For the first time since the pandemic started, South by Southwest® Conference and Festivals (SXSW®) is going back to in-person events, selecting Grip, the AI-powered event, networking and matchmaking platform as its event technology partner.

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This year’s SXSW Conference in Austin, Texas (11 – 20 March 2022) is a hybrid event focused on connecting people from all over the world, bringing together a diverse range of forward-thinking exhibitors – from promising startups to established industry leaders. These connections will be facilitated by the Grip platform, which is being used at the Creative Industries Expo, Wellness Expo, XR Experience and Flatstock 77 exhibitions. Grip will make it easier for thousands of attendees, 500 exhibitors and hundreds of sponsors to connect with each other.

“SXSW proves that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together,” said Justin Bankston, Chief Technical Officer at SXSW. “That’s why we selected Grip. We wanted a technology partner that has a proven track record connecting conference participants so they discover more and walk away with an amazing, valuable event experience. There hasn’t been an in-person SXSW in either 2020 or 2021 so we wanted an event app that delivers more value to our in-person and virtual participants than ever before. We’re reinventing SXSW for 2022, and technologies like Grip help us with that mission.”

“Partnering with SXSW is a dream come true,” explained Tim Groot, Co-founder and CEO of Grip. “It’s one of the world’s best events and I’m proud we’re providing our AI-powered technology to power moments of connection at the event. Our platform will be instrumental in helping attendees, exhibitors and sponsors connect with each other.”

Connections between attendees, sponsors and exhibitors will be facilitated by Grip’s award-winning artificial intelligence algorithms. Its recommendation engine will provide instant matches for all participants based on their profiles, areas of interest and products they viewed via the SXSW Expo app. As they interact with sponsors and exhibitor’s products or staff, the AI will learn and make more personalised recommendations.  All this will lead to an intensity of connections and meetings never seen before at the conference.

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