GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A delegation of businesspeople and musicians is making its way to the annual South by Southwest Conference (SXSW) and Festival to show off what Michigan has to offer.
"It's an environment in which all of these ideas and issues and voices are all converging and it starts to reveal what's going on in the world and what's the role Michigan is playing in it," Paul Moore, the founder of Start Garden in Grand Rapids, said of the festival in Austin, Texas.
Start Garden, an incubator for startups, will be the engine behind the Michigan House at SXSW. Its goal is to showcase cutting-edge entrepreneurs and ideas from all over the state. There will be panels about how to make Michigan a better place and outlining ways that the state is leading in different industries.
"To build relationships, you have to do something together and Michigan House gets to be our thing that we get to do together," Moore said.
At a music festival that draws some 161,000 people each year, there will of course be Michigan bands.
"Michigan House does this phenomenal job of saying, 'Hey, let's just showcase all of the wonderful things that are happening in Michigan, whether it's entrepreneurs or it's activists or it's musicians,'" said Jack Droppers, who will play at SXSW with his band the Best Intentions.
His is among 10 bands — selected from more than 300 applicants — chosen to go with Michigan House.
"It feels a little bit like we're going to the Wild West. There's hundreds of bands that are all stampeding in on this city and all trying to make a name for themselves," Droppers said.
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