Silicon Prairie News

Austin Articles
3149_b15ccfd6f6_small November 8, 2011 by Jeff Slobotski

Austin Yes, it is hard to believe, but we are a few short months away from South by Southwest Interactive 2012, to be held March 9-13 in Austin, Texas. For a second year, I was asked to serve on the advisory board for the SXSW Accelerator, taking place March 12-14. A live audience and a panel of expert judges will review the latest startups in social media … read more

2533_f9aafbffda_small July 11, 2011 by Danny Schreiber

Austin As you stand in the back of one of the room at Austin Convention Center at South by Southwest do you ever wonder: "Why are they speaking at SXSW?" More often then not, the … read more

2093_ce4c8dc67f_small April 13, 2011 by Brittany Mascio

Austin From March 11-15, more than 19,000 individuals from around the world gathered in Austin, Texas for South by Southwest Interactive. Recently, SXSW released podcasts of this year's panel presentations, three of which featured panelists from the Prairie. For those of you who missed out on SXSW or those of you who want to relive the… read more

1981_cabcecf735_small March 25, 2011 by Danny Schreiber

Austin Leading up to South by Southwest Interactive, we interviewed Bob Weinschenk, an Austin resident and the CEO of Des Moines-based SmartyPig, about joining the company in 2009 and his current role in the startup. Inevitably, the topic of working for a Silicon Prairie-based startup versus working for a startup in the Valley became a point of discussion because he has experience with both. "Having lived in… read more

1961_6d547e8d7f_small March 23, 2011 by Danny Schreiber

Austin (Photo by Janae Weinbrenner of Imijfoto) Leading up to South by Southwest Interactive I wrote a post about five startups from the Silicon Prairie that I thought had a chance to break out at the five-day conference – "Five Silicon Prairie startups that could break out at SXSW." With this post, I wasn't predicting any of the startups to have "the breakout app" of SXSW 2011, but I was suggesting each… read more

1963_cf787030a4_small March 22, 2011 by Geoff Wood

Austin We're just about recovered from the amazing experience that is South by Southwest Interactive. Once again, one the highlights of our team – and many of the 600 or so other festival goers who participated – was the Silicon Prairie Party presented by Hollrback on Sunday, March 13. This year's party was put thanks to the support of 20 startups and other companies that play a vital role… read more

1926_c691e2a74c_small March 22, 2011 by Danny Schreiber

Austin For the second year in a row, SmartyPig CEO Bob Weinschenk participated in South by Southwest Interactive panel that brought a lively discussion on stage and a packed house in the seats. Last year's topic, "Banking 2.0: Financial Services Driven by People & Emerging Technologies," had the panelists focus on what each of their companies… read more

1950_36f50c1ad9_small March 21, 2011 by Danny Schreiber

Austin As I prepared for the trip down to Austin, Texas for South by Southwest Interactive earlier this month, I kept a close eye on the Silicon Prairie attendee Twitter stream to see what folks from the region were up to in Austin. The expected tweets about panels and parties raised my anticipation as usual, but a tweet from Nick Seguin of Kansas City… read more

1935_b7cb20398f_small March 14, 2011 by Danny Schreiber

Austin When preparing for this year's Silicon Prairie Party Presented by Hollrback, we knew three things had to come into play for success: a cool venue with an open bar, ridiculous freebies on the table and a packed house of awesome South by Southwest Interactive attendees. For number one, we went with a proven venue and staff – the same as our party last year – and choose Lanai Rooftop Lounge. For number two… read more

1932_ffd13c153f_small March 13, 2011 by Danny Schreiber

Austin If you're in Austin, I hope you'll be joining us for our Silicon Prairie Party Presented by Hollrback in just a few hours. If you can't make it, check back tomorrow for pictures of the event, which will be posted towards the latter part of the day. In the meantime, below are some of the photos I've snapped so far in around South by Southwest Interactive in Austin. read more