HBCUs @ SxSW 2019

Each year at the beginning of March, a conference called South By Southwest (SxSW) takes over the city of Austin, Texas.
SxSW, at any given time, is a business professional conference, a concert with some of the biggest names in the music industry performing, and a gathering of some of the biggest technology and media giants in the world, all under one roof for two weeks.
The conference, however, also offers an exclusive venue for HBCU and minority students to be able to attend and network with any of the companies in attendance. The purpose of HBCU at SxSW is simple: diversify the conference and the technology industry as a whole.
It was with this goal in mind that pushed the President and Liaison for Opportunity Hub on Southern University’s campus, Arnita Dove, to gather sponsorships and financial support to take as many interested and academically high-performing students with her to this year’s conference.
“…It costs $3,000 per student to attend… [we sent] out emails from the university to our different alumni chapters to see if there was any way that we can get our students there,” Dove said.
Towards this end, Southern University was able to send ten students in total to SxSW this year. Several of the students were able to take advantage of this opportunity to market themselves to big name companies and were even able to secure themselves interviews.
Junior Computer Science major from New Orleans, Louisiana, Julian Alvarez, was fortunate enough to receive an interview with Indeed.
“It’s about the students securing the bag. That’s the theme of the trip when you get to Austin, whether the bag comes from placing in a competition or from an internship, just go get it,” Alvarez asserted.
Along with networking, the students also participated in a team case-study competition where they were isolated in a location and had twenty-four hours to come up with a technical product for a business solution that included a workable marketing campaign with specific strategies along with everything that comes with launching a product. The competition culminated with a formal pitch to a table of judges who would then critique the overall product and process.
Junior Computer Science major, Tylan Bolden, from Franklin, Louisiana remarked about how the competition taught him several valuable skills, “I learned pertinent team building skills, the outlines of how to create a business and marketing plan, and the sheer importance of task delegation and time management.”
Opportunity Hub has made HBCU at SxSW possible. Founded by Rodney Sampson, Opportunity Hub is a vehicle for minorities to not just gain access to events such as SxSW, but also gain important skills in entrepreneurship and investing along with providing a platform to network with black and brown people in a variety of different industries.
Director of Alumni Affairs and Executive Director of Southern University Alumni Federation, Derrick Warren, fully supports Opportunity Hub and wants it to become a big part of Southern University.
He says, “My hope candidly is that Opportunity Hub will be a breeding ground for S.T.E.M majors all over the campus. My vision for it, would be for any student who is serious about success and about becoming better prepared for their careers would consider Opportunity Hub.”
For anyone interested in applying to Opportunity Hub or attending HBCU at SxSW, go to https://opportunityhub.typeform.com/to/eUPrge and fill out the form. It is completely free and it’ll connect you with a slew of additional resources to gain mentorships, internships, jobs, and knowledge, as well as potentially providing an opportunity to attend HBCU at SxSW.