Josh Coleman of AgLocal wrote this post about his experience Monday at South By Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas. For more about Coleman and SXSnippets, see the note following this post.
8:45 a.m. – It’s day four for the AgLocal team, and we’re already droppin ya’lls and agreeing that Austin is in fact awesomely weird (and uh yes, the locals would like to keep it that way). We’re up early to grab some provisions for a bbq we’re hosting at our Airbnb house. Local rancher Windfall Ranch, is providing natural beef for a cook-out tomorrow, so we need to load up on salsa, guacamole, hot sauce and Solo cups.
10:45 a.m. – Team pow wow at the Driskill Hotel, an Austin landmark that’s rumored to be haunted, over hangover-eggs and lots of coffee. We’re rehashing the TED at SXSW event where we ended the previous night and can’t stop talking about the woman’s hot pink 3-D printed shoes and can’t stop singing Kat Edmonson’s “Lucky”. We’re pitching at the SXSW Accelerator today, so we’re rehearsing the pitch and running through the schedule.
Thanks to our sponsor
(Right: Members of the AgLocal contingent in Austin (from left) Laura Lightbody, Naithan Jones, Josh Coleman and Jacob McDaniel made time for some photo booth fun.)
11:00 a.m. – We have to run (there seems to be a lot of that going on here) quickly to go meet Scott Case, of Startup America to do an interview with Jeff Slobotski. Quick shout out to the Startup America Partnership team – they helped us out tremendously over the past few days connecting us with the right people. Oh, and did I mention we won the Startup pitch contest Friday night based on loudest audience cheers?
2:30 p.m. – Just got to the green room for the Accelerator pitch. Oh hey MC Hammer chillin in the room with us. Of course our founder, Naithan Jones, has a two-degrees-of-separation-moment with him, then we move on to chatting up the judges and scoping out the competition. Mark Hindsbo, VP, Developer and Platform Evangelism of Microsoft is sitting at our table as a judge …no pressure.
3:30 p.m. – It’s game time. Naithan kills his pitch making sure to close the two minutes with “…and that’s power to the meat lover.” After hearing other companies present, we dip outside for some interviews and make a very positive connection with a Texas broker, whose father just happens to be a rancher!
6:00 p.m. – After finding out who the winner of the Accelerator competition was – better luck to us next time – it’s time for some libations so we find the nearest bar and for the first time today, have a chance to breathe. Morgan Spurlock of “Super Size Me” just walked by, how’d we miss that camera opp?!
8:00 p.m. – We are in the need for some serious food. This festival is great, but there’s a noticeable shortage of meals, plenty of snacks, but not the major food groups. We head to Iron Cactus with some Facebook and Leap2 friends, and pick up some Kansans on the way. There went lots of chips n salsa, fajitas and margaritas.
12:30 a.m. – I’ve got my white shoes on and I’m joined on the dance floor by the entire AgLocal team. What a way to end a night. It’s been a whirlwind, and it ain’t over yet, but we’ve come to realize there’s only one way to sum up one’s experience at SXSW by quoting Jay-Z, “dat cray”!
4:15 a.m. – Late night food was a bad choice and our feet hurt. We’re headed to bed to do it all over again tomorrow.
Credits: Photo of AgLocal team courtesy of AgLocal. Photo of Coleman from linkedin.com.
About the author: Josh Coleman is the director of sales and marketing for Overland Park, Kan.-based AgLocal, a marketplace that connects independent farmers and producers to local businesses and consumers.
About SXSnippets: SXSnippets are posts from residents of the Silicon Prairie chronicling 24 hours of their experience at South By Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas.
