SXSW, good place to be

The Partnership journeyed to South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, to promote Lincoln as a place to live, work, play and stay. Over the course of nine days, SXSW becomes its own multicultural, multinational city drawing thousands from around the world to the downtown blocks surrounding the Austin Convention Center. Originally a film and music festival, SXSW's interactive conference makes it a must-attend hub of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology. Curtis Klein and Rachel Hohlen, the Partnership's talent team, represented Lincoln at the Job Market expo, which was attended this year by an official estimate of more than 12,000 people.

The Partnership was drawn to SXSW because the Job Market typically attracts highly-skilled job seekers with an interest in relocation. That proved to be true, with many candidates offering 5+ years of experience in UX/IX design, business development, software engineering and other skilled positions. In between the casual passer-by chants of "GBR!" many attendees said they heard the buzz about the Silicon Prairie, and praised us on our launch of a 360 video tour of Lincoln right from the convention center floor. During the whirlwind 14 hours on the Job Market floor, Curtis and Rachel secured 116 digital leads from official SXSW badge-bearers. The Job Market is also open to the public. Public attendees submitted upwards of 200 resumes, with more coming each day. These leads and resumes have been distributed to our Talent Forum.

The talent team also distributed 1,000 cards to job seekers directing them to our relocation and talent website, livelovelincoln.org. 

A social media campaign helped to identify former Nebraska residents now living and working in the Austin area and invited them to come by to learn how Lincoln has grown and changed. Our goal, of course, is to have them return to Lincoln to continue their careers and raise their families. Several stopped by and let us know they'd received our invitation, wanting to hear more about the latest in Lincoln.

Also held during SXSW, was a day-long showcase of Nebraska music, talent and culture called Nebraska Exposed. Nebraska Exposed offered an opportunity to continue the conversations started at the Job Market alongside the artist culture, exposing our message to even more people. The Partnership plans to sponsor and collaborate closely with Nebraska Exposed again next year.