Friendly Suggestions for Next Year's One Spark

[TheCat]

For those looking for the top winners this is from their www.beonespark.tumblr.com page.

One Spark 2013 Closing Ceremony Key Stats

We’ll have full information released from our Press Office in the day(s) ahead. Here are key stats from the One Spark 2013 Closing Ceremony held today.

Top 3 Vote Getters in Music: The 5 & Dime ($2,326.50), Boneshaker ($2,495.36) and Fathom Sphere ($2,509.43).

Top 3 Vote Getters in Technology: The Riverwalk Project ($2,448.45), Kona School ($3,137.96) and The Wall ($3,466.29).

Top 3 Vote Getters in Science: 123-Fresh ($2,945.65), 1 Food Park Project ($3,189.55) and Tiger Trail ($4,183.94).

Top 3 Vote Getters in Art: 20 Murals in a Year ($4,010.39), Beyond the Facade ($4,202.71) and Rethreaded ($6,768.42)

Estimated 130,000 people attended the 5-day festival in downtown Jacksonville

Over 40,000 people rode the Skyway between Wednesday and Saturday, according to the Jacksonville Transportation Authority

Over 50,000 verified votes

STACHE Investments will invest in 5-7 companies and work with them over the next six months to support, build and grow their ventures in Jacksonville, FL.

[Coolyfett]

The One Spark Robot man.

[Kiva]

Which brings me to why some of the category winners don't seem to relate to the category. Like why is "123 Fresh" a winner in Science? Or, why is rethreaded in Art? Or, Why is the Kona School in technology? Those links should be made clear. I shouldn't have to guess. Which probably means One Spark wasn't very clear how each category was defined when the creators were submitting their applications.

It looked as if creators could list their project under several categories, such as Technology, Invention and Education. Next year it might be good to limit them to only one category.

[Fresh]

As the owner of Fresh (8th place overall, 3rd place science), we were very proud just to be a part of this amazing event!  The creators of One Spark did an amazing job with setting up this 5 day event and finally drawing thousands to downtown for something other than a football game or concert. 

Fresh is looking to expand in the near future, we are combining 3 business into 1 - healthy local organic foods, personal training, and yoga.  We're not exactly sure why we were in the science category, but we were just happy to be involved with this great event.  To learn more about Fresh, please check out our Facebook page - www.fb.com/FreshJax

Have a Great Day! 

[Cheshire Cat]

As the owner of Fresh (8th place overall, 3rd place science), we were very proud just to be a part of this amazing event!  The creators of One Spark did an amazing job with setting up this 5 day event and finally drawing thousands to downtown for something other than a football game or concert. 

Fresh is looking to expand in the near future, we are combining 3 business into 1 - healthy local organic foods, personal training, and yoga.  We're not exactly sure why we were in the science category, but we were just happy to be involved with this great event.  To learn more about Fresh, please check out our Facebook page - www.fb.com/FreshJax

Have a Great Day! 

Loved your presentation Fresh. 

[tufsu1]

It's one thing for the festival to be "spread out" evenly throughout downtown (which I think is fine)...another thing entirely to have pockets of extremely isolated areas. And while I did not visit them (did anyone?), I know that there were a couple dozen creators who were placed on the southbank (myself included although I just decided to set up elsewhere since I had that option) If I had been stuck by myself waaaay out there I would've been so pissed! I also know the One Spark HQ Lounge got very very little use, presumably because it was kinda far away from everything else.

There were no creators on the southbank....on the northbankl riverwalk, yes....and those between the TUPAC and the Landing did just fine in getting visitors....the ones between the Landing and the Hyatt, not so much.

and which lounge are you referring to...the one that was on Bay Street?  If so, it was meant to be used in the evening as part of  the entertainment zone.  I staffed that area Friday night and it was pretty liveley

[Fresh]

Thank you Cheshire Cat!  Did you see our presentation on stage for the pitch deck, or did you come to our booth?   By the end, Hillary and I (Jason) lost our voices.  It got very loud around us and we almost had to yell our pitch to visitors.  We wound up handing out 2,000 pamphlets and probably speaking with many more people.  That was a long 5 days of hard work, but now thousands of people know about Fresh (fb.com/FreshJax).

[ProjectMaximus]

Everyone is totally right that they need a minimum, or even just flat out tiered prizes based on vote rankings.

Which brings me to why some of the category winners don't seem to relate to the category. Like why is "123 Fresh" a winner in Science? Or, why is rethreaded in Art? Or, Why is the Kona School in technology? Those links should be made clear. I shouldn't have to guess. Which probably means One Spark wasn't very clear how each category was defined when the creators were submitting their applications.

They let you choose as many categories as you wanted during registration. In most cases it would benefit the creator to be listed in as many as possible to get the most eyeballs.

There were no creators on the southbank....on the northbankl  riverwalk, yes....and those between the TUPAC and the Landing did just fine in getting visitors....the ones between the Landing and the Hyatt, not so much.

and which lounge are you referring to...the one that was on Bay Street?  If so, it was meant to be used in the evening as part of  the entertainment zone.  I staffed that area Friday night and it was pretty liveley

Well that's good to know. When I checked in, the staffer told me I was on the southbank and pointed it out on the map. But I never went to scout my location cause I just had no interest in going there. Which brings up another point...many of the volunteers were woefully uninformed. I'm sure just kinks of being a first time event.

As for the lounge on bay street, my friends who were volunteering said that nobody came by except for dinnertime. The place would be packed but then empty out once the food was gone. AND, they said it was intended to be for VIP or Creators only, but they always opened up to everyone due to a lack of traffic. Don't know if that jives with what you saw first-hand, TUFSU, but that's what I was told.

[Cheshire Cat]

Thank you Cheshire Cat!  Did you see our presentation on stage for the pitch deck, or did you come to our booth?   By the end, Hillary and I (Jason) lost our voices.  It got very loud around us and we almost had to yell our pitch to visitors.  We wound up handing out 2,000 pamphlets and probably speaking with many more people.  That was a long 5 days of hard work, but now thousands of people know about Fresh (fb.com/FreshJax).

I came to your booth Friday and chatted quite awhile.  Have photo's on the hubby's Iphone.  Will try and post some later when he and his phone return from work.

[tufsu1]

As for the lounge on bay street, my friends who were volunteering said that nobody came by except for dinnertime. The place would be packed but then empty out once the food was gone. AND, they said it was intended to be for VIP or Creators only, but they always opened up to everyone due to a lack of traffic. Don't know if that jives with what you saw first-hand, TUFSU, but that's what I was told.

yes....all the lounges were restricted spaces, but the one on Bay Street was opened up to everyone for Thursday and Friday night....lesson learned is that the entertainment zone need not be "open" on Wednesday night....on Friday night we had a good crowd in the lounge from 9pm until about 10:30...and then again after 11:15pm when people came in to get out of the rain

[urbaknight]

It did end way too early on sunday, they should've just said that it was from the 17th to the 20th. I rode bus DT and got there by 1pm. I had to sit there for nearly 2 hours until my next bus came. (at least the landing was still happening. I went to Hooters and had a beer and a cheese steak.) Like L.P. Hovercraft said, there's no reason it can't wait until early evening to close up.

Other than the SkyWay being open later, the buses were not. I had to walk home firday night. Again, I made the best of it by stopping off at Burdies and Kickbacks on the way.

JTA needs to run ALL buses later next time. Stop putting all of your eggs in the carcentric basket. Just because people ride the bus, it doesn't mean that they don't have any money to spent at events like this. JTA, you need to start catering to EVERYONE, weather they drive or not!

[urbaknight]

I loved everything else about it!

[tufsu1]

I, and many of the other volunteers and creators, were exhausted by Sunday....I do not think the festival should be any longer, but.....

I would support shifting the schedule to open at 5 or 6pm on Wednesday (instead of 3pm) and add a few hours to Sunday (say closing at 3pm).

[Cheshire Cat]

I, and many of the other volunteers and creators, were exhausted by Sunday....I do not think the festival should be any longer, but.....

I would support shifting the schedule to open at 5 or 6pm on Wednesday (instead of 3pm) and add a few hours to Sunday (say closing at 3pm).

I really like this idea!  I hope it is considered by organizers.

[urbaknight]

I, and many of the other volunteers and creators, were exhausted by Sunday....I do not think the festival should be any longer, but.....

I would support shifting the schedule to open at 5 or 6pm on Wednesday (instead of 3pm) and add a few hours to Sunday (say closing at 3pm).

I really like this idea!  I hope it is considered by organizers.

That could work. It started while people were still working. But at least they were pretty well set up by the time they were ready to come out.

Come to think of it, the Landing was full of people with their dogs. I don't know what that was all about, but it looked like everyone was having lots of fun. So maybe the vendors, creators and other mobile exhibits can close up shop like they did this time; And the brick and mortar businesses can encourage the public to come to after parties in order to keep things going and to get some last minute sales in the process.

Speaking of that, I forgot to mention that I went to this store in the Landing called Aly Cat. There I bought a salt lamp. It's basically a chunk of salt from the Hemalayas. It has a hole carved in it for a tea light candle. It glows really pretty and has dehumidifying properties. It also clears the room of allergens.

I advise everyone to check out the stores at the Landing. They really need and deserve our business.