You have to give us credit, we were thinking big.

The adventure began with one obvious snafu with this year's SXSW: weather

The start of the festival was marred by cool (ok, cold) temps and rain. With a good portion of the activities outside in parks and parking lots, this threw a wrench into the plans of many.  Not unlike the cold temps in October that invaded BREW 2011, it was obvious that the sunny, warmer weather would have produced a much happier, active and engaging crowd. Driving rain can certainly curtail your desire to "stop and chat" on the street corners.

Given it's unpredictability, weather is one very fickle partner when it comes to celebrations of this nature. The sun did emerge by Sunday, and the warmth arrived Monday, which helped to turn the spirits of the attendees around.

Next observation: approachability

Austin, Texas is a very friendly city. On every street corner was a business owner, SXSW volunteer or SXSW veteran ready to lend a hand, answer a question or point you in the right direction. The key to a successful visit was to approach people and to be approachable. If you overheard an interesting conversation and wanted to join in, it was okay to do so! Lean over and introduce yourself. Sit down next to strangers and ask, "First time here?"

Even with a large percentage of the people with their heads down following GPS maps on their phones or tweeting their latest experience, the overall atmosphere was welcoming and congenial. As one "local" put it, "Try putting tens of thousands of people in any other large city and fights would be breaking out everywhere. Here, if someone bumps into you they tend to stop, ask if you are okay and genuinely apologize for the mishap."  He may be onto something about southern hospitality.

After the sun decided to shine, and the people began to mingle EVERYWHERE, came the actual celebration. 

SXSW, like BREW, is a series of events spread out throughout the downtown area over several days.  SXSW shuttle buses cart people around the city from location to location depending on what they want to participate in or attend. If you were adventurous, and had comfortable shoes, Austin was a pretty walk-able city, which was nice.

Unlike BREW, which is open to anyone and any topic related to entrepreneurship, events are selected by the SXSW committee and a master schedule is printed both on and offline. Panels, keynotes and sessions touch on subjects from non-profit to education, social media to mainstream media, to film and music and technology.  Access is granted by wearing a SXSW badge the entire time – in fact I think I slept in mine just to be sure I had it on me!  There are volunteers in red SXSW t-shirts at every hotel, convention or conference center and outside on the sidewalks. Where they were NOT was at private parties which seemed to be pretty exclusive this year – if you didn't have an invite or show up with someone who was associated with the host then you were out of luck. Except for MassChallenge at the BingLot! They let everyone in – bravo!

One of my favorite sessions included only 8 people in an intimate "meetup" discussion around location based applications.  Another favorite was a panel of advisors (including Gary Vanyerchuck and Tim Ferriss) who were getting real with entrepreneurs and start ups about finding and wooing advisors for their companies. It was very entertaining.

My biggest frustration was that so many sessions I wanted to attend overlapped  with each other that I often had to make the tough decision of picking one and hoping it was what all I wanted it to be. If your second choice wasn't held in the same location as your first, it was tough to get from place to place in time.

Can we do a Boston NXNE?  First off, there already is a NXNE held in June in Toronto. It's a film and music festival mimicking SXSW.  So the question becomes, can we get BREW to the size and popularity of SXSW?  We'd certainly have to move it to a warmer month to accommodate outside events, performances and gatherings but overall I think we are up for the task.  Question really is, are you ready to join us in making it happen?

Mark your calendars – BREW 2012 will be held October 15 – 26! Look forward to seeing you at the celebrations in October.

~Christine Sierra

Why do business in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts is leading the Innovation Revolution, as simple as that.  Across the state technologists, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals are a work creating the next wave of new products and services. Governor Deval Patrick is dedicated to maintaining Massachusetts’ status as a world leader in technology and is devoted to hosting and growing the industries of tomorrow. 

What is International BREW’s Focus?

This year, BREW is concentrating on creating partnerships with our foreign counterparts and creating an environment to help international entrepreneurs and business leaders put down roots in Massachusetts.  BREW welcomes entrepreneurs and business people in all fields and is hosting a VIP breakfast for our international travelers to connect them to resources here in the Commonwealth and to each other.  The breakfast will be held on Friday, October 28, 2011 from 7:00 AM to 8:30 AM (ET).

BREW will offer a range of events that will be valuable to our international guests.  The International BREW Breakfast will feature Secretary Bialecki, representatives from the Patrick Administration, state technology leaders, and industry leaders such as Colin Angle, Co-Founder and CEO of iRobot, and Andy Ory, President and CEO of Acme Packet.  Join the Mass Technology Leadership Council for its annual “unConference” featuring four generations of Massachusetts entrepreneurs.  Or, attend the Mass Technology Development Corporation for their breakfast seminar on funding for first-time entrepreneurs.  We’ll continue to add events, so check the website to learn more. 

Where can I learn more?

To sign up for the VIP International BREW Breakfast, please visit: http://brewboston.eventbrite.com/

Be sure to check out our Resources page if you don’t have a place to host your event – some of our partners have graciously offered up space during BREW.

This isn’t just a celebration for Boston and Cambridge – we want Worcester, Woburn, Waltham, Andover, Hanover, Brookline and Beverly to get involved. Let’s show the true diversity of entrenpreneurship throughout all of Massachusetts! Reach out to colleagues in your community and organize an event that celebrates the hardwork and commitment of starting and running a business.

Get something BREWing…and share it with us!

The unique feature about Boston Region Entrepreneurship Weeks is that it was designed to celebrate you – the entrepreneur – and all of the hard work, commitment and resourcefulness it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.  Every event listed on the BREW calendar will focus on some element of entrepreneurship such as formulating your business; finding some place to call “home” for your company; raising money to further your business goals; legal advice; finding and connecting with other entrepreneurs who can share their stories and advice; and rediscovering why the Boston area is a great place to start and build a company!

From October 12 – 19 we want you to get out of town. If you are located North, South, East or West of Boston we encourage you to think about what you can share with fellow entrepreneurs and host an event of your own!  Pull together a networking event or a panel discussion with your favorite “suburban” entrepreneurs. Hold a product launch and demo and tell the story of how you finally got to that point!  Host a mini-class on writing a business plan, applying for a patent, drawing up a contract or creating a web site. 

Starting October 20 – 28 the goal is to get back downtown! There will be exciting events happening in Boston and Cambridge to celebrate all that the downtown area has to offer businesses. The combination of companies in high tech, clean energy, non-profit, creative, defense and life sciences contribute to the wealth of resources in Boston and Cambridge.  Boston and Cambridge also offer a unique and world class talent pool with universities like MIT, Harvard, Northeastern, BU and others educating and preparing the next generation of entrepreneurs and business owners. 

Join the BREW Community and we’ll keep you posted when event registration is ready, as well as inform you of great contests and giveaways for attendees.  The community will allow you to interact and stay connected with others long after the last BREW event ends for 2011.

As always, we welcome your participation, partnerships and ideas!  We don’t create the BREW events – you do! Be creative and we look forward to seeing you out and about in October.