Patreon at SXSW: Day Two at the House of Creativity

The #HouseOfCreativity was back and action-packed on Day Two

ICYMI, Patreon has taken up residency on historic Rainey Street in the heart of Austin, Texas, for the SXSW festival. We officially opened the doors to our House of Creativity yesterday, and had an amazing day complete with a panel starring The Try Guys, a live taping of the Hannahlyze This podcast, and a marathon musical showcase featuring six amazing artists, rocking well into the night. We were pumped to deliver a day of creative collaboration and celebration with the folks at the festival.

But first, Patreon reps Innovation Policy Day

Before the events even began at the #HouseOfCreativity, Weston Dombrowski from our legal team represented our community on a panel to talk about how the EUs approach towards regulation both stifles innovation and puts independent creators at risk. Read Weston’s blog post on Art13 here.

“With the internet, everyone is a copyright holder….We are successful when the creator community is succesful.” — Weston Dombrowski

Happenings at the #HouseOfCreativity

In addition to the awesome activations we debuted yesterday — you know, the larger-than-life MadLib Wall, the Confession Booth, the Leave Your Mark thought wall, and our Creator Listening Stations — our partners came through with amazing experiences on Tuesday. First up, Acast hosted podcast fortune telling plus an awesome goodie booth so our guests could get straight to the good stuff. And Amplifier showed up for some custom creation on the fly, offering live, personalized t-shirt design printing all day. Folks were encouraged to pick the sketch of their choice (by Patreon creator, Roman Muradov!) and their shirt size, and then sit back as magic happens. TL;DR the swag game was strong with Patreon today, y’all.

Tuesday’s daytime lineup

We really went for it on Tuesday, hosting FIVE performances and panels from popular creators in an attempt to ansswer one of the most important questions a creator can ask themselves: “how do I use my platform for good?” Day 2 delivered.

To start today’s programming we dove right in with a live taping of the wildly popular podcast, Watch What Crappens! Our partners, Acast, brought the hosts, Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Karam, up on stage for a conversation covering everything and anything related to Bravo TV shows, especially all the gossipy recaps. While there were many amazing moments, the most notable was when none other than Jax Taylor surprised all of us by joining the podcast hosts for an impromptu interview.

Next, a panel of powerful women took the stage to have a discussion asking if anything has actually changed in Hollywood in the decades since the 90s. Check out this amazing thread on The Girl Power Myth capturing the conversation between award-winning journalist and author Allison Yarrow of 90’s Bitch, Fanshen Cox Digiovanni, and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith — moderated by Christy Gressman. They covered a lot of territory from the origination and evolution of the word ‘bitch’ to inclusion riders to how to solve the problem of representation in entertainment.

“We tell our own damned stories.” — Fanshen Cox Digiovanni to much applause from the audience at the #HouseOfCreativity

Key takeaways from this incredible conversation?

1. Franshen says: Tell your stories, your unique stories. Get your stories out there.

2. Ali adds: If you know someone with less privilege, share your platform and uplift other voices.

Then? Well, things got weird when best friends for over a decade, Grace Helbig and Mamrie Hart, took the stage. They joined us for a live taping of their podcast, This Might Get Weird, where they told stories and answered questions from the audience (for the record, if Mamrie had to be a tree, she’d be a gumdrop tree, but Grace thought that question was too invasive, thankyouverymuch). And in true TMGW form, an audience member volunteered to show the hosts his bare feet — it was fun (fun and a little weird), but mostly it was wonderful having Grace and Mamrie with us today.

Next it was time for Kati Morton, a licensed therapist and YouTube content creator, and Gloria Kellet (executive producer and co-showrunner of Netflix’s One Day at a Time) to have a conversation about Using Your Platform for Good: Let’s Talk About Mental Health. The duo discussed what we can do to actively take care of ourselves and those around us. The session was filled with practical advice to boost positivity and we captured lots of lovely ideas in this thread.

“If I’m having a bad day, I take time to leave nice comments for on social media for other people and it makes me feel better but also starts a wave of positivity.” — Kati Morton

“Yes – anytime you put positivity out there, you receive it.” — Gloria Kellet

The #HouseOfCreativity closed out daytime programming with another appearance from The Try Guys. This time they recorded a live podcast show where full of stories about their experiences as content creators and best friends who have made a living despite failing upwards.

The Business of Creating with Jack Conte

We never want to miss an opportunity to connect with creators, so in-between programming at the #HouseOfCreativity, Patreon co-founder and CEO, Jack Conte, gave a talk across town on The Business of Creating. The room was packed as Jack passionately spoke about why art is so important, and how creators positively impact society, and why working hard to make beautiful things is worth it.

“Life is a never ending trash fire and art makes it all worth it. Art is the best part of living – it gives life meaning.” — Jack Conte

“There’s an entire generation of creators who are making beautiful, life-changing art that is reaching millions of people worldwide. But artists aren’t treated like viable members of society.” — Jack Conte

Pure, unadulterated, live music

As night fell on our second day at SXSW our #HouseOfCreativity transformed into a destination for incredible live music. Tonight, in partnership with Aquarium Drunkard and Gold-Diggers , we brought 6 amazing acts to the stage. Tuesday’s SXSW showcase kicked off with RF Shannon, who helped us transition into the night with their soulful desert blues, enchanting the audience immediately. Then we heard from Jess Williamson and friends, and the a Texan singer-songwriter’s intimate show was just what we needed after a busy day. After that William Tyler graced the stage. A guitarist hailing from Nashville (who is also a member of Lambchop and Silver Jews), William brought a soulful acoustic vibe that the crowd loved. Next up, The Cactus Blossoms came on and shared some beautiful sounds late into the Austin night. An Americana duo touring hard for their newest album, Easy Way, we were thrilled to have them on stage. Then we switched gears and White Denim, a psychedelic rock band from Austin — who has toured with Wilco, just sayin’ — came on and brought the party. To close out the night, Y La Bamba took over with their indie folk tunes from Portland.

Our last show started at 1am, y’all. We went late into the night but we had such a blast we kinda wish the fun never ended. Luckily, we know Day 3 is going to be just as epic.

Ready for round three?

Tomorrow is our third and final day at the #HouseOfCreativity, and we’re wrapping up our Rainey Street residency with a see-it-to-believe-it lineup. Doors open at 12noon; we’ll have engaging activations all day long, more panels and performances while the sun’s out, and at night we’re bringing six more artists on stage to close out what’s been on the best weeks of our lives. The Patreon team feels so honored to be here, and we thank you so much for joining us on this ride. See you tomorrow!

Psssst: Get in on the action

Are you in Austin and want to swing by? Make sure you register here so you can join us.

If you’re not local but would love to follow along, connect with us on Twitter and Instagram. We’re live tweeting the heck outta this week, so even if you can’t be there, you’ll get the good stuff.