South-by-Southwest 2015 came and went in a flurry of events, panels, Ubers, meet-ups and charging stations. Our Austin office was at the forefront of this controlled chaos, hosting several of our clients during Interactive. We kicked things off with Opening Night party sponsor Opera Mediaworks at the Moody Theatre and listened to local favorite Spoon. 
A welcome oasis from the busy streets on Saturday and Sunday, The CMO Clubhouse welcomed CMOs from all over the country to an intimate lounge hosted on the picturesque 24th floor of the Bank of America Tower. The space was generously offered by the team at OneSpot, who we enjoyed catching up with alongside G/O Digital Saturday at the salon-style sessions on content marketing at The Contently House on Austin’s east side.
We ended the weekend co-sponsoring Interactive Advertising Bureau’s #IABacon Brunch at a downtown favorite, Annie’s Café, with our friends at SmartBrief and eMarketer. The morning was filled with delicious food, meaningful conversation, unbeatable networking and some very clever bacon bracelets. 
Representatives from companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pandora were in attendance as well as familiar faces from SheKnows, Dstillery, and G/O Digital.
Sunday also included a guest speaking session from our very own Lana McGilvray.
Not to be overshadowed by the weekend, Monday was filled with meaningful insights and engagement at the Dancing on the Ceiling: Women Leading and Mentoring in panel at GDS&M. The panel featured Dstillery’s Chief Data Scientist, Claudia Perlich,
GSD&M President Marianne Malina, Sanders/Wingo President/CEO Leslie Wingo, OMD Midwest President Trish Chuipek, IBM ‘Health Insights’ VP Marketing Gina Sandon and BeeSweet Lemonade’s D’Andra Ulmer (CMO) and Mikaila Ulmer (Founder).
Throughout the session, we heard recurring themes from our panelists that women should take ownership of their success, and it’s important for those who have worked their way into leadership positions to do more to create opportunities for others. And while statements from all the panelists resonated deeply, it was unique to hear from Mikaila Ulmer, the 10-year-old founder of BeeSweet Lemonade. Particularly, her take on “dancing on the ceiling,” as she had never heard of the glass ceiling before. Her success speaks for itself and we’re not the only ones noticing. Daymond Johnson of ABC’s Shark Tank agreed to a partnership with her on the show’s March 20th episode and we can’t wait to see what’s next for Mikaila.
Closing things down on Monday evening, the team enjoyed Popeye’s Chicken at GSD&M’s annual party that featured an array of musicians including surprise guest and Austin native, Gary Clark Jr.
While we tidy RSVP lists, draft thank you notes to old friends and introductions to new, we raise our glasses to another successful SXSW. We look forward to seeing y’all again next year!
