On Sunday, March 13th, we ascended down to Austin to take our series to SXSW with some new brands, familiar faces and a good pair of cowboy boots. Held at the Amala Foundation, we took over the space and rebranded it as the Bar Works Pop-Up for the day, a new community of coworking spaces currently based in NYC and branching out to other cities. It was the perfect spot to create the ultimate retreat for high end influencers, media, and digital technorati to find a bit of zen among the craziness in downtown, Austin. Our friends at AlleyWatch played host as our resident media sponsor to profile our panel discussion on, “How Socially Conscious Brands Build Customer Appeal and Profits.” AlleyWatch CEO and Founder, Reza Chowdhury moderated the panelists that included Jonna Piira, Co-Founder of Kali, Marisa de Belloy, Chief Operating Officer of Cool Effect, Kat Kinkead, Community Manager of Shapeways and Tahiyira Cordner, Head of Operations for Bar Works NYC. Panelists shared the importance how being a sustainable and responsible brands has become not just good for society, but also essential for your business success. Gaining the trust of your customers and or members is a core principal with thinking beyond the businesses and supply chains to how you can actually be adding value or creating some form of shared value, rather thinking just can I reduce the cardboard packaging which is very logical. Upon conclusion of the showcase, guests were treated to a showcase of the brands we curated for the SXSW Experience.
With sunny skies after a week of rain, we couldn’t of asked for a better day to sip specialty cocktails courtesy of Michter’s Whiskey and Crop Vodka (we’ll share recipes below) while attendees were educated on the mission of Cool Effect during a unique photo booth activation. Cool Effect was founded on the passionate belief that individual support of projects will create a cumulative effect that will reduce and prevent carbon pollution. Like the Butterfly Effect, The Ripple Effect, and others, a single action can have global impact. The organization’s mission is to ignite planet sized change. You may have seen their hybrid cars around the SXSW festival, which also were provided to some of our guests in attendance.
Speaking of social good, we were happy to bring back one of our brands from NYFW, Kali, and highlight their partnership with GirlUp. A portion of sales from each subscription will benefit, “uniting girls to change the world.” We should be talking about tampons as it’s a heated discussion at the moment, considering the FDA doesn’t properly monitor tampons. Kali was able to educate us on the importance of using 100% certified organic tampons and at $25 for a monthly subscription box that include Kali wipes and Rosewater facial toner, we couldn’t think of a better way to ensure the safety of our womanly health.
Shapeways, is a “marketplace for markers” for those fascinated with the 3D Printed world. With over 50 materials to choose from including metal, porcelain, and aluminum, Shapeways truly educated us that anything can be made with a 3D Printer and Shapeways was the platform to find it, purchase it or sell it. On hand at the event, this gem of a dress made by Nervous System.
Continuing on, we had on display, our TechStyle NYC Top SXSW Picks. In no particular order, these are the products that made the cut to our suitcases (always a big fan of packing lightly): VanDerWaals Flora Shoulder Bag, to the 3D Printed Sunglasses from ic! Berlin and our favorite, RestoPresto which makes the perfect traveling companion piece.
Bar Works NYC was in full display to offer guests complimentary week passes to their new locations, because as entrepreneurs, we can all use a cool place to work from. Up Next? The Bar Works Times Square Grand Opening on April 20th. Want an invite? Make sure to leave your contact info in the comments and we’ll be sure to get an invite out to you.
It was so great to be part of SXSW this year and look forward to continuing the momentum of our event series with our Summer Event at the end of June. Stay tuned for more details on how your brand can get involved.