Mayors at South by Southwest

News provided by

Mar 08, 2023, 10:50 ET

USCM to Return to Austin for Civic I/O Mayors' Summit, Sessions on Renewing Opportunity in American Cities

WASHINGTON, March 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- American mayors will be in Austin, Texas this week for the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, where the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) will co-host the Civic I/O Mayors' Summit and mayors will participate in panel discussions about the challenges and opportunities facing American cities in 2023. The Civic I/O Mayors' Summit is an annual event that USCM, SXSW, and the City of Austin have organized and held since 2016. Taking place this year from March 9-12, the mayoral summit brings together city leaders, creatives, and entrepreneurs to discuss solutions to some of our cities' most pressing challenges.

The Summit will conclude on Sunday, March 12, with the return of the Mayor's Matchup Civic Tech Pitch Competition. In the style of "Shark Tank," entrepreneurs will pitch a product, company, or program to a panel of mayors and industry experts, presenting their big ideas to improve American cities. The panel of mayors and experts will vote to determine the winner, who will receive a monetary prize to support their startup. Last year's winner was Good Call — a company offering immediate access to legal support for individuals in need. To learn more about this year's participants, see here.

In addition to the Civic I/O Mayors' Summit, mayors will participate in SXSW interactive panels. Details are below:

Friday, March 10
Does the American Dream Still Exist?
Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon A
2:30pm – 3:30pm CT

Mayor Ron Nirenberg, City of San Antonio
Mayor Levar Stoney, City of Richmond, Virginia
Liz Crampton, POLITICO

Saturday, March 11
Cities of Tomorrow: Opportunities Transforming Urban Life
Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon B
2:30pm – 3:30pm CT

Mayor Bruce Harrell, City of Seattle
Mayor Rex Richardson, City of Long Beach
Jennifer Kingson, Axios

Panels and the Tech Pitch competition will be on the record and open to media with an official SXSW badge. All other Civic I/O programming, including evening events, are closed to press.

About the United States Conference of Mayors -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are more than 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

SOURCE U.S. Conference of Mayors