How Nashville is now coming together to create the next great innovation conference- SXSE (South by Southeast)?
What makes Nashville such a vibrant place for innovation and entrepreneurship can be summed up in one word: camaraderie. Perhaps it’s purely our southern charm, or maybe it’s the fact that our city’s initial growth was built on the aligned entrepreneurial spirt of individuals chasing that neon dream of musical successes. One thing is clear. The camaraderie in this city is unmatched.
I personally felt this when I came to Nashville three years ago to launch the Wond’ry. With only six months of preparation to open Vanderbilt University’s new innovation center in the heart of campus and being brand new to our new city, I felt a level of trepidation that there was not enough time to create something of such magnitude. Fortunately, those fears were quickly assuaged when I found how open and inviting our city was to me. With 400 interviews of key stakeholders in those early months, I clearly saw how warm, inviting and excited our city was for this new endeavor.
In turn, it ultimately allowed us to have a grand opening where over 1,500 people attended. Now, two years later with over 40,000 aspiring innovators, entrepreneurs and change-makers having come through our doors, it is clear that our city is rich in collaboration and support.
This feeling of camaraderie has been further affirmed for me in the context of athletics, and notably the recent success of the Nashville Predators. Just think back to our historic Stanley Cup run two years ago and then our playoff successes earlier this year, and you will remember how downtown Nashville was packed with blue and gold jerseys and how Broadway was the epicenter of excitement of vibrancy. For a city that did not have a team 20 years ago, our fans and passion rival those of cities far bigger and teams far more established. It just goes to show that our citizens rally behind efforts and really work hard to support one another’s endeavors.
So with these tailwinds of support and collaboration, how can Nashville build the next South by Southwest (SXSW) – the ultimate music festival and tech conference held every March in Austin, Texas – while retaining the authenticity and uniqueness that makes our city so special? Fortunately, the groundwork is being laid as we speak and, in typical Nashville style, it has been built on the foundation of camaraderie. Essentially, we are creating the new “South by Southeast (SXSE).”
For the first time ever, three major Nashville conferences, 36:86 Entrepreneurship Festival, the premier conference for Southeastern entrepreneurs; Health:Further, a healthcare innovation showcase; and Live On The Green, a music series, are joining forces to create a week-long, combined festival Aug. 27-31. Offering discount and combined tickets and hosting these events in a single week has only further catalyzed the innovation community. Moreover, combining forces ensures these conferences maximize synergies, enable higher attendance through the consolidation of travel and budgets and, most importantly, highlight some of the things that make Nashville so unique – entrepreneurship, healthcare, and music.
This is a really strong start for Nashville and creates a foundation for this weeklong conference to become a SXSW-esque destination event. To reach this goal, there is still room for further expansion and improvement – notably, improving the overall marketing and advertising messaging cohesiveness of this event so it feels even more like a single, ongoing event. This will come in time.
Personally, I would like to see an additional focus on the arts, both increasing the activities related to music with Live on the Green and perhaps even working with the Tennessee Entertainment Commission and others to highlight what our state is doing to promote film, music and entertainment. In an ideal scenario, we would see throughout the week workshops and programs on these topics in addition to healthcare and entrepreneurship. All this will come in the future, and I am confident that the strong showing of attendees will ensure 36:86 is something that continues long into the future. What is clear, though, is that Nashville recognizes that innovation and creative culture is helping to drive its success, and our city is now a destination to launch careers and businesses.