What happens at the RISE Conference in Austin?

I see that the RISE conference is happening in Austin on March 7-11, 2011. Their website seems a little light on details about the sessions, though.

Can anybody who has attended in the past share some specifics about what actually happens at the conference? Is it worth attending?

I also noticed that RISE is scheduled right before SXSW. Is there any synergy between the two events?

Hosts get to choose their own topics for their sessions, depending on their area of expertise. Just to name of few of last year's (there were about 250):

• "Social Investing, Social Entrepreneurship and Social Profit"
• "Build a NonProfit that Lasts"
• "Top 10 Legal Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs"
• "Integrating Social Media Into Your Marketing Plan"
• "Don't Quit Your Day Job: And Other Fairy Tales My Mother Told Me"
• "Google, Yelp, FourSquare and More"
• "Create or Die. The Art of Entrepreneurship"

We try to make it easier on participants by having session tracks - for example, if they are mainly interested in optimizing social media for their start-up, they can register to attend only related sessions.

Some of the tracks we have so far include:

• Multicultural
• Bootstrapping
• Social Entrepreneurship
• Technology
• Health
• Women Entrepreneurs

Along with several high-profile Keynote speakers, there are competitions and funding events throughout the week: a Funding Forum, Fast Pitch, and non-profit Fast Pitch.

RISE is not affiliated with SXSW.

I hope this answered your question!