Last year, GroupMe was a plucky little startup which was the breakout hit at SXSW because it was a great way to keep connected in Austin and the company was giving out free beer and grilled cheese sandwiches. At SXSW 2012, GroupMe is now a part of Skype but it wanted to show that it hasn’t changed much and it brought back its free grilled cheese sandwiches and beer.
The pouring rain in Austin has been a major downer for SXSW but the GroupMe folks aren’t shying away, as they’ve put up a few tents in front of the Downtown Burgers, which has been renamed The GroupMe Grill. Giving away free food and beer is a time-tested way to get on the good side of the SXSW attendees.
The company tells me that just because it’s a part of Skype doesn’t mean that it’s lost the fire in its belly to improve its products. Looking at the app today compared to a year ago does attest to that but you have to wonder what happens moving forward – especially once the founders have vested out. For now, GroupMe is still the best group-messaging app I’ve used and the grilled cheese sandwiches are pretty darn good too.
