The Michigan House, a pop-up space dedicated to all things Michigan is in Austin, Texas for the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) a conference and festival dedicated to film, interactive media and music.

The Michigan House is once again taking the best of Michigan to the national stage, showcasing our talent, creativity, economic growth and community development efforts.

Several CMF members are partners of the Michigan House including the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, CMF corporate members Steelcase and Rock Ventures/Quicken Loans and the New Economy Initiative, a project of the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan which is also supported by 11 CMF members. The Michigan House is led by Creative Many Michigan, a statewide nonprofit supporting the creative sector.

"Michigan House is a unique experiment in collaboration and creativity," Jennifer Goulet, president and CEO of Creative Many Michigan said. "We cover a broad spectrum in a short time. The deep connections we form in Austin carry back to Michigan and the transformative work being done by talented, creative leaders across the state."

Beyond providing an interactive Michigan experience where you can sit, use, taste and check out Michigan made products, there’s live entertainment from local Michigan artists and panel discussions led by Michigan community and municipal leaders and CMF members.

“The responses to the discussions taking place at Michigan House have been great, and it’s not just folks with ties to Michigan who’ve been interested,” Pamela Lewis, director of the New Economy Initiative said. “There’s a hunger nationally for the exchange of ideas to transform cities and regions into equitable engines of opportunity, and Michigan House has been a forum for doing just that.”

Today, the conversations continue with the Mott Foundation leading a conversation at SXSW about current efforts to protect Michigan’s water in Flint and throughout the Great Lakes.

Other Michigan discussions include entrepreneurship, growing technology, strategies for neighborhood health, neighborhood solutions and the future of mobility, providing insights from our state.

“SXSW provides the perfect platform for local startups and retailers to combine their efforts and truly showcase the massive growth and development taking place in Detroit,” Whitney Eichinger, vice president of communications at Rock Ventures said. “Partnerships with groups like the Michigan House allow us to share that passion as Detroit continues to position itself as an innovative technology hub.”

This year the NEI is sponsoring four social entrepreneurs who are transforming their neighborhoods in Detroit and Highland Park. They’re sharing those lessons at SXSW to demonstrate inclusive strategies to revitalize communities.

“It’s a great reminder that Michigan is brimming with talent,” Lewis said. “Our greatest resource in our state isn’t our industrial infrastructure or geography, it’s our people. This really comes into focus at Michigan House, which has done a great job of reflecting the diversity of talent in our state.”

You can follow along with the conversations and the activity around the Michigan House on social and check out a video about the Michigan experience at SXSW.