Friendly Suggestions for Next Year's One Spark

[jason_contentdg]

I honestly don't know what to say to this.

[thelakelander]

[fieldafm]

I honestly don't know what to say to this.

Tuesday night, Jerry Moran said QUOTE 'One Spark belongs at the Fairgrounds, not Downtown'

Despite what old clueless people say, a new generation is changing things. Either hop on, or get left behind. There is no time to play fiddle with people that can't hold a tune any longer.

[thelakelander]

As One Spark grows, participants will change. One Spark and the Jazz Fest should remain annual. We should add more events for the remaining 50 weeks of the year. You start getting decent foot traffic in the core on a consistent basis and a lot of perceived problems will resolve themselves.

[ronchamblin]

As happens occasionally ... and this is understandable....  a select few ... those with either a case of myopia .. or for ulterior motives ..   miss the point .... misinterpret....  and jump on the simplest and easiest emotions emerging from these attributes.  The momentum of emotions and junk gains, and few seldom stop to understand the real point or points being made.  Its okay... its good....its expected .  Press on.

[johnnyliar]

As One Spark grows, participants will change. One Spark and the Jazz Fest should remain annual. We should add more events for the remaining 50 weeks of the year. You start getting decent foot traffic in the core on a consistent basis and a lot of perceived problems will resolve themselves.

Agreed! There is obviously a demand for festivals like One Spark and Jazz Fest. Why not something else/more?

[I-10east]

Damn blasting music from them rowdy kids! I'm trying to get some decent sleep here! GET OFF MY LAWN!!! 

[Lunican]

So One Spark is only in it's second year and we already want to limit how often it can take place? Not every booth can be a winning idea but there are a lot of people walking around downtown. For Jacksonville that is a huge success.

[Steve]

I appreciate what Chamblin's has done for downtown, but no way should they back this event off. I do agree that we shouldn't close the street for every person that wants to have an event, but this event could do for Jacksonville what SXSW has done for Austin. I seriously think this might be the best thing Downtown has going for it-an opportunity to show 150,000 people that Downtown is safe.

[JoDub]

Ron Chamblin basically just stands downtown with his pants pulled up to his nipples, waving a broom wildly and yelling "get off of my yard!"  Why does anyone listen to him any more?  He does not want to do anything that will allow Jacksonville to progress.  He'd rather stay stagnant in the hopes that some magical end-state "infill and vibrancy" will be achieved without the exposure that  we get by creating temporary draws to downtown.  (As long as that infill and vibrancy stays quiet and doesn't have frequent events that might draw people to downtown business, apparently.)  I simply can't understand the logic of that group of people.  As downtown business owners, you would think they'd be thrilled to have the exposure and extra traffic that events like One Spark bring.  Even if someone doesn't purchase goods or eat in a restaurant downtown during the festival, they may take notice.  Then a couple of months later, they may think, "hey, a nice first edition book might make a great gift for my S.O.  Maybe that bookstore downtown will be be able to help me get a copy," or "I remember that restaurant on Laura St. that I wanted to try... let's go there tonight."  Additionally, a big draw to living downtown is having stuff to do downtown.  Every event, from One Spark to the farmer's market, adds to overall attractiveness of downtown Jacksonville.

[CityLife]

Are there many truly innovative, game changing ideas at One Spark on a national/global scale? Probably not. Hopefully there will be more in the future.... If you have a great idea, 1. Its not smart to broadcast it to the world, so that it can be stolen (unless proprietary). 2. It's not that hard to find money or investors if you have a legit concept. This is pretty much why there aren't many out of town creators here. I'm actively exploring side projects and looked at a lot of the innovators and most were from Jax and were in conceptual stages.

All that said, One Spark has done a lot of great things for Jax and Downtown. Its helped a lot of local non-profits get more attention, helped fund some good causes, brought a lot of people Downtown, energized local leaders, and inspired local creatives to do more. I don't know how much local money has been pumped into the festival, but I'm sure its gone a lot further than money the city or other local non-profits use on less impactful projects.

[ronchamblin]

Before this momentum of trashing me gets too far, perhaps I can steer the rush of misinterpretation, to one of understanding.

I do not wish to promote limiting One Spark, nor things like One Spark.  My objective is offer ideas to seek, by way of measured options, greater excellence in whatever we do ....and to go the maximum to achieve that excellence.  Sometimes excellence is not a consequence of volume, amplitude, total freedom, quantity, or high frequency of anything.  Crowds and events are interesting in that they sometimes run amok, giving excitement, but sustained mediocrity in the end.  I am suggesting that we consider what can be done to achieve even more excitement and excellence in the end, which just might not include a high frequency of the same event, but, especially in the case of the creative aspect of One Spark, perhaps more time to engage the creative process -- by having the event every two years, instead of each year.  This kind of thinking is only an offering .... against the habit of running with the crowd ... something I have difficulty doing, as should be obvious to most.  I simply cannot help it.  Spare me please.

And I disagree totally with Jerry Moran's idea about having One Spark at the fairgrounds.  The location in the DT is perfect in my opinion. 

Events do introduce "outsiders" to all DT businesses, and this is greatly appreciated.   

[blizz01]

It always seems like there are competing events each year (Jazz festival vs. Beaches, etc.).  Was the Clay County Fair running concurrent to One Spark last year as well?

[JoDub]

I have seen a lot of new faces in this year's One Spark.  I don't believe having it every other year allows an extra year for the creative process to stew because it's not the same people going home to think up new ideas for the following year's event.  By limiting One Spark to a biennial event you are cutting the potential of funding worthy causes and ideas in half.

[Gamblor]

Before this momentum of trashing me gets too far, perhaps I can steer the rush of misinterpretation, to one of understanding.

I do not wish to promote limiting One Spark, nor things like One Spark.  My objective is offer ideas to seek, by way of measured options, greater excellence in whatever we do ....and to go the maximum to achieve that excellence.  Sometimes excellence is not a consequence of volume, amplitude, total freedom, quantity, or high frequency of anything.  Crowds and events are interesting in that they sometimes run amok, giving excitement, but sustained mediocrity in the end.  I am suggesting that we consider what can be done to achieve even more excitement and excellence in the end, which just might not include a high frequency of the same event, but, especially in the case of the creative aspect of One Spark, perhaps more time to engage the creative process -- by having the event every two years, instead of each year.  This kind of thinking is only an offering .... against the habit of running with the crowd ... something I have difficulty doing, as should be obvious to most.  I simply cannot help it.  Spare me please.

And I disagree totally with Jerry Moran's idea about having One Spark at the fairgrounds.  The location in the DT is perfect in my opinion. 

Events do introduce "outsiders" to all DT businesses, and this is greatly appreciated.   

Do you not get that there will be no critical mass and the festival would not grow, if one spark is some strange bi-annual event? Do you realize it is extremely difficult to gain traction with any festival, and when visitors, inventors, investors, and locals can not count on it being there, it would die? I asked you questions before you left unanswered to safe face, but I was sincerely looking for answers. I may have been slamming you a little in my tone but that was only out of the massive disappointment from reading your statements. Statements that almost made me regret riding my bike as a kid to a book shop on Herschel every week...

I apologize if you think i am misinterpreting because I'm not patting you on the back, but when I see the outlandish b.s. from you I start to wonder. Wonder if you're right for a downtown. Wonder if others could do better and more with the space in the core, and to be honest I don't like wondering these things.