Mayor Kenney to Attend SXSW 2017
Scene from the Philly booth at SXSW 2016. Photo courtesy of PSL.
A few weeks ago, Mayor Kenney told us about his commitment to the tech community in a commentary piece here on Biz Philly. Now he’s just announced that he’ll make his way to Austin, Texas, in 2017 for South by Southwest.
This will be the first time that any Philadelphia mayor has participated in the popular annual conference that brings together some of the world’s top creatives and innovators in technology, business, and music.
“I am excited to join the conversation this year at South by Southwest in order to share Philadelphia’s story on the national stage,” Kenney said in a statement. He will travel to Austin as part of a United States Conference of Mayors delegation that will allow him meet with some of the country’s most influential leaders in media, entrepreneurship, and technology. And maybe we’ll catch him at some of the Philly-hosted concerts and meetups that’ll be planned.
As we reported in September, Amplify Philly, the SXSW organizing body led by Philly Startup Leaders and sponsored by StartupPHL, is already pushing to get as many Philadelphians involved with the conference as possible.
As part of the effort, Amplify Philly has put a call out for Philly startups to take part in the conference trade show and receive a grant to cover 50 percent of costs. Seven startups have been awarded the grant so far:
- ROAR
- Social Ladder
- Practice
- Startis ESM
- SafeStamp
- Oncora
- Boost Linguistics
There’s room for three more startups. If you’re interested in receiving a grant to showcase your startup at the SXSW trade show, contact PSL program director Yuval Yarden at yuval@phillystartupleader.org.
And it’s also not too late to join Mayor Kenney and the Philadelphia SXSW ticket on a discounted conference rate. Find more information here.
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