SparkCon Planning

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.

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)

Check out the coverage fashionSPARK is getting about the windows and brunch!

New Raleigh article

Be sure and get your ticket tonight at Designbox during our First Friday showing of Jim West’s photograpghy! Stunning enlargements of landscapes of architecture  in Spain.

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!

In an effort to promote fashionSPARK, its designers, and SPARKcon in general, Allison Beale has reached out to local boutiques in the area to sponsor the event through window displays featuring works by this years designers. Here are the details for fashionSPARK windows, Sep 5-12:

Tough Love, 3114 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, 919.833.0073.
www.toughloveboutique.com
Featuring: Domino, The DRC Clothing Co.

Revolver, 124 Glenwood Ave. Raleigh, 919.834.3053
www.revolverconsignmentboutique.blogspot.com
Featuring: Revamp, FYSH, lllavender

Beanie + Cecil, 412 Daniels Street, Raleigh, 919.821.5455
www.beanieandcecil.com
Featuring: Marie Cordella, Justin D. LeBlanc

Fleur, 419 Daniels Street, Raleigh, 919.828.0602
www.fleur-boutique.com
Featuring: Stacie Horton, Susannah Cox

Don’t forget to come by Designbox on First Friday tomorrow and purchase your ticket to the fashion brunch this Sunday Sep 7, 12noon at Poole’s Diner.

Here is the scoop of what is happening Friday night before the fashion show at Loft 135…

Immediate Theatre performs at Loft 135
Friday, September 19 * 6:30-7:15

Immediate Theatre is a collective of Triangle based dance artists, designers and musicians, gathered together to create spontaneous, improvised works of dance/theatre/live performance.  You never know what will happen, as each member of the collective takes the unknown and shapes it on the spot.  Performers include: artistic director Katherine Ferrier (dance, spoken word), Christina Tsoules Soriano (dance), Carson Efird (dance), KenRay Wilemon (percussion/soundscapes) and Veda Renfrow (stage and lighting design).

Come on down, grab a beer and experience some cutting edge performance before heading over to the Fashion Show!

Be sure to spread the word and join in!

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.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Aug 29, 2008 Raleigh NC

SPARKcon, the creative conference of the Triangle, is building towards bigger and more intense community involvement this year by launching its first “unconference” on September 19.

ideaSPARK, SPARKcon’s workshop component, intends to address specific community issues through a unique “unconference” style approach. Participants are asked to voice community issues that need to be addressed. After a vote by the group, problems are adopted by different groups who will present outlines of concrete solutions at the end of the day. Groups are encouraged to work through the weekend (in between SPARKcon showcases) and present more finalized solutions that Sunday afternoon. Results will be published online for all to see.

SPARKcon is a local talent showcase and a series of workshops to capture ideas about the creative future of the Triangle area of NC.  A completely grass-roots effort, SPARKcon is comprised of an ever-growing group of passionate local people showcasing their talents and having a say in our community. The event starts September 18 and runs through September 21 in downtown Raleigh.

ideaSPARK has already contributed creative community facilitation for a variety of projects, most notably the SPARKcon Comment of 2006 and the City Plaza design of 2007. All participation is voluntary and all content is treated as “open-source” so that the community can actively engage with all results.

Registration for the conference is $5 and available at
http://www.sparkcon.com/getinvolved/register-now/

Participants will receive badges which will also receive discounts at key SPARKcon venues that weekend.

For further information, please contact:
Aly Khalifa
Sparkcon c/o Designbox
323 W Martin St
Raleigh, NC 27601
919.834.3552

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

First off, thank you to everyone who contributed to the First Friday efforts here at Designbox! I was really glad to come back and see how wonderfully it all came together.

For those of us who couldn’t make it last Friday, we will have another opportunity to see the show tomorrow night when we come to Designbox for our general meeting at 6pm!

We have been working to get the schedule nailed down and confirmed. Please visit the schedule on both the planning site here, and on the public site here. Review the content, description, times, and locations of events that pertain to your spark and ensure that they are correct. We will be going over this in the meeting.

If you are unable to make it, please send Greg revisions via email to greg@sparkcon.com
Look forward to seeing everyone there!

Designbox
323 W Martin St
Raleigh NC 27601