Austin is a city that’s embraced the startup culture; our creative community virtually breeds this mindset.

We’re also home to several pockets of people that organize hangouts, happy hours and meet ups to further exchange ideas. If you wander into your local taco joint and see three people huddled around laptops, for example, chances are they’re concocting the next internet sensation.

One of these local get-togethers features knowledge and networking, but their thoughts on the web aren’t about coding and venture capitol. Instead, it’s about learning how to get great on-camera audio from an iPhone, figure out You Tube’s constant changes or finding a referral for an actor that resembles Obama.

Transmedia Austin helps breed a new kind of startup: web series, or in a broader sense, online content creators. This group of video and audio makers gathers the first Thursday of every month at rotating bars around town.

The attendees have a full range of video related credentials. Some are well known web personalities with thousands of followers, some are working video professionals, while others moonlight after their day jobs end.

For those who are unfamiliar, web video these days is way more than cute kittens and “Someone That I Used To Know” parodies. For every viral hit like “A Conversation With My 12 Year-Old Self” there are thousands of web series, instructional videos and shorts made by people who don’t have film degrees or thousand dollar cameras.

The process of making a web video can take days, weeks or even months. Hours spent writing, casting, shooting, editing are dwindled down to 2 1/2 minutes of entertainment or information. With no clear-cut route to success or financial windfall, Transmedia Austin provides newcomers and seasoned pros alike with camaraderie and support that will hopefully lead to the next online content success story.

Transmedia Austin Co-Director Daniel Loyd knows the difficulties of getting something produced and finding audiences. Loyd runs his own production company, Silent City Creative, and has directing and editing experience in Hollywood and in independent film.

Currently, Daniel serves as producer, director and editor on Translogic, an AOL-sponsored web show that explores the merging of transportation and technology.

‘Transmedia Austin was started about a year ago by Chris Sharpe from the webseries Hilah Cooking and Cliff Wildman from Project Rant, says Loyd. “Originally known as the Austin Webshow Creators group, it was designed as a forum for fellow web producers, and has since expanded to include content creators from all disciplines while maintaining a love for where new and traditional media intersects.”

If you’ve ever been curious about being a part of the online content community, you’ll find yourself among friends at a Transmedia Austin meetup. The gatherings draw actors, directors, writers, social media types, animators, podcasters and even sound effects editors and soundtrack composers.

This informal exchange is where a beginning editor can ask questions from a seasoned pro and a crew member can pick up a referral for the next paying gig. With a thriving Facebook page and opportunities for screenings and presentations, there’s as much opportunity to learn something as there is to share knowledge.

It’s this sharing component that is pushing Transmedia Austin into new directions. The group is holding its first large event, “Making It In New Media”, at the Austin Studios on Wednesday, Sep 19. Part seminar, part mixer, it sets the stage for the group’s focus to be a shared resource where knowledge flows freely so that everyone can succeed.

“We've always felt strongly about an educational component to the group. So much of quality media creation is learned through experience, and through our meet-ups we realized that our members had a lot of knowledge to share” says Loyd. “We'd discussed having short seminars in the past where members could talk about their particular specialties for the benefit of the group; animators can discuss the process, cinematographers could discuss color, etc. But in choosing the topic for our first big seminar, we realized that our members had a unique skill set: navigating new media.”

For years, the ambition of most content creators was to get into the prestigious yet grueling and guarded film festival circuit. Now, people are using methods that didn’t exist ten years ago in order to get noticed.

Expanding your reach on YouTube and Blip.TV, tracking viewing habits and keyword choices are the new launching pads. You can create content, fund it, have it seen, all without playing the Hollywood or festival game.

New media changes by the day, but some have managed to find success by constantly adjusting to the changes. Participating in the “Making It In New Media” event are three of Austin’s online content success stories. Far from household names, they’ve made a big impact in the web community.

Started as part of a smaller web series called Project Rant, The Quiet Girl’s Guide to Violence spun off into a successfully funded short film thru Kickstarter. Producer/star Jennymarie Jemison and Director Rafael Ruiz will present clips from the show, and share their experiences about how they successfully built the online buzz that got their project funded.

Thanks to last month's Chic-Fil-A hubbub, you may have seen Hilah Johnson’s "Chic-Fil-Gay Copycat Chicken Sandwich" video that showed up on almost everyone’s Facebook page. It was some well deserved national recognition for Hilah and producer Chris Sharpe, who, over the past three years, have built Hilah Cooking into a show that gets huge views and successfully built in e-books and merchandising.

At the conference event, Chris and Hilah will talk about their show, how the metrics of YouTube come into play, and discuss how they’ve taken their show from weekend hobby to full-time paying job.

If your Austin web production company is able to hold a ComicCon-sized convention called RXT, then you’re probably doing okay. Roosterteeth, founded and based here in Austin, is one of YouTube’s most popular channels, now producing the tenth season of their flagship series, RedVsBlue.

Roosterteeth founder Burnie Burns is an advocate for media created outside of New York and L.A., and as the keynote speaker at “Making It In New Media”, Burnie will share his views and experiences on building a mini-media company with a huge online presence.

Loyd hopes that the “Making It In New Media” event is the first step for ambitious web creators, with Transmedia Austin becoming a valuable place for information and encouragement.

“In the short run, I would like Transmedia to continue as a group that helps 'rise the tide' for content creators in Austin. Taking a story from conception to screen is often a lonely process and I love it when our members are actively supporting each other through recognition, advice and direct action,” Loyd says.

The start of something is never easy. Often the first step in creating something is the personal belief that you can pull it off. With the help of this supportive community providing guidance, local web creators are being empowered to start up their own success stories.

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The Transmedia "Making It In New Media" September Special Event takes place Sep 19 at 6 p.m. at Austin Studios. Admission is free, but RSVP is appreciated.