This blog is written by one of 15 individuals attending the South By Southwest Conference in Austin with the intention to bring back ideas and to reimagine Richland County.
Yesterday I surpassed my goal of meeting 10 random people in Austin to discuss aspects of food and entertainment that they enjoyed either here at SXSW or from their native city.
Ironically, the first person I met was a chef named Rochelle from Alaska during breakfast at the Forthright Continental Restaurant. Rochelle stated to me that “food rich in diversity will bring people from further distances to you.”
I found that very interesting because although Mansfield has great staples such as Saffron Indian Restaurant, Rocky’s Pub, and Athens Greek Restaurant, having additional centrally located could boost tourism and give Mansfield natives more options. What would be some perfect solutions? That’s easy, I thought, how about restaurants specializing in Thai, Mediterranean cuisines, and obviously brunch!
Later in the afternoon I attended a session entitled, “Creative Failures Meet Up”, which was a discussion about recovering from professional failure. This session was probably one of my favorites partly because it addressed the importance of triumph, not only through the perception of success, but through the lesson of the perception of failure.
It was in this session that I met AJ, a journalist from the Dallas Voice paper. After the session, AJ and I grabbed lunch at the Iron Works Barbecue to further discuss topics that we had in common including film and music.
Initially, AJ thought that I was from Mansfield, Texas, until I brought up the Mansfield Reformatory then it clicked that I was from another land. Well that and the fact that I ordered a “soda-pop.”
AJ really gave me some insight on great things happening throughout Austin and Dallas and oddly enough this includes food and entertainment. It was suggested that we attempt a festival or event that revolves around film to highlight local and regional filmmakers and even actors.
Festivals and food trucks are all the rage, we know, but based on conversations I’ve had and on my own observations, I’m confident that we could create something vastly different than all the other cities. This is where the camaraderie of our SXSW group enters the picture.
This particular blog really should be about the things I’m absorbing but I feel inspired to focus on the amazing individuals who I have the honor of sharing this experience with. Together, most instantly, we just sort of gelled. Leading up to the SXSW festival we all met regularly to strategize our mission, and during those meetings it was easy to feel intimidated or unqualified to be included in such a collective. Self-doubt is an ugly creature but more and more it became apparent that this is about uniting people from all walks of life by literally uniting people from all walks of life.
Each day and evening, I am floored by the brilliance, exuberance, ambition, humor that this team embodies. This feels like the Partridge Family meets Big Brother or some missed opportunity for a stellar and ever amusing reality show.
Getting to know each person on a different level is the valuable experience. Through our interactions it’s apparent that we have a common vision, which is to Re-Imagine Mansfield reaching its full potential now and for generations down the road.
Two SXSW teammates I want to particularly give “shout outs” to are Bob Bianchi and Jotika Shetty. Bob and Jotika are admirable and beam with an authentic desire to propel Mansfield to the stratosphere. During our evening dinners I listen to them closely and love seeing that sparkle in their eyes when talking about their SXSW experience or their excitement when seeing or hearing about something new for the first time.
As we embark on this journey together I feel that this fantastic group of people, despite or polar differences, were destined to be where we are at this moment in order Re-Imagine Mansfield in the most sincere way. Through our friendship, laughter, ability to agree to disagree, and open communication, I feel that team SXSW419 will help deliver the building blocks for something remarkable.
I’m confident that we’ll not only envision and execute something great for Mansfield. I’m confident that through a great sense of community we still sustain it so that it continues to grow into something much greater than we expected.
Stay tuned and follow the progress via #SXSW419. And watch for more blogs at richlandsource.com/rising_from_rust/sxsw.
