South Tampa Small Business Owner Attending SXSW

She was named one of "25 People to Watch in Tampa Bay Business" by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. She heads "Startup Weekend Tampa." And on Sunday, South Tampa entrepreneur Susie Steiner will head to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

It isn't her first trip to SXSW, an interactive conference that brings together the worlds of music, film and technology. Steiner, who owns a freight logistics company called ExecuTran, made it to the finals on a team in 2011.

This year, she's serving as conductor of the bus headed to SXSW on behalf of StartupBus, and won't participate on teams organized to pitch ideas to investors at the conference.

Even so, Steiner - who runs an online dog clothing boutique at fidoslaundry.com, and is launching a valet parking application at valetboss.com - said she's excited about attending the conference again.

"It's probably one of the most amazing experiences for someone who is interested in technology," Steiner said. "It's like a smorgasbord of opportunity."

We recently talked to Steiner, a divorcee with three dogs, about Startup Weekend Tampa and what she hopes to gain from her weeklong trip to this year's SXSW.

On Startup Weekend Tampa: "It's an event we put on a couple times a year in Tampa. Attendees come together on a Friday, and work through Sunday. They come up with ideas to pitch on Sunday. They win prizes."

How she heard about SXSW: I heard about it years ago through other conferences I attended. I orginally heard about it years ago as a music festival. More and more of getting into the startup community, attending other conferences, I would hear about this giganctic interactive conference, South by Southwest."

What she took away from attending SXSW in 2011: "The networking. I met people who are still very much in my life as mentors in my business. I met people that have opened opportunities."

On how the SXSW trip works: "We get to Austin on the seventh. When the teams pitch, it's to a panel of highly esteemed startup investors. The opportunity to pitch to these investors is once in a lifetime.

There's 20-25 people on the bus. As soon as we leave Tampa, people will start pitching their ideas on the bus. We could have five or six teams. We could have two teams, or four of five. It depends on who wants to pitch, and which idea you like the best."