Over the past several weeks, Raleigh’s SparkCon‘ers have kicked off their ’07 campaign in preparation for the September 20-23 events. While I personally was on the fence about the effectiveness of last year’s inaugural SparkCon, I am still open-minded and am looking forward to seeing how things evolve this year. So far, one thing that worries me a bit is the distance between many of the venues. Sure, this might be good to spread the wealth to businesses throughout downtown Raleigh, but removing the element of “walkability” seems like a bad move to me. Plus, the utilization of Vintage 21 for many of the activities is suspect as well. I would think a more neutrally oriented space would be a better choice.
But anyway, one thing SparkCon certainly has going for it is the recruitment of some of Raleigh’s best to organize and produce the events. One of ’06′s more successful “Sparks” was the fashionSPARK fashion show. It was well-attended and full of energy. This year, I am expecting even better things now that the beautiful Allison Beale is one of the producers. Certainly among the most fashionable people in Raleigh, Allison is the owner of George Public Relations and is a former writer/editor for SheSheMe (back when it was based in Raleigh and was cool). I’m also happy to say she’s an occasional contributor to Raleighing!
This Friday night, Allison and the rest of the fashionSPARK team will be hosting the premiere of the fashionSPARK 2006 DVD at Riviera. Doors open at 9pm and the show will run from 9:15-9:30pm. They will also have Guest DJ Keith Ward keeping the festivities hopping. So, head out to your favorite galleries for First Friday events and then stop on by Riviera for all the fashionable fun. Definitely need to go pick up all my Fluevogs tomorrow so I have something to wear!
Chris, not sure if you knew, but Vintage21 is moving to the old Jillian’s building on West St. at the end of July. This will definitely help the walkability. 6 blocks from Moore square…
Oh good. That certainly makes more sense. Perhaps the SparkCon folks could make some sort of mention of this on their site.
Still not too sure about the use of a non-neutral location… but I’ll stop making a point of that now…
Chris,
Regarding your references to Vintage21 as “a non-neutral location,” have you ever been there? I’ve been there only for the Handmade Market (http://www.thehandmademarket.com/), and trust me, you have a hard time determining it’s a church. I don’t see how the fact that it’s technically a church could be a problem for a creative artistic event, but apparently some people do. If you could enlighten me to the reasons, I’d appreciate it.
Chris – I look forward to contributing as much time as I can afford to help FashionSpark, mostly because I believe in the people and talent involved in the event.
However, if I may make an observation as an “outsider”, SparkCon indeed suffers from a lack of focus this year as much – if not more – than last year. While I believe groups of people who are devoted to various creative disciplines will attend, I also believe the event would be much more successful pulling new participants if there was one unified message … a “brand” so to speak.
As a die hard member of the Triangle creative community and long time advertising professional, the lack of purposeful focus may frustrate me more than most but it’s only because I think SparkCon is a brilliant idea waiting to be defined. I sincerely hope it happens before market apathy takes root.
I’m so glad that DesignBox is going to put SparkCon on again this year. I attended one of the group sessions at last year’s conference, during which I generated many ideas that I have used over and over in my business during the past year — more in fact than from any other conference I have been to.
It was a wonderful experience as well as a great investment!
Yeah, Chris, for some reason there is no mention of the move anywhere. Someone should rememdy that. (Though I did see an official First Friday map with Vintage in the new spot).
As far as neutrality, I think it’s safe to say that Designbox appreciates the volition of a ‘non-dogmatic-church’ to be a part of growing the creative community, or at least not lock their doors to the general public.
Churches lock their doors to the general public? I had no idea.
Fortunately for me, I have found every church I have attended to be the most welcoming place I have ever been. That is, after all, the message isn’t it.
chris, could you please define your use of “neutral.” or say what you think a neutral venue would be. thanks.
I like the idea of thing but I just wish the music component was larger and better bands/musicians were booked.
Matt, no. I will not get dragged into that argument. If you cannot see my point as I have stated it, then I don’t think there’s really a conversation to be had.
sorry betsy, multitasking makes me a bad writer. no wait, i’m just a bad writer in general. should’ve said ‘lock their doors when sometimes they should be open.’
Looks like sad days ahead for raleighing.com. Less impressive content, fewer important articles, little breaking news, and comment responses from primary contributors that provide no value–only ridicule. Don’t get me wrong, I plan to go down with the ship, still reading the site regularly, hoping ‘somebody’ steps up to patch the leaks and recovers the blog to some of its former glory (plus this is one of the few news/blog sites I know covering Raleigh other than basic media sites). Too bad I don’t personally have the connections or time to provide any content or I would volunteer to be one of those ‘somebodes’.
I have faith in you, raleighing.com; step away from the edge!
K, you have time to write a complaint but not send Raleighing a suggestion?
And there are a number of other sites covering Raleigh events. Check out http://www.RDUwtf.com
“provide no value–only ridicule”
I see no value in this comment.