Why I Love the SXSW Mentor Sessions (and you will, too!)

If you’re headed to SXSW, I’d like to make a recommendation to you: Sign up for and attend a Mentor Session. Let’s see why!

Mentor Sessions are an opportunity to get one-on-one time with an industry expert. You get to sit down, face-to-face, and ask anything you want to people with experience and specialized knowledge, people who have learned through experience and what to share what they have learned.

In my three times at SXSW, attending Mentor Sessions has been the most influential, inspiring, and important use of my conference time.

Alright, are you interested in making this happen?! Here’s what you do:

1. See the list of Mentor Sessions on the SXSW schedule: https://schedule.sxsw.com/2019/events/category/Mentor%20session
2. Scan the list and find people who look interesting.

You might be thinking, “But that’s a huge list! I don’t have time for this!” Yes, you do. Here’s how to scan the list quickly:

1. Are you a narrative filmmaker? A musician? If your answer is yes or no, that’s your first criteria: Skip over people who are mentors in areas that are not of interest to you.
2. Now you’re still left with 80% of the list. Using your best judgement based on company names (the person from Pandora is probably going to focus on music), open a new tab for each person you might want to look into.
3. I’ll often go through the list and recognize people who I follow on Twitter. Those definitely get my attention!
4. Now go through your open tabs. Maybe you’ll have 30+ of them. Scan their bios; you’ll quickly know when it’s time to close the tab, or to read on.
5. You’ll also find that some people are solidly booked. If you’re still really interested in that person, write their name and session times down; you might be able to see that person if someone else is a no-show.
6. When you’re done, you’ll probably have around 5 tabs still open. Prioritize your choices and sign up! (Also check conflicts with other things you don’t want to miss)

During each of my three visits to SXSW, I have seen three mentors (so, nine total). That number works well for me: I find that it’s just the right number of people to speak with, but not so many that I’m missing other things. I also get the sense that it’s high compared to other people’s use of the mentor program.

What I do next is prepare. This is going to be special time with someone I can learn from, and I want to be ready and make the most of our time! For each mentor, I’ll write down what I hope to focus on, learn about, and ask. I’ve focused on different things with each mentor — how to build business from research ideas, how to grow community and engage volunteers, how to effectively network and make lasting relationships, and more.

At times, I’ve also reached out to my mentors before I see them to introduce myself briefly. That definitely solidifies the commitment that I’m going to see them at the conference. I think it’s also a great networking touch.

There’s a notion at SXSW that you should RSVP to everything and it’s not a big deal if you miss the RSVP. Please don’t do this for a Mentor Session! When you RSVP to a Mentor Session, you are reserving a specific block of one-on-one time with a person who, if they weren’t seeing you, could help someone else. Please respect the mentors’ time. If you’re promising to attend, make sure you attend (or clear out your RSVP to let someone else in).

After the conference, keep in touch with your mentor. Give them your name, business card, whatever. Contact them later and thank them for their time. Email them a year from now and ask them a question — they’ll remember you! And they’ll be sincerely interested to hear how you’re coming along on your endeavors.

In addition to attending mentor sessions, I’ve also served as a mentor at SXSW. It’s such a great opportunity to give back to the community and meet new people! My tips above come from someone who has been on both sides of the mentor table several times.

I hope this posts serves you well. Enjoy your time at SXSW!