screens that can be installed in
anything from a kiosk to a conference table.
Patton got to get back to his passion of marketing and sales
with Digital Touch Systems, but recently left for a new position at SXSW. In a
position that was created for him, Patton deals with group registration for the
festival. Being in his dream job and having accomplished so much in such a
short amount of time, Patton has a lot of advice to offer to college students.
Patton applauded students for taking the first step and
building a strong foundation through receiving a higher education. He then
urged students to get involved in professional organizations as an easy way to
become the “serial networker” that he now is. After answering many questions
that students had, specifically ones about internships at SXSW, Patton left the
group with one final piece of advice in order to jumpstart their professional
lives: “Read and watch as much as you can. Pay attention. Watch the news. Go
vote.”
Hayli Moore is a senior digital media innovation major at Texas State University.
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