SXSW
Where cutting-edge ideas in software and hardware cross paths with innovators, investors, and executives from just about everywhere.
Teaming up with Kauffman Foundation, SXSW was the perfect backdrop to turn up the heat.
In 2015, UP Global wanted to make a big splash at SXSW to be able to attract new startups and entrepreneurs to our community and programs.
We decided to partner with the Kauffman Foundation, one of our legacy partners at UP Global and we worked together on building the entrepreneur destination at SXSW: Startup Oasis, powered by UP Global and Kauffman Foundation @ Old School Bar & Grill.
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation that works with communities in education and entrepreneurship to increase opportunities that allow all people to learn, to take risks, and to own their success.
If you start me up, I'll never stop.
Produced by UP Global and the Kauffman Foundation, we designed Startup Oasis to bring a safe haven escape for startups in the midst of the craze of the festival. By partnering with a variety of industry leaders, we wanted Startup Oasis to have the best programming (and parties) for startups.
However, it was also important to me to give back to our community, so all of our content was free of charge and we also offered up one of our party slots to the community. Most startups can’t afford prime time party slots during the festival, so we would break it up and provide space for 10 startups on each floor, where they each would get an awesome area to showcase their products.
We received a lot of interest from brands to work with us for this event so we made sure to collaborate with them in the content and or branding requests so that visitors would always get value out of their sponsored experience.
Everything’s bigger in Texas.
SXSW is known for their parties, and we definitely had some of those! During the day, we made sure to build a comprehensive agenda that would fit different needs and interests in a diverse crowd like the one at this festival.
First, we needed to set up our base in a central place, so that no matter where you were going, you would run into us. We chose the best place to be on 6th: The Old School Bar and Grill, located at the corner of 6th and Trinity, really hard to miss. We rented the whole space and ran private breakfasts and lunches, sessions, office hours, workshops and parties on their two floors over the course of three days.
Next, the partners. Multiple, and when I say multiple, I mean dozens. We worked with teams from all over the US to craft sessions that would fit their objectives, but that would also make sense in a place like SXSW. Some of those sessions were:
Pitch Like a Unicorn: Presented by Ernst & Young
Kapor Center Diversity Lunch and Pitch Competition
The Nasdaq Meetup
Happy Hour with Google Cloud Platform Team & TechShop Office Hours
Turnstone Presents: Women in Entrepreneurship: Scaling Your Venture
General Assembly Presents: How To Get Your First 5,000 Users
Kauffman Research Presents: 4 Insights from the Fastest-Growing Companies
Office hours were scheduled in 10 minute blocks of time where anyone can sit down and talk with a mentor one-on-one. We worked with our network and our partners to bring the best mentors across a diverse range of skill sets: Entrepreneurs, Legal advice, Product Development and Business Development. Etc. We ended up bringing more than 40 experts that provided free advice to hundreds of people.
Party time. SXSW is a non-stop party, but how do you break through the noise and the multiple simultaneous parties happening every night? You think outside of the box and build an Off the Grid Party and with our partners Salesforce for Startups and General Assembly! We knew it would be risky to host a party with no phones, but we decided to move forward and tie it to the 90’s when people would go to parties and just talk. “Make connections, be present here and now” was our call to action. We checked in everybody’s phone at the door and welcomed them to the upstairs area were they got to hung out with incredible fellow entrepreneurs and innovators, listened to great music, danced and had a wonderful time. During the party our photographer walked around making sure to document the experience and later on, we provided attendees with a website were they could find the pictures from the party.
The results.
Startup Oasis became the place of innovation, connection, and celebration for startups and entrepreneurs. We spent three days packed with people attending our sessions and interacting with our partners. Personalities like Dave McClure stopped by to talk with Startups and even the Jimmy Kimmel team that was in town shooting a sketch came by while recording.
Our corporate partners were really pleased with the experience and utilized all of the recordings and assets to promote their brand and their connection to the startup community. They made great connections and were able to show ways in which all startups can look to work with corporates across different industries. For those that hosted smaller sessions, the feedback was that they had attracted their targeted audience and would be able to leverage their insights and feedback on their products and support some of them with their resources.
Brand awareness for UP Global and Kauffman was really big and we noticed a big spike in visits to our site and sign ups for newsletters and future Startup Weekend events. This was our second year hosting Startup Oasis and our numbers had doubled. The Off The Grid Party had a ripple effect, purely through word-of-mouth and our private security was very busy helping us manage the waiting crowd. When attendees left the event and their phones were returned, the skepticism had completely melted away and they let us know what an incredible experience it was. People still talk about that party today.
