SXSW

Join the BizSpark team and many of our super cool startups at SXSW!

Microsoft BizSpark invites you to join us for a “Meatup” for Startups, a meetup event with a decidedly Texas twist. Join the party for BBQ and great conversations with other entrepreneurs on Monday, March 15 from 5:30 – 7:30pm at the Beauty Bar (617 E. 7th St.). Space is limited, and RSVP is required. If you’d like to request an invite, please email your name and company description to msftebt@microsoft.com.

Get Loopt on your phone to receive a sweet treat at the Meatup. Go to www.loopt.com on your mobile phone to download it now.

Start workin’ on your picture-captioning skills for the Cheezburger Network caption contest at the Meatup.

Join us at other Microsoft activities:

Silverlight Interactive Lounge Space: Located on the 4^th floor at the top of the escalator, in front of the tradeshow floor

Microsoft Bing: Behind the Scenes of The Decision Engine: One of the most anticipated, high-profile product re-branding and re-launch efforts of this past year, Microsoft's Bing didn't just gain mind- and search-share, it earned it through unique positioning and a holistic social media marketing strategy. An informative, entertaining look into how the right advertising and social media marketing efforts made.

Extending your brand? There’s an app for that: For many, brand extension into the digital realm means a Web site, a banner add, a viral campaign. But applications can extend conversations and perceptions of a brand, as well as add to discussions and ideas in compelling new ways. How can applications help your brand and idea be more authentic?

Opening Remarks: Privacy and Publicity: The SXSW Interactive Festival is very excited that danah boyd will serve as the Opening Speaker for the 2010 event. One of the world's foremost authorities on social networks, boyd works at Microsoft Research New England and also serves as a Fellow at the Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

Browser Wars III: The Platform Wins: We're doing somuch with the Web platform these days, from cross-domain access mechanisms to new drawing and graphics tools. But in the end, we still have to deal with different web browsers. This discussion brings the leads from Mozilla (Firefox), Chris Wilson from Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google (Chrome) and Opera (Opera) together for yet another incendiary discussion about the future of the web.

Wounded Warriors: Microsoft and SXSW will host Wounded Warriors and their guests from the Warrior Family Support Center at Brooke Army Medical Center

Blogger Lounge: Will include Xbox, Windows Mobile 6.5/7 device bar, and a podcast/ blogcast area

Windows Phone-branded Taco Trucks: Available at a variety of locations at the conference

Check out cool BizSpark startups at SXSW!

Piryx

Email Microsoft BizSpark team members, Brian Hoskins, Christopher Griffin, Midori Lawler & Sharon Koshy to connect with them at the conference.

Join us for the following activities:

Bizspark startup Cheezburger Network speaks at How to Rawk SXSW Interactive, March 12th, 2PM

Tweet-up with Windows Azure: Cheezburger Network CEO, Ben Huh will provide a how-to session on using Windows Azure for sites they anticipate will receive a lot of traffic. Saturday, March 13^th, 4-6 pm, Windows Phone Blogger Lounge

TWiST LIVE at Six Lounge sponsored by Loopt, Bing and Sonos

Saturday, March 13, 2010 | 4:00pm - 7:00pm

117 West 4th Street Austin, TX 78701

Join us as TWiST does a special episode with a LIVE audience at SXSW. Special guest interview with Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh.

Piryxtopia 2010 – A fundraiser for Haiti

This event is focused on raising money for the charity, “We Hear Your Voice,” which was started after the tragic earthquake that left Haiti in shambles. We Hear Your Voice began as a mission to unite a mother with her 3 Haitian children, but has grown into an effort to assist all children devastated by the disaster.
Saturday, March 13th (9PM – 1AM), Speakeasy, 412D Congress Ave, Austin, TX

Website: http://314.piryx.com/

The SXSW TECH Cocktail presented by TECH Cocktail & sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark, will showcase over 30 startups, including BizSpark companies OneRiot, Piryx, RedCritter & Wild Pockets, in a casual expo-style mixer. Sunday, March 14^th. 8:00 PM – 10:30 PM. Palm Door, 401 Sabine St, Austin, TX 78701

Late Night with Cheezburger, sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark: Late-night party that will feature margaritas, beer, and of course—cheeseburgers, and karaoke

Sunday, March 14^th, 10:00 pm – 2:00 am, Cedar Door, 201 Brazos Street, Austin, TX 78701

http://sxswcheezburger.eventbrite.com/

BizSpark startup WildPockets talks at Anyone Can Create a Video Game session, March 15th, 9AM

BizSpark startup OneRiot talks about Social Search, March 15th, 11AM

BizSpark startup Loopt talks about The Life Graph - You Are Your Location, March 15th, 2PM

Microsoft SXSW Official Party: Innovation Expo featuring Silverlight, Win 7, Surface, Zune, Xbox, Monday March 15^th, 8PM -12AM

At the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator at SXSW, 20 startups, including Microsoft BizSpark companies Metaio, Wildfire Interactive, NutshellMail, Amulet Devices, & Notice Technologies, will be selected from a pool of over 200 companies in the online video, audio, social networking and web apps spaces to make pitches to a panel of judges. March 15-16, 2010. Hilton Austin Downtown, 500 East 4^th Street, Austin, TX 78701

The Yam-up (tweet-up) will be a quick overview about BizSpark startup, Yammer, and will focus on how they’ve created a new communications platform that improves the way co-workers and business partners collaborate. Yammer will be raffling off 2 flip video camcorders at the event.

Tuesday, March 16^th, 4 – 6PM, Windows Phone Blogger Lounge

Microsoft BizSpark startup OneRiot is teaming up with Taptu, a mobile search engine, and BizSpark startup Loopt, a location-based social-mapping service, to run a scavenger hunt with giant inflatable dinosaurs using mobile phones, geo-tagging and status updates.