FEDEX + ME: MY STORY AUSTIN

FedEx had a problem: They were huge. But they wanted to be small. They wanted to be small in the way they interacted with their customers. And they wanted to attract the clients that usually pay no attention whatever to Fortune 100 global corporations — the elusive Gen Y-er. We designed the FedEx + Me program to help Gen Y small-business owners pay attention to the people they’d most want to anyway: each other. For our pilot program we chose Austin, Texas— a world-renowned hub of passionate, innovative small business. Through a social media-driven nomination and voting process, entrepreneurs could promote their business while meeting other members of their local small-business community. Austin based community liaison drove the program with fun, popular networking events featuring prominent Austin-area business experts. By the end of the pilot program, a still-thriving community of new friends and smart business connections was built deep in the heart of Texas.