Working for the tech startup Cloud9 IDE in Silicon Valley, and having aspirations for someday starting my own company, there is one event in the year I absolutely couldn’t miss: South by South West. Also known as SXSW.
However, I almost missed it! Realizing too late that I needed to organize my trip, I ended up cancelling. By the time I was ready to book, hotels were full and conference passes over a 1000 dollars. So as I always do with Buring Man I said: Next year.
Then the unexpected opportunity presented itself to hop into a thirty year old campervan of a girlfriend of mine. At 8 in the evening I decided to leave with her that night, to drive from SF, through the desert, along the border of Mexico, and into Texas to visit the SXSW. At the event we would park at the festival to sponsor a startup event called caravan.
I would not have conference passes, but I was convinced I could talk my way into the meetups (they are all that matter anyway).
50 hours, 3 flat tires and uncountable gas stations later we actually arrived at the location. My friend and me set up a dj booth, a dome and a hottub at the location that were sponsored by her startup called MeCruit. We were ready to rock. But the weather thought differently. It rained for 3 days straight, something our campervan from 1982 didn’t like. My clothing got soaked and my sleepingbag was mouchy, but fortunately I was able to dry this on day 4 when the sun came out.
The festival itself was very intense. SXSW is exactly that what rumors tell it to be:
It’s the Spring break for geeks, the boozcamp for startups and the network puddle for Silicon Valley. It’s a full time program, day and night. It’s the Serendipity of walking into the right person at the exact right time. It is barbecue, lunch meetings, open bars (which is the factor that closes most deals) films and music events.
Austin magically transforms into Babylon, with entrepreneurs from all over the world trying to sell their newest ideas.
I had an amazing time, I hooked up with a company called Sponsorfied, they were arranging sponsorship for local events so I got into the meetups without a problem. Not only did I get to taste the Interactive section of the event, I also got a fair share of film and music. I got the amazing opportunity to get invited to Starlet, who’s producers we met in the street. Serendipity. And we ended up with VIP tickets for the Warner Music event that started on my last day there. I closed my week with dancing on Flux Pavilion, which happened to be my favorite dj of the moment. So with 6 days of continuous networking, and 5 nights of continuous party I ended up flying home with a smile on my face.
the dome at Caravan Startup Bus camp
