THE DREAM IN ACTION

So I just spent the wildest 4 day weekend down in Austin, TX for South by South West (SXSW), affectionately known as ‘South by’. The first 5 days of the conference are dedicated to ‘interactive’ which brings out all of the ce’web’rities. Only two weeks into running UberCab and this biz trip takes me to one of the best parties in the country, with some of the most influential folks on the web. Being around so many people who understand what works and what doesn’t on the web is an incredible opportunity and I was ready to just soak it up.

Driskill Hotel

When we arrived in Austin on the first night we cruised over to the Driskill Hotel on 6th Ave. It became obvious that the apps that are games back home are tools in Austin. Foursquare & Plancast became invaluable in finding out who was where, and what not to miss. By the end of the night at the Driskill there were 370 people checked in and I earned the “Super Swarm” badge. I met the guys behind Next Big Sound, bumped (literally) into Scoble, and was so pumped to finally meet Tristan (<– 4SQ biz dev bad ass) who I’d worked with for 3 months all over gchat/skype/email.

I was giddy at the Driskill because as most Midwest web entrepreneurs know, there is a small number of big things going on in this area of the country. So, to see and meet all the people that I’ve looked up to and learned from over the past 2 or 3 years was very exciting for me. At the end of the night we ended up at a room party jamming on industry news and ideas. Overall, amazing start to ‘south by’. I knew that this was going to be an awesome time.

Pitch Mode

If I didn’t mention it, I did SXSW in full budget startup style. I didn’t buy the $500 badge for the conference events, and I didn’t even book a hotel room. In fact, I actually packed a sleeping bag and it’s a damn good thing that I did. I used it   and was saved by some plush couch cushions (thanks Frank Gruber!).

So because of the fact that I didn’t have a conference badge, on Saturday I set off on my own. I was in full pitch mode. My goal was to tell as many people as I could about UberCab, get feedback, and practice my ‘pitch’. You’d be surprised how much better the pitch got after babbling over and over. I’m normally pretty out going and it doesn’t take much to get me comfortable but going into true pitch mode to randoms challenges anyone. It was awesome and the feedback I got was incredible. It’s fun to hear people excited about what you’re working. In the end, it was a very motivating and successful day.

More tomorrow

This post is getting way to long but I’m only half way through the weekend. Cruise back over here tomorrow and I’ll tell you about Gary V’s hotel room & more details about sleeping on the floor budget entrepreneur style!

If you went to SXSW this year, what was your favorite party, panel, pitch, startup, salt lick, bbq, beer, babe?, or band? What was your favorite whatever?