SXSW

The Quedlinberg Treasure was stolen during WWII. When it was discovered, it was not in the hands of Europeans, but of an American citizen.

Over 11 days in March, Austin, Texas, will welcome 85,000 people, host 5,000 speakers, showcase over 150 bands, offer 1,500 educational and networking sessions, and screen over 200 films (not counting music videos) more than 450 times. And, Mr.Robot will be there.

“The secret to great service brands, like Starbucks, Nordstrom and Nespresso, is that they inspire the customer experience through their teams,” said SGEi president Shane Green. It’s mindset and behaviors. These create a reputation. In today’s social media-focused environment your reputation is your brand. How you do things is how people will see you in the marketplace.”

“Grow fast or die slow,” was the quote from growth mentor Samir Patel (@meetsamir) that Vincent Dignan used to set the tone for his presentation, “Growth Hacking Live: Boost Your Startup in Realtime.” Dignan spoke to a room overflowing with startup entrepreneurs at SXSW V2V, a four-day (July 19-22) educational …

Two entrepreneurs at a four-day educational event for startups demonstrated hardware and software solutions that aim to help living-on-their-own seniors stay safe and healthy.

“On October 20, 2000, they pulled the plug,” explained motivational speaker John Bates. “We had lost $80 million and when you do that, they come in, usually with security guards, lock you out and you have nothing. I was so embarrassed, so crushed, I thought I was going to die,” he explained. But, Bates survived the bursting of the internet bubble and today, as founder/CEO of ExecutiveSpeakingSuccess.com, he teaches executives all over the world how to pitch to obtain funding and achieve other objectives. And, he's good with a light saber.

Despite the high cost of attending SXSW, I think it’s more than worth it. For networkers, it’s a no-brainer for the level of access it provides to many industry movers and shakers. For music fans, the ease of meeting many speakers and potentially seeing many artists and bands up close is quite extraordinary.

'I'm not really a full-tilt blues guy or a full-tilt folk guy or a full-tilt country guy or a full-tilt rock guy, I've been influenced by all those forms of music and I enjoy 'em all. So it's a good place for a songwriter to be, where you just don't have to think about the future of the song. I just write.'

Film fans and writers we can learn something from other people’s mistakes, for example, the SXSW screenings of 'The Diabolical' and 'Roar.'

SXSW consists of over 3000 events, including 150 movies. I didn't quite make it to all of them.