As the popular South by Southwest (SXSW) music, arts and technology festival kicks off Friday in Austin, Texas, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson will be there to pitch Milwaukee as an innovative city for businesses and individuals to invest in or as a place to relocate.
Johnson is among a contingent of at least 20 Milwaukee leaders in business, technology, startups and economic development who are heading to the SXSW festival through a partnership with Summerfest Tech. Attending SXSW is a chance to promote Milwaukee on a national and international stage, Johnson said.
"I don't want Milwaukee to be in some other city's shadow," Johnson said. "Milwaukee's got its own story to tell and I think it's a pretty phenomenal story. ... That's what this is about — telling Milwaukee's story."
Johnson will have six minutes to pitch Milwaukee's innovation ecosystem to an audience of investors, executives and startups at an event in Austin on March 10. Tech hubs in St. Louis; Alberta, Canada; Berlin, Germany; and other international cities and regions will also be pitching.
The mayor said he would highlight Milwaukee's diversity, businesses, office market, affordability, parks and food scene, among other qualities that could attract residents and businesses.
"I've talked about being bold and ambitious and wanting to draw more people here ... and create more vibrancy in Milwaukee," Johnson said. "We have not historically beat our chests and talked about how great of a community we are. ... We need to stand up and talk about how great this community is."
Leaders from Summerfest, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) and a few Milwaukee venture capital firms will attend Johnson's presentation, according to the Summerfest operator Milwaukee World Festival Inc.
Summerfest Tech, the annual technology-focused conference within Milwaukee's Summerfest music festival, is a sponsor of the Midwest House venue at SXSW for the first time this year. Corporate Summerfest sponsors including Generac, Molson Coors Beverage Co. and Wipfli will also have a presence at SXSW.
Summerfest will host a Midwest House Launch Party on March 10 in Austin, with Mayor Johnson and Milwaukee World Festival president Sarah Smith Pancheri scheduled to give a welcome address.
On March 11, Hartland-based startup Wearable Technologies will present as a finalist in the international SXSW Pitch competition and Milwaukee startup Food FiXR will pitch alongside other Midwest startups in the final round of the Midwest House Madness Pitch Competition.
The process of organizing Milwaukee's SXSW presence was a unique opportunity for groups including Summerfest Tech, the MMAC and the mayor's office to align around the goal of growing Milwaukee's tech and startup ecosystem, MMAC executive vice president Julie Granger said.
"Understanding the mission of what we all collectively hope to accomplish here has brought us all together in a really unique and aligned way," Granger said. "It's been, I think, a testament to how well in Milwaukee we can work together and coalesce around a goal like this."
Summerfest Tech started in 2018 and had a 75% increase in registrants in 2022, according to Milwaukee World Festival. It will return for its sixth year with a three-day event running June 27 through June 29 at the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee.
As Summerfest Tech looks to grow in the coming years alongside Milwaukee's burgeoning tech scene, the Summerfest organization can learn from SXSW but intends to work with the larger Milwaukee technology community as it expands, Summerfest's Pancheri said.
"We're very excited to chart our own path with our partners and really make this uniquely Milwaukee," Pancheri said. "The sky's the limit in terms of where we take it."
