Philly expands SXSW presence to rep all of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania will have a united presence at South by Southwest this year, and a Philly-based org is leading the charge. 

A formerly Philly-focused “house” at the festival, which refers to an event or series of events representing a specific theme, is now rebranding to the Keystone House. As more houses also go state or regionwide, using the platform of the music, tech and culture event South by Southwest (SXSW) to talk about Pennsylvania as a whole could have a bigger impact and present more opportunities across the state, Michelle Freeman, head of Amplify Philly, which runs the programming, said. 

“The notion became very clear to us that when we have an opportunity to be on a national or international stage, it’s much more powerful if we widen our geographic focus,” Freeman told Technical.ly. 

In previous years, leaders and stakeholders from the rest of the state participated in the festival, but didn’t have their own house. The expansion has been years in the making, thanks to inspiration from other places, she said. 

For example, Midwest House, which started as Michigan House, has been showcasing its region at SXSW since 2015. Startup nonprofit Launch Tennessee is bringing back Tennessee House for the second time this year to show off its state’s tech and innovation scene. 

Amplify Philly has been attending SXSW since 2016, slowly evolving its presence at the festival over the years. It drew 3,500 people to its Philly-centric house in 2019, planned virtual programming during the pandemic and returned to the conference in person in 2023. 

This year, Keystone House will be at the venue Half Step in Austin on March 9 and 10. It will put on panels, networking opportunities and parties focused on innovation and spotlighting local orgs.

Programming ranges from panels to parties

Programming at Keystone House will range in topic from tourism to business opportunities in Pennsylvania, touching industries like tech and the arts. 

Panels include an AI-focused session hosted by Boomi, creative industry programming and a panel led by the PA film commissioner featuring filmmakers that have received tax credits from the commonwealth. PA Gets it Done’s business attraction team will host a coffee meetup, the Chamber of Commerce has a US expansion panel planned and there will be an impact investing session. 

Amplify Philly also partnered with the PHL World Cup team and planned programming focused on the major sports-related events happening statewide in 2026, like the World Cup, MLB All Star Game and NFL draft, which will be in Pittsburgh. 

Sunday evening will be a creative industries party and Monday will end with a PA tailgate party. Philly-based coffee sellers Win Win Coffee will set up a coffee bar for the two days and an Austin-based cheesesteak shop, Chilly’s Phillys, will give out cheesesteaks. 

Despite the many nods to Philly, Amplify Philly and its partners also want to make the space itself feel more reflective of the whole state, Freeman said. They planned images, photos and banners that represented both the urban and rural parts of Pennsylvania. 

“It really was just a matter of making sure that we showed the vastness of all the things that Pennsylvania has to offer visually,” Freeman said. 

As a part of its expansion, Amplify Philly worked closely with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development, specifically the tourism and business attraction teams, Visit PA and Business PA, Freeman said. 

Local sponsors like the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, 1Philadelphia, Comcast LIFT Labs, Penn Center for Innovation and Boomi also contributed to this year’s programming. 

SXSW is just the start of more statewide representation

The goal for Keystone House is the same as past years: to double down on business and talent attraction and retention, Freeman said. The org hopes more partners and a bigger scope will spread the word about what Pennsylvania has to offer to more people. 

“This heightened footprint [and] with more partners statewide, we’re hoping to really make a bigger splash and impression that Pennsylvania has all these wonderful opportunities to offer to all types of people,” she said. 

Amplify Philly is trying this model for the first time at SXSW, but it also hopes to replicate and improve the activation again in the future and at other national and international events, she said. 

“Basically use this similar model to bring together lots of different voices of partners,” Freeman said, “to show up and represent the state together.”