uShip World Headquarters is located two blocks away from the Austin Convention Center. Some days we look out the window and see groups of educators, boat dealers, or people from various conferences taking place at the Convention Center strolling around the Austin streets. But no week is more packed with people than the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Music, Film, and Interactive conference when hundreds of thousands of people flock to Austin for the conference and/or the parties and events scheduled around it.
As members of the Austin tech community, and with our great location, we were always around for SXSW. We noticed that the Interactive portion of the conference at the beginning of the SXSW week was made up of parties where the price of admission was email list sign ups and downloads, and partygoers were getting pitched in exchange for free drinks. When we decided we were going to open up our house for a party during SXSW, we wanted to make a conscious effort to not bully people into using uShip. We thought that was just good manners becoming of a host.
When we thought about who we should invite, we wanted to invite other movers and shakers in the tech industry as well as partners who helped support our business throughout the years.
Music used to not be so common as part of the tech parties we attended. When our unofficial SXSW party was being thought about, we knew we wanted to bring in at least one local act and other national acts that were in town.
When we threw the first party in 2011, we decided to lovingly label ourselves and our guests as “Nerds” since it was technology that brought us all together. With the bands that we booked, we decided to make a statement and name the party “Nerds Rock,” with the double entendre of Nerds rocking out to music but also as a rallying cry for our community.
We’ve stayed true to our party’s roots. We’ve kept the event invite-only, and we still aren’t pitching uShip as the price of admission. We’ve enjoyed having people over to our house party and showing people a good time. We’re also very excited to do it again this year.
This year our party is on the evening of March 12, 2016. We’re keeping the lineup secret this year and promise it’ll be a blast. We’re giving away spots on the guestlist on the Nerds Rock Facebook Page everyday at 11am CST starting Wednesday, March 2 until Friday, March 11.
We couldn’t have made this an annual tradition without the Nerds, cooperation from the City of Austin (who has proclaimed an official Nerds Rock Day a few times), and sponsors. This year’s party will have refreshments flowing from Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Austin Beerworks, and Buffalo Trace Bourbon. We definitely wouldn’t be able to make it that good of a time without our other sponsors: ThreatMetrix, Silicon Valley Bank, Boomset, and McKinley Rother DiMarco Insurance Services.
We’re looking forward to another great party. Party on, Nerds!
