SparkCon Planning

All- this was a fantastic experience and certainly the best SPARKcon yet! We connected to more creative talent than ever with a much larger attendance. We certainly ’sparked’ some interest in the media as well and loved the attendee quotes in the N&O article Sunday. It seemed they understood all of our intentions quite well.

We had a great ideaSPARK session all weekend and created a concept and prototype website for Raleigh360 to “create a culture of localism.” We hope to pitch this website to city leaders on how to encourage local businesses to hire local talent for their projects. It ends up being just in time to make it for Raleigh’s own public input process for their website!

Beth has already made a slideshow movie of fashionSPARK. We eagerly await Cheryl and others to submit their thousands of images as well as Eric and Alex to get their dozens of hours of footage in. We’ll have them posted on the main site under the “news” section.

Don’t forget to submit your SPARKcon documentation for the photo contest or video contest!

Please submit any feedback or links to chatter about SPARKcon as comments on our website so we can continue to build this great effort. Thank you everyone!

Aly, Gab, Ty and Greg

As per tradition, we will be formally inviting the Mayor and City Council to join us for SPARKcon at their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday. The meeting starts at 1 pm. We are not scheduled to speak until 2 pm, but they may shift the schedule forward for us. Wear your SPARKcon shirts and represent!

It is the week of SPARKcon! It has been a long road of planning, organizing, networking, and preparing. Now it time to enjoy everyone’s hard work!

SPARKcon’s hosting one last meeting tomorrow night at Designbox at 6pm.

Any last minute concerns or questions you may have, this is the opportunity to voice them!

See you then.

Okay everyone, we are less than two weeks away!
Our final general meeting is tomorrow night at designbox at 6pm!

It is very important that everyone attends so we can work out final details before next Friday.

See you all there!

323 W Martin St
Raleigh NC, 27601

Chico Scott has put together some exciting stuff for this weekend. Check out the details…

First Friday kicks off tonight all around beautiful downtown Raleigh, and as far as I know all the galleries are doing their regular thing tonight in spite of the weather. I’ll be at Flanders Gallery @ Seaboard (6pm) DJing for the opening of a very cool show ( http://www.flandersartgallery.com/). After that you have tough choices. I’ll be spinning an 80s dance set upstairs at Riviera (Loft 135), DJ Castro is at The Globe (510 S. Glenwood), and Chuck Love is at Mosaic. I do believe that Mosaic has the angle on that one.

However, tomorrow night, September 6, is Neu Romance’s second annual “Disco Inferno” - A Fundraiser for SparkCon. This year the disco ball at Alibi is the perfect setting for Castro, Mark T., Drew Diggle, and myself (Madcow) to drop the best of 70s and 80s funk, soul, and disco hits AND obscurities. For those of you in the know expect lots from SalSoul and West End records! Admission is only five bucks (it will be the best dance party in town that night), and all proceeds go towards paying off Stacy Kidd (stacykidd) for the Sept. 20 Solas show. By the way Solas is free before 10pm and has a dress code. Check out their website for more info on that (http://solasraleigh.com/). Also Saturday’s “Disco Inferno” is conveniently located in a former bomb shelter that can withstand a category five hurricane (or a nuclear assualt), and with the help of a generator and a fully stocked bar that party will happen no matter what. Be prepared to sweat!

Friday 9/5 - DJ Madcow @ Flanders Gallery
18 Seaboard location / 6pm

-DJ Castro @ Alibi Bar
14 West Martin St. / 10pm

-Chuck Love @ Mosaic (Critic’s Pick!) / 10pm
517 W. Jones St. (http://www.mosaicwinelounge.com/)
Admission $5

-DJ Madcow @ Riviera’s Loft 135 / 10:30pm
135 S. Wilmington St

Saturday 9/6 - DJs Madcow, Castro, Mark T., and Drew Diggle
Second Annual Disco Inferno - A Fundraiser for SparkCon
14 West Martin St. / 9pm Admission $5
(This show is hurricane proof)

Be sure to check out this years list of talented designers who be showing original works on the runway at fashionSPARK 2008!

Visit the fashionSPARK page to view the designers!

Attention all SPARK organizers. Greg needs to know what you need to put on your SPARK (shopping list), what your budget is (how much $ you need vs. how much $ you raised) , and what your absolute final schedule is.

Please send this info asap! The sooner it comes, the sooner we can secure all these items.

Most of us have heard about the new bikeSPARK initiative in previous posts. Matt Huffman has rocked out with this idea and has a great concept prepared for experiencing SPARKcon on two wheels.
Check out this schedule of themed group rides planned, and visit the links to the facebook posts that are spreading the word:

Group bike rides planned for SparkCon–

In anticipation of the beginning of SparkCon, we are planning four group bike rides for those who want to experience the conference atop two wheels.  For all the rides, plan to meet up at the N.C. State Bell Tower at the time designated (there’s plenty of parking nearby, if needed) for the leisurely and flat 2-mile ride downtown to Moore Square.  Once we arrive, there’s plenty of space to lock up and we can disperse to the various events.  Every ride is loosely themed, and everyone is encouraged to participate.

Night Ride:  Thursday, September 18th, 9 PM.

Because the best way to experience SparkCon is on two wheels with a ton of friends.
Come out to the N.C. State Bell Tower at 9 PM Thursday, September 18th for the inaugural group bike ride of SparkCon. As Raleigh begins three days of epic creativity within the confines of downtown, let’s establish our transportation independence zooming on two wheels through the bright streets of downtown.
We’ll be hitting up the double music hit in Moore Square, checking out the four band lineup at Tir na Nog for local band, local beer night or Blue Mountain next door at the Pour House. And afterwards, it’s always fun for everyone to grab their bikes and ride around for a midnight swim somewhere near downtown…
www.sparkcon.com

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=24425634957&ref=mf

Fashion Ride: Friday, September 19th, 7:30 PM

Dressed to impress on two wheels

Because the SparkCon Fashion Show deserves the best-dressed group of riders ever seen on the streets of downtown Raleigh.

We’ll be meeting at the N.C. State Bell Tower at 7:30 PM on Friday, September 19th and heading downtown to Moore Square fully attired for the hottest part of SparkCon. Dress up your bike to look as good as you do, and check out FashionSpark from 8-10 PM. It’s going to be a great night.

www.sparkcon.com

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=32693469814&ref=mf

Shopping Ride: Saturday, September 20th, 12:30 PM

Sustainable local shopping

If you’ve been looking for the perfect opportunity to support local merchants in the best environment, check out BazaarSpark with us! We’ll be meeting at the N.C. State Bell Tower at 12:30 PM on Saturday, September 20th to start the ride.

From there, we’ll head downtown to check out all the coolest deals in Moore Square for the shopping segment of SparkCon. Stay all day and then hit up all the evening action!

www.sparkcon.com

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=32306029358&ref=mf

Final SparkCon Ride: Saturday, September 20th, 7:30 PM

It’s here!

For the biggest and most packed day of SparkCon activity, we’ll be experiencing it all the best way possible: by bicycle.

Join us at the N.C. State Bell Tower at 7:30 PM on Saturday, September 20th for the final group ride of the SparkCon weekend. We’ll head downtown for a plethora of excitement: art, stories and dance all at Moore Square, the Urban Sophisticates at the Pour House, Irish jams at Tir na nog and of course all of the camaraderie and good people that you can expect from SparkCon.

www.sparkcon.com

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=36100745489&ref=mf

Ty and Greg have been working to secure a space for the proposed open gallery hanging for artSPARK 2008. Yesterday Ty was able secure a space at Will Alphin’s new project space on Fayetteville St. Will and his crew from Alphin Design/Build have been working diligently on the renovation of 214 Fayetteville. Probably most exciting is the new basement bar that Will has created when no basement existed in the first place. By digging underneath, into the foundation, Will and his team have exposed original brick and masonry work and preserved the rough textures during the construction of this new basement hideaway.

Will has agreed to let artSPARK populate this space during SPARKcon. Greg and Ty are very thankful to Will for letting us in there, and excited about promoting this new space.

The call form for the open hanging is out and in circulation. Please download yours here.

Last nights meeting saw close to twenty faces in attendance, some new, and others who have been entrenched with SPARKcon since the beginning.

The main focus was unveiling the master schedule of events for the whole weekend. Greg ran through each day’s agenda and noted whether events were confirmed or still awaiting final details. SPARK reps offered more info to further clear up their activities. Each SPARK will now funnel updates as they happen to ensure the schedule is as up to date and specific as possible.

Another new topic was the addition of individual SPARK pages on the PLANNING website. The purpose of the planning site has been to keep all information available to organizers and SPARK reps and allow them a forum for discussion and idea sharing. This will still hold true, however its next task is to act as the foundation for information on the PUBLIC site. As schedules, contact, times, locations change, they will be updated on the planning site through posts and the new SPARK pages. Then it will be uploaded to the PUBLIC site. This will alleviate constant changes to the PUBLIC site and hopefully lessen the confusion overall.

Please visit the schedule on the planning site and confirm info that pertains to your spark. This is hugely important! Greg is trying to get everything concrete by the end of next week so that he can begin developing marketing materials to go out advertising all the cool stuff each SPARK has in store! email Greg directly with updates.

Pam Hartley of Marbles Kids Museum came by and had some great ideas. One was to set up a free expression wall and or suggestion box of some sort that the public my use to offer their insight into the future of Moore Square. There has been some official speculation as to what could happen in Moore Square, and she felt that the public should be able to express their ideas too. What better place to do so than in Moore Square at a Creative/design festival? Anybody want to help out

Pam also spoke with Greg about setting up design challenges for kids in Marbles during SPARKcon. Her idea is to call upon NCSU Design grads to come and work with local children in a variety of design projects from architecture to ID and product design. This would be a welcome addition to the Kids Scavenger hunt that is in the works for YouthSPARK.

Thank you’s go out to everyone for their hard work, support, and good energy they keep bringing to the table!