Skip to main content

ONE SPARK - DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE April 7-12, 2015

I went to One Spark last night to support local entrepreneurs and check out what they had to offer. If you don't know what One Spark is here's what the website has to say:

"One Spark is the World’s Largest Crowdfunding Festival, designed to connect Creators with the resources they need to bring their ideas to life. From April 7 - 12, 2015, artists, entrepreneurs and innovators in Art, Education, Health & Science, Music, Social Good, and Technology will display Projects in a 20-square-block, multi-venue gallery in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. One Spark is the community behind great ideas. It’s your chance to submit and decide on the next big thing. It’s the opportunity to get involved, be inspired, connect and collaborate."

I believe it's on its third year and I think it's a great opportunity for people to get their name out there - if not to get the funding but at least for branding purposes.

It's set up in downtown Jacksonville. The streets are shut down and food trucks and booths are set up so people can mill around and check everything out. Not only are the streets closed, but businesses in the area open their doors so entrepreneurs can set up shop inside. There's a lot to see, a lot to do, and you definitely need to go all of the days to see everything.

We went last night for only a couple of hours. Had some beers, ate some food and met some cool people. One of the projects are the Jacksonville Rollergirls. These ladies are my friends and I NSO (non-skating official - i.e. scorekeeper/penalty box timer/etc.) when I have time. They're at One Spark to raise money to get a venue that would be the new home of the Rollergirls. Currently they are renting space at the Mandarin Skate Station, and the venue is not working for the #15 WFTDA ranked team. They need their own space!They're voting number is #22214.

Another project we came across was Hubby. Paige is the owner and founder of this business which promotes "the quest for friendship within nature." She said she knew at an early age that she wanted to be an entrepreneur, and she was tired of working a job that didn't make her happy so 6 months ago she said she had enough and started Hubby. Her products are all organic. The pure essential oil in the necklaces "permeates through the cork of the glass vial, into your nasal passage way, into your blood stream offering benefits throughout the day with the essential oil of your choice." She also has organic tank tops that are so cute I had to buy one. She wants to expand her brand to outside boutiques around town and I admire her for quitting her day job and starting this new career path - something I aspire to do. She said to me "just do it. It's women empowering women." And I might just take her advice. Her voting number is #22010.

There were so many other projects there that I missed because there's so much to see and not enough time. But in my travels these are some things I saw down at One Spark:

A painting in an abandoned building. I don't know who the artist is but I thought it was really cool.


This band was pretty cool. The sign says: "We are Fort Stories. A band created with a  goal of writing and recording music that means something to ourselves and like minded people. One Spark is our outlet for funding a concept album based on the lost and found of two young lovers."

RouxeArt Mosaics are trying to tile all of Hemming Park. They were at the ArtWalk at the first of the month and my fiancée and I added a couple tiles to one of their designs that they're planning on putting on poles throughout the park. The design above is on the wall that surrounds Hemming Park.

Giving away free hugs. Yarn Bombing Jacksonville one yarn ball at a time.

A sculpture in front of MOCA.
 
If you're in and around Jacksonville I definitely recommend you check out One Spark. Maybe it will inspire you!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Witchy Tiaras

I'm almost done with Shadow of Night ...I won't give a run down of the book until I'm done, so instead I'm going to discuss a little show called Toddlers and Tiaras - some may be aware of this show as it has been on for a few years now on TLC. I watch this show on a regular basis - 1. Because I can't help watching a train wreck happen 2. Because there's nothing else on and reality tv can be pretty entertaining 3. I can't understand how some parents can put their children through something so grueling and cruel as a beauty pageant. Now, you may think that because I watch the show I condone this sort of behavior and in turn I am one of the many viewers that keep shows like this on tv. But, let me explain a little bit. My mind works in ways that make it attracted to things that I can not explain or understand - for example I'm fascinated by the Holocaust, beauty pageants and witches, vampires and werewolves (not the Twilight kind either). Beauty pageants ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fevre Dream - George R.R. Martin

The vampire novel "Fevre Dream" by George R.R. Martin has only a few things in common with his "Game of Thrones" series - character development and setting. Everything else about the book is a far cry from the fictional world of Westeros. First published in 1982, "Fevre Dream" precedes the famous book and now television series by a few years and yet I only just read it. Set in 1857 along the Mississippi River, Martin brings to life the world of riverboats and vampires. Abner Marsh is a struggling riverboat captain longing for a fast steamboat to race along the Mississippi. Joshua York, a wealthy, pale stranger, is his answer. Though at the time, Marsh believes York to be aspiring steamboat captain, he soon learns that York isn't what he seems. He never comes out during the day and drinks only from his supply locked away in his cabin. He also has been collecting newspaper clippings of disappearances along the river. When Marsh confronts York abou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shadow of Night

So I finished the book Shadow of Night ...it was amazing! I can not wait until the third installment comes out and I hope that its soon. The character development of Matthew and Diana is great. Throughout the book they find out more about themselves and each other, even though they are decades in the past. Matthew, because he lived in that time period, has to revert back to his old ways and the reader can see how different was in the past compared to the present. When time traveling, you learn that you are not supposed to alter time. Matthew and Diana left an important mark on Elizabethan London and the rest of history. Historical figures come and go throughout the book, such as Christopher Marlowe, Walter Raleigh, Queen Elizabeth and a brief mention of William Shakespeare. Diana was there to learn more about her magic, but only developed her power towards the end when a surprising character appears and helps rid her of her fear of magic. There are plenty more characters in the book, ...
Post a Comment
Read more