The RocketHub team is proud to announce that we'll be evangelizing, educating, and empowering Creatives from all around the world at this year's South by Southwest Festival. Our own Brian Meece and Jed Cohen will be speaking about crowdfunding for music and for film at separate events:

The Crowdfunding Manifesto: The Path to Creative Empowerment

Musicians are connected more deeply to their audience and network than ever before. Modern social networking makes reaching out simple and virtually free, while the costs of creative production and distribution have decreased. A new revolution is emerging on this grassroots level of creativity: crowdfunding. By leveraging one's network and audience for funds, this manifesto combines the emotional power of traditional patronage with the massive reach of digital communication.

The panel will be led by Brian Meece, Co-Founder and CEO of RocketHub. Panelists will include Kevin Breuner, the voice of CDBaby and Grammy-nominated artist; Kate Dawson, who crowdfunded over $6,000 to record the album of her award-winning one-woman show, The A**hole in My Head; Tom Puukko, co-founder of Hyper - one of the UK’s most respected digital creative and communications companies; and Billy Zero, founding partner at Chemistry Management, owner at DJ Boy Records, voting member and trustee for NARAS (The Grammy’s).

For more info and to register: http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_MP6668

Fundraising in a Box: Crowdsourcing Microgrants

This panel will focus on ways that filmmakers can use new and unique web-based tools along with traditional philanthropic incentives to bring in non-traditional funding. Crowdfunding, combined with fiscal sponsorship, is a powerful and effective way to use online social networks to cultivate new donors. The panel will focus on how to successfully use crowdfunding in conjunction with fiscal sponsorship. The panelists will bring their own experiences to contextualize how crowdfunding can amp up a film's fundraising campaign in a short time frame. Find out how you can make crowdfunding work for you, including ways to create an amazing pitch clip, offer rewards that work, frame your fundraising campaigns so your contributors become your audience and remain connected, plus more. We’ll bring together professionals from the front lines of crowdfunding, fiscal sponsorship, and successful crowdfunded projects who can help you navigate the cutting edge of funding.

The panel will be led by Cynthia Lopez, the Executive Vice President / Executive Producer of American Documentary|POV. Panelists will include Jed Cohen, Co-Founder and COO of RocketHub and established screen actor; Dianne Debicella, Fractured Atlas's Program Director for Fiscal Sponsorship; Danae Ringelmann, co-founder of IndieGoGo and one of Fast Company's Top 50 Most Influential Women in Technology; and Angela Tucker, a Brooklyn based filmmaker and writer.

For more info and to register: http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_FP6875

The RocketHub team is proud to work with SXSW to help spread the power of crowdfunding. The RocketHub team will be in and around Austin next week so feel free to reach out and say "hi."

-Vlad