Last summer I had the opportunity of speaking at the SXSW V2V in Vegas for startups. It was a intimate conference with a “medium size” turnout of seasoned and new tech entrepreneurs. I was excited to find out I was selected to speak at the “super size” SXSW in Austin during March. I kind of waited to the last minute to find a hotel room but was lucky to find an AirBNB room a week before I was to fly out. Now I won’t get into the experience of staying with a young women in Austin (experiences when you are out of options) but I was 1 mile from the Convention Center and thankfully was only there to sleep and shower.

My first experience at SXSW was a calm one, I made sure to not plan too much because I was only there for a short time with two scheduled speaking engagements. I registered for a couple of sessions that focused on the companies I was building and everything else was up in the air. The weather was a little bipolar switching from cold to hot but the vibe of people attending was awesome!!

The first event I attended was the VIP experience for the speakers sponsored by Austin Way Magazine, fun event with food and mimosas. And I received the best gift (duffel) bag I ever received at a event…with gifts including jewelry, a fossil smart watch, makeup, and more. (Video below)

Then the first speaking engagement of the weekend was meeting with aspiring business owners to give them advice on the good, bad and the ugly side of entrepreneurship.

I enjoyed the scenery in Austin, went to a few sessions and made friends with some lovely ladies.

My last speaking engagement before I left SXSW was “The Consumer Story is All in the Data” panel sponsored and moderated by IBM.