User:Luisdcamejo/sandbox

The Festival
One Spark is the World’s Crowdfunding Festival. It takes place in Jacksonville, Florida, United States for five days every April. People presenting projects in the festival are called Creators. Creators can sign up projects in the categories of art, innovation, music, science, and technology. They’ll showcase their best ideas for a chance to win thousands in crowdfunding money and awards, millions in potential capital investments and direct individual contributions from the crowd.

One Spark believes that the next big thing can emerge from dorm rooms, garages and small studios. The festival is an interactive experience that allows attendees to support Creators that inspire them through voting and individual contributions.

History:
In 2012, three friends, Dennis Eusebio, Elton Rivas and Varick Rosete, met at a coffee shop in Jacksonville, Florida. They were tired of being told you have to move out of Jacksonville to accomplish great things.They knew Jacksonville had enormous potential. More than anything, they believed that people would support the creative and startup community if given the chance.

Currently, the three founders serve in the Board of Directors of One Spark. Today, One Spark is led by Joe Sampson, an outspoken proponent of fostering a Downtown culture for Jacksonville. He previously worked in marketing and event promotion prior to heading the crowdfunding event.

Thousands of supporters over the last two years have taken One Spark from coffee shop meetings to where the festival is today.

One Spark held its inaugural festival in April 2013, with over 130,000 attendees and 400 Creator Projects in the areas of art, innovation, music, science and technology exhibiting in venues all over downtown Jacksonville.

2013:
One Spark’s inaugural event had 130,000 attendees, 59 venues, 900 creators with 406 participating creator projects, 553 trained volunteers, and over 53,000 unique votes distributind the $250,000 crowdfund. Creators had access to this crowdfund by receiving votes from the festival visitors.

The festival was held in downtown Jacksonville, Florida, from April 17-21, 2013. The event featured pitch decks, where successfull entrepreneurs shared their experience, music stages, food and beer villages.

The top voted for One Spark 2013 are:

The event:
One Spark is a five-day event where creators, artists, entrepreneurs, and innovators can display projects in a 20 square block, multi-venue gallery in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. One Spark objective is to connect people with great ideas to the resources they need to make them a reality. It’s a community behind great ideas.

One Spark is open to everyone. Creator projects can be at any stage of development. The event is built on the premise that great creations can come from garages, small studios, and dorm rooms and that the only thing that separates them from the big dogs is access to capital and resources. The selection process for One Spark is completely independent. Venues select which Creators showcase in their spaces and attendees decide who gets funded. Showcasing at One Spark gives you access to thousands of dollars in crowdfunds and awards, millions in potential capital investments, and direct individual contributions from all the visitors.

The festival provides the perfect platform to put any idea in front of thousands of people, validate it and receive valuable feedback. As an attendee, people have the opportunity to witness the latest innovations and the power to make them a reality by casting votes towards their favorite project.

Prizes:
In 2014 the creators will participate for $310,000 in available funding and millions in investment opportunities.

Creators can raise money in 4 different ways :


 * 1) Wowing attendees and collecting votes to score a piece of the $200,000 crowdfund. Whatever percentage of the vote a project receives, that's how much of the crowdfund they earn.
 * 2) Attendees can contribute directly to projects in any dollar amount.
 * 3) Industry experts will jury an additional $10,000 prize to innovative projects in each category.The top vote getters in each category will also get the oportunity to get $10,000 in bonus prizes.
 * 4) Millions in potential capital investments from investors attending the festival looking for new opportunities.

Creator Projects
The essence of the event are the Creator projects. People can visit Creators as they demonstrate their ideas in Venues located throughout downtown Jacksonville. People can vote for them and contribute to the ones they want to see funded.

Creators are people with ideas in art, innovation, music, science, and technology that turn them into Projects to showcase at the festival. A Project is a specific plan, design or undertaking with a clear end. A Project can be at any stage of development but will eventually be completed, and something will be produced as a result.

Speakers Series 2014
Speakers at One Spark 2014 are pioneers, disruptors and visionaries with big ideas to share. 2014 Speaker Series Features World's Top Minds in Design, Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Some of the keynote speakers for this year’s series are Scott Stratten, world-renowned social marketing expert and president of Un-Marketing from Toronto, Canada, and James White, accomplished artist and designer and founder of Signalnoise Studio from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. In 2014 the series takes place on Thursday, April 10 and Friday, April 11 during One Spark with a different track each day. Speaker Doc Waller, inspiration architect at Becoming Possible from Atlanta, Georgia, will emcee the two-day event and will be joined by the musical stylings of Dr. Scott Padgett, music writer and producer from Columbia, South Carolina.

Speakers will share their innovative ideas in design, entrepreneurship, marketing and music with a limited audience.

Pitch Decks
Pitch Decks are platform for Creators to reach a large audience and communicate their ideas in a short period of time. Creators are scheduled to take on the stage and pith their Projects to a larger audience. This helps promote their idea and increase their chance of getting funded.

Entertainment, food and beer:
The event features first-rate entertainment all day and well into the night. Attendees can aslo visit Food Villages featiring exclusive tastes from some of the city’s best chefs and favorite food trucks. There is also a Beer Village where visitors can get locally crafted beer. .

One Spark After Dark
Creators and attendees have the opportunity to network and enjoy in local pubs, bars, and special VIP Lounges. Parties and live entertainment are all around. Activities are yet TBD.

For Kids
This event is designed for everyone. Families can bring their kids and let them experience innovation first-hand and enjoy plenty of kid-centric programming. There are different activities programmed every day to create a more engaging experience for the little ones of the family. Activities will be pubished during the month of March.