Making Friends & Sharing Experiences at Shareable's Shindig
Connecting with new people face-to-face is a major reason people go to SXSW, but making connections that last past the obligatory business card swap can be a challenge. So when Shareable began planning its SXSW party, we looked for new ways to design a shared social experience, to bring strangers and old friends together and forge lasting relationships. This was the case at SHARE Austin!, the SXSW party we threw at East Austin watering hole Cheer Up Charlies on Monday, March 12.
Image by stealfinder on Instagram.
Sponsored by RelayRides, Loosecubes, TrustCloud, and ParkatmyHouse, with graphic design by The Public Society and gourment Texas BBQ by local organic caterer Ecstatic Cuisine, SHARE Austin! brought together members of the sharing community from around the world for good times, new connections, gourmet Texas BBQ grub, and some much-needed libations to cool down in the Texas heat.
Photo by Jamie Shea.
So how do you put a sharing spin on the SXSW party experience and encourage people to make new connections? The first of the sharing experiments was a game of People Poker. Each attendee was given a poker card and instructed to find attendees with a matching card. The experiment was scalable, as well: people who found two matches got a free cocktail at the bar, while folks who found six matches drank free for the entire night. Seven strangers found six matches a piece, and became fast friends over a few drinks.
This was followed by a Miracle Fruit taste trip, during which everyone in attendance took natural tablets which made the sour fruits handed out—lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits—taste delectably sweet.
The taste trip in action. Photo by Jamie Shea.
Music came courtesy of Austin's ace honky-tonk band Mike and the Moonpies, which inspired swing dancing in the crowd, followed by psych-pop outfit The Preservation, who provided an expansive rock sound well-suited to the balmy Texas night.
Photo of the Whiskey Shivers by @sharethemesh on Twitter
Over the course of the evening, many attendees remarked that it was like no other SXSW party they'd attended, which was the intention. A laid-back atmosphere, new experiences, and great food and music allowed over 200 attendees to forge new relationships and communities late into the night. Thanks to the sponsors, hosts, Cheer Up Charlies, and most of all, the sharing community for coming out and opening themselves up to new experiences and friends. See you next year!
Photo of The Preservation by Jamie Shea.
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Comments
Neal Gorenflo wrote on 03.15.12, 8:10am:
That was a blast, thanks to the amazing team of volunteers who put it on, our sponsors, and all the folks who came and were game to try out our sharing experiments!
Randy Scott White wrote on 03.15.12, 12:48pm:
Neal,
What were the specific sharing experiments that happened?
Neal Gorenflo wrote on 03.15.12, 1:02pm:
Randy, the taste trip and people poker we're the two sharing experiments.
Neal Gorenflo wrote on 03.15.12, 1:47pm:
ps. We'll be posting about People Poker soon. That's the most original experiment we tried. It's a currency we created that only has value if you connect with others to find a matching note.
Paul M. Davis wrote on 03.15.12, 2:14pm:
Looks like it, @Seth! ;) It was lots of fun and I met a lot of incredible people. More sharing parties!
And indeed, Milicent kicked major ass pulling it all together. Many thanks to her!
Seth Schneider wrote on 03.16.12, 3:43pm:
Want to share some photos from the SHARE Austin! event? We have a pool on Flickr that you can contribute your photos to: http://www.flickr.com/groups/shareaustin2012/ You'll need a Flickr account, which is free. Once you're logged in to Flickr, click the Join button to join the pool and then you can add your photos. Thanks for sharing!
Paul, are you becoming Shareable's new society columnist? ;-) Sounds like it was a great time and I'm sorry I couldn't make it.
A big Texas cowboy hat tip to Shareable's own Milicent Johnson (http://www.shareable.net/users/milicent-j) who planned the event from nearly 2,000 miles away. Not sure how she was able to do that.
Please share your photos! Either Paul or I will post instructions here shortly.