Texas Startup News, Opinion & Events in the Lone StartUP State
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SXSW is Officially Cancelled
Due to an abundance of caution over fears of a health disaster from the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, Austin Mayor Steve Adler effectively canceled SXSW by declaring a local disaster. (Official City Press Release & SXSW Statement). The city also banned planned gatherings of more than 2500 people, effectively shutting down many music venues and 'unofficial' events that are an integral part of the SXSW experience. This is an unprecedented move that will have deep short -term and long-term repercussions for the hundreds of thousands of festival attendees and sponsors, local vendors, and SXSW itself. Tens of thousands of startups, independent filmmakers, and emerging bands are all negatively impacted, and countless local vendors, service workers, and venues will see devastating economic losses. As Lani Rosales of American Genius writes, There are No Winners.
SXSW was one of the latest large global gatherings to be canceled due to the virus outbreak fears and the decision was made after days of hand-wringing over fears of accelerating the spread of the disease versus dropping an economic bomb on the City of Austin. Canceling SXSW was ultimately the right moral choice, and looking back it was all but inevitable as public sentiment had turned against holding the conference. While I agree that it was the 'right' choice, I can't overstate how much it will hurt the pocketbooks of so many people who depend on SXSW to showcase their brands or in the cases of local bartenders, event planners, hotel workers, rideshare drivers, cleanup crews, and others, to even out their annual bottom lines. Restaurant and bar closures, bankruptcies, and delayed rent payments are just a few of the consequences we'll see in the coming months. A website called I Lost My Gig was set up to help those that lost jobs and revenue due to the cancelation.
Once major sponsors started pulling out, and other comparable conferences were canceled I subscribed to the theory that SXSW was waiting to be shut down by government officials in order to trigger 'Force Majeure' clauses in their event insurance policies. It was revealed by SXSW founders that they did not have coronavirus coverage (why would they?), so the theory that the delay in announcing the closure was purely a legal issue was wrong. SXSW has indicated that it would possibly take the conference 'virtual' or postpone it, but that eliminates the magic of 'SX-dipity' - the feeling of connectedness through unplanned experiences throughout the week of SXSW activities.
Capital Factory, a major official hub for SXSW canceled the massive Startup Crawl and other programs, taking significant losses but took a very strong leadership role in hosting Mayer Adler at a Hack the Coronavirus event on Friday to help Austin figure out the best path forward hours before the cancelation press conference. I personally spoke with Capital Factory leader Joshua Baer on Thursday morning before the decision was made and the consistently upbeat startup champion was visibly upset, indicating to me that he took this situation personally.
If there is any silver lining to this horrible turn of events, is that several Austin startup leaders have banded together to try to salvage some of the local events for the people who will be in town regardless of the SXSW news. A Facebook group called Rally Austin to collect information and promote events that will continue as planned, with a few new community initiatives in the works. The site should be up shortly, rallyaustin.com when it's up and we are working to also have rallyaustin.logictry.com populated soon to help you plan for the events that you may want to attend.
SXSW News Coverage
- Stand with Austin – Join Us in Support of Local Businesses - Link
- SXSW Blog - SXSW Cancellation Brings Dire Predictions About Austin Economic Impact - Link
- Deadline’s Bruce Haring - What It Would Mean to Cancel SXSW - Link
- Texas Monthly’s Dan Solomon - 'Not Worth The Risk': Startups, VCs Backing Out Of SXSW Due To Coronavirus Concerns - Link
- Crunchbase News’ Mary Ann Azevedo - SXSW Capital Factory House canceled - Link
- Why We’re Doing a Fundraiser Instead of a Booth at SXSW - Link
- Hack Coronavirus with Austin Tech - Link
- Austin Startups - Austin cancels SXSW amid COVID-19 concerns - Link
- Austin Monitor - Austin Officials Cancel SXSW - Link
- Silicon Hills News' Laura Lorek - Coronavirus Concerns Lead to Cancellation of Austin’s SXSW - Link
- Rivard Report - Austin's SXSW Festival Canceled Over Coronavirus Fears - Link
- AWP Co-Director Diane Zinna Resigns Over San Antonio Conference Coronavirus Controversy - Link
- San Antonio Current - SXSW Has Been Canceled as Austin Braces for Coronavirus - Link
- Austin Startup Crawl Postponed as Coronavirus Disruption Continues - Link
- SXSW 2020 Cancellations and Additions - Link
- Austin Startups Launch Coronavirus Hackathon as Twitter, Facebook and Intel Bail on SXSW - Link
- Austin Inno - Mayor Adler cancels SXSW amid coronavirus concerns, declares local state of disaster - Link
- University of Texas - Good experiences with a staffing firm and recruiters – what are *those* like? - Link
- Freelance is the Future? I call bull malarky - Link
- Dementia support: Two apps bring science and hope together to help - Link
- Facebook messenger gets a major facelift for speed - Link
- Lesser known remote job boards for tech folks - Link
- Is your company’s sick policy making things worse? #COVID-19 - Link
- What happens when you pay every employee $70K? - Link
- Tech brands we love, hate, and are starting to hate [survey] - Link
- Toyota is one step closer to self-driving taxis - Link
- Walmart+ is hoping to step on Amazon Prime’s toes - Link
- Does Google’s $10B investment actually help the little guys? - Link
- CEO at Softbank lands in hot water with multiple serious accusations - Link
- How your business should prepare for the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) right now - Link
- Seniors get a cheaper Apple watch for participating in a health study - Link
- American Genius - SXSW 2020 Is Canceled Due to Coronavirus Concerns - Link
- BuiltinAustin - With SXSW canceled, what will happen to other big Austin events? - Link
- SXSW is canceled because of coronavirus - Link
- As tech giants pull out of SXSW, Austin businesses deal with the fallout - Link
- Coronavirus upends Austin companies' planned pilgrimage to Natural Products Expo West - Link
- Spread of coronavirus sparks concern about SXSW, global economic slowdown - Link
- Austin Business Journal - SXSW pledges future credit if you bought a badge this year - Link
- SXSW canceled: What’s next for artists and venues - Link
- Startups grapple with SXSW missed opportunities - Link
- Loss of SXSW a gut punch for some Austin businesses - Link
- SXSW canceled: Here’s how to help artists, service industry workers - Link
- SXSW is canceled: What’s happening with other Austin-area events? - Link
- Austin cancels SXSW, but some attendees are already here - Link
- Austin businesses regret loss of SXSW dollars but many support decision to cancel - Link
- SXSW canceled over coronavirus fears - Link
- SXSW has few good options amid coronavirus threat - Link
- Austin-based Capital Factory cancels SXSW programming - Link
- Apple, Netflix join ranks of those pulling out of SXSW - Link
- IBM to skip on SXSW after issuing travel restrictions due to coronavirus - Link
- As virus concerns swirl, Austin-based Indeed tells employees to work from home - Link
- From Facebook to Intel, companies are pulling out of SXSW over virus concerns - Link
- Facebook pulling out of SXSW - Link
- Twitter CEO Dorsey cancels SXSW plans as virus fears grow - Link
- Austin American-Statesman - Houston innovation hub, others cancel SXSW plans over coronavirus concerns - Link
- The Houston Business Journal - Austin mayor cancels SXSW festival over coronavirus concerns - Link
- Austin officials cancel South by Southwest festival - Link
- The Ion, Capital Factory pull out of SXSW over coronavirus concerns - Link
- SXSW is the perfect place to spread coronavirus. Cancel it. - Link
- The Houston Chronicle’s Dwight Silverman
OpenCoffee Club: Tech Founders & Investors
Austin Open Coffee Club
Monday, March 16, 2020 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM (CDT)
Google Building
500 W 2nd St 14th Floor Austin, TX 78701
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/austin-open-coffee-club-7943587583
Sponsored by Common Desk, Egan Nelson, Hack Notice, Silicon Hills Lawyer, and CBRE (Venue Partner)
Austin Tech Happy Hour
Austin Tech Happy Hour
Thursday March 12th, 5:30pm - 7:30pm
The Dogwood on West 6th
715 W 6th St, Austin, TX 78701
https://athh-mar-2020.eventbrite.com
- Lone Star Bright: Texas Boasts A Saga Of Success - Link
- Austin Under 40 Awards Set To Honor 2020 Finalists - Link
- Tribeza’s Trichelle Lee - The Guide to Austin's Startup Ecosystem in 2020: 450+ Resources for Entrepreneurs - Link
- Founder’s Institute Austin - Austin's iconic SXSW festival was just canceled for the first time in its 34-year history over coronavirus concerns. Here's what it's like in the growing tech hub of 'Silicon Hills.' - Link
- Business Insider’s Katie Canales - This Start-Up Will Find You a Life-Long Group of Friends — And Plan All of Your Hangouts Together. - Link
- Austin Startups - Vida Capital Announces Senior Management Changes - Link
- How to Attract Candidates from Outside Your Industry - Link
- Distinguished Search’s Somer Hackley - OpsCompass Closes $6.78 Million in Series A Funding, Investment Led by Elsewhere Partners - Link
- A Fellow's Reflection: 2019 Fellowship Dinner with Eugene Sepulveda, Steven Tomlinson, & Josh Jones Dilworth - Link
- Notley’s Sasha Parsons - Digital meter reading coming to Austin Water - Link
- City adds funding and transparency to program helping endangered creative spaces - Link
- Planning nonprofit suggests stitching Austin back together over I-35 - Link
- Austin Monitor - Game On: Welcome to Austin Inno’s 2020 Tech Madness Bracket - Link
- The Top Austin Tech and Startup Hires and Departures of February 2020 - Link
- Olea Edge Analytics Raises $9M | Austin's Startup Games Name Change - Link
- Austin Inno's Brett Wistrom - Subscribe Here - SXSW has been cancelled – here’s how it went down - Link
- A different case for canceling SXSW in Austin - Link
- How COVID-19 is forcing Austin tech companies to adjust to remote work, personal travel - Link
- American Genius - Zoho Cancels Zoholics in Austin Amid Concerns About the Coronavirus - Link
- Silicon Hills News' Laura Lorek - UT cancels Explore UT over coronavirus concerns - Link
Wall Street Journal names Austin ‘hottest US job market’ for the second year - Link - UT Farm Stand hosts Pick Local, Chews Local event at Jester Garden - Link
- Longhorn Gaming celebrates 10 years, brings esports community together - Link
- Texas Brain Exercise Initiative launches volunteer program to combat Alzheimer’s - Link
- Austin jewelry making business promotes sustainability, feminine power - Link
- BlackBerry operations director discusses cybersecurity, data breaches - Link
- UT can connect students to local community - Link
- CBD boutique MaryJae aims to break taboo around cannabis - Link
- Hack for Resilient Communities tackles climate change in Austin communities - Link
- UT-Austin students, alumnus work to create biodegradable pads for women in Guinea - Link
- University of Texas - Get to Know 9 Tech Companies Hiring in Austin - Link
- Indeed Tells Employees to Work From Home Amid Coronavirus Fears - Link
- Wargaming Is Using Video Games to Support Veterans' Mental Health - Link
- These 5 Austin Tech Companies Raised $92M in February - Link
- Weekly Refresh: Compeat's New CEO, Startup Games Rebrand, and More - Link
- BuiltinAustin - Austin in 2040: What would a dream city look like to you? - Link
- Austin in 2040: How will we live? Much closer together, for starters - Link
- Journal Profile: Bryan Kranik, the soccer-loving CEO of BuildASign.com - Link
- Byte by byte: How data is making commercial real estate more transparent - Link
- AMD, HPE win $600M contract to build world's fastest supercomputer for US nuclear tests - Link
- 80 young Austin professionals to know - Link
- Cronin's Office Hours: 13 small companies that could have big impacts in Austin - Link
- Catering platform Hungry raises $20M, adds Kevin Hart and former Whole Foods co-CEO as investors - Link
- Closing shops freed up time for Austin entrepreneur to focus on pet tech - Link
- Tech giant Indeed tells all employees to work from home because of coronavirus - Link
- M&A wrap: Shari Wynne Ressler's firm absorbed; QuestionPro opens wallet - Link
- Economic development organization south of Austin picks new leader - Link
- American City Business Journals launches BizLeads - Link
- Former Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb now relishes shining spotlight on entrepreneurs - Link
- 37 towers in the works for downtown Austin - Link
- Former Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb now relishes shining spotlight on entrepreneurs - Link
- Coronavirus upends Austin companies' planned pilgrimage to Natural Products Expo West - Link
- Why commercial real estate is such a big part of the Texas economy - Link
- Veteran CEO named head of restaurant software maker Compeat - Link
- Spread of coronavirus sparks concern about SXSW, global economic slowdown - Link
- In the money March 1: Wide range of startups report $47M in deals, from alcohol to social media influencers - Link
- Austin Business Journal - Austin digital fundraising startup Flourish buys rival - Link
- Texas named top state for economic development - Link
- Fast-growing cidery Austin Eastciders lands $5.7M - Link
- AMD to partner on world's fastest supercomputer - Link
- Capital Factory, Austin drone company to partner on tech hub - Link
