Help Dale ride the Startup Bus to #SXSWi!

I decided on Friday that I'm going to South by Southwest (SXSWi) Interactive in Austin, Texas next week. 

Why am I going?

1) I was accepted to ride the Startup Bus, a 48-hour startup competition.

2) I hope to find potential cofounders to work on a project that provides online certification in lieu of a college degree.  

I'm raising fund to help offset the cost of riding the bus, sleeping in Austin, and perhaps buying a SXSW ticket. 

What is StartupBus?

StartupBus is a startup competition on wheels. A bunch of brillaint strangers board buses in major U.S. cities and, over the course of a 48-hour journey to the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, TX, conceive and build a tech startup. Once in Austin the teams present their concepts and demos to entrepreneurs, investors, and StartupBus alumni (“buspreneurs”). You can find out more at http://startupbus.com!

I leave on the Startup Bus from Chicago on March 8th! 

What do you need $$ for?

I booked my flight fro LIT to MDW and AUS to LIT using a free ticket -- so my transportation is covered. My projected costs for the trip are:

-$200 Startup Bus participant fee

-$100 Food in Austin

-$200 Lodging for four nights in Austin on AirBNB

-$750 SXSWi Badge**

**optional 

That's a grand total of $1250 including SXSWi badge.  The badge is not imperative -- it'll still be an awesome journey without a SXSWi badge, but being able to attend the SXSWi session would be amazing.

Why should I help you?

I'll be forever indebted to you.  No, really -- I don't forget random acts of kindness.  I'll do my part for you -- whatever that may be.  I'll also promote you, your company, cause, or organization on Twitter (and wherever else) and will publicly thank you.  I can also run errands in Austin for you.  

To donate online, click here!

If you're not comfortable using WePay to contribute, send me an email or give me a call! dalejstephens at gmail or 347 338 8742. 

Then what? 

I'll keep you posted via Twitter, Facebook, this site, and the StartupBus.com! If there's money leftover it'll be donated the Winters Friends of the Library or returned to you if you wish.

Thank you for your support!