People everywhere.  Parties that seem to be on continuous loop all day.  Vendors marketing new ideas, new startups or new swag everywhere you go.  And then there's the conference with its many speakers presenting on topics ranging from anything to everything.  With 30,000 people in attendance, the South By Southwest Interactive Conference can be overwhelming.  So from a recent SXSW newbie to you, here are three questions to ask yourself when preparing to attend SXSW 2015. 

With 1 Million Cups, as with any startup, our tendency is to put our best foot forward.  We spend a lot of time talking about all of the great successes that we've had over the past year--and there have been many.  But one of the things that makes our program special is that sense of having a safe space to share what you haven't done well and what you're struggling with on a day-to-day basis. 

It’s a cancer immunologist’s dream to discover a safe and effective way to coax the body’s own immune system into waging war against invading cancer cells.  Building a startup company around that finding, though, is definitely not every scientist’s forte.  For Gary W. Wood, making the leap from laboratory to C-suite seemed like the next logical step. 

"No business plan survives first contact with customers," Steve Blank says.  What?  Isn't the point of planning that you maximize the likelihood of success in the marketplace?  Well yes, but perhaps not the kind of planning you might be thinking about.  A business plan conceived on paper, powered by a great idea or invention, enhanced by research on the size of the market and a customer profile, has great potential.  But it also has a crucial flaw. 

Pharmaceutical companies are trying to adapt their marketing to an increasingly digital world.  To get a handle on this environment, one company has appointed a digital advisory board of marketers from other industries. 

Pharma reps at GSK are selling their products in a new way.  The emphasis is more on communicating a drug's benefits and risks than trying to sell as much as possible.  Read more about this change in approach to sales. 

A network of U.S. cities facilitating a weekly entrepreneur education program.  Go to 1 Million Cups >

Whether you are starting or growing a company, FastTrac will help you live your dream at each stage. Go to FastTrac >

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