Over three years, One Spark grew from a concept into an opportunity for more than 300,000 people to fill the streets of Downtown for five days of food, beverages, live entertainment and getting a look at hundreds of small businesses and big ideas.
Dubbed the world’s largest crowdfunding festival, the plan was for attendees to vote for their favorite exhibits and hopefully contribute a few bucks to the cause.
However, the “crowdfunding” part of the festival was lost among the beer tents, food trucks and concerts in the JAX Chamber parking lot after the festival closed each day.
“What was going on was people were voting on how to distribute some of Peter Rummell’s money,” said Chris Byers, One Spark chief operating officer since June.
Rummell, a real estate developer and chair of One Spark’s board of directors, said Monday he no longer will continue to cover the festival’s financial shortfall after donating $3 million and loaning an additional $500,000 to the organization since 2013.
“One Spark is about startups,” he said Monday when the board announced changes in the festival for 2016. “The fact is One Spark is a startup.”
According to onespark.com, in 2015 the 320,000 attendees cast 117,000 votes for their favorite projects and contributed $93,000 to the 549 entries.
That’s about 29 cents per attendee.
The prize fund that began at $250,000 in 2013 grew to $310,000 in 2014 and $350,000 this year. It included crowdfunding and contributions from the festival.
Another aspect of the festival’s evolution were $15,000 bonuses paid last year to the entries that received the most votes and who were selected by jurors during the festival.
The top winner in 2015, Yoga 4 Change, set a One Spark record for funds earned during the festival. The organization that teaches yoga to underserved groups took home a check for $34,281.67 including the $15,000 top votes and the $15,000 jury selection bonuses.
The bonus structure moved the dynamic away from pitching an idea for financial support to getting as many people as possible to vote for a specific exhibit.
“As it evolved, it had less to do with the quality of your project and more about who could solicit the most votes,” Byers said.
The goal for the fourth festival, he said, is for attendees to increase their contributions to projects.
That will be important next year because unlike the previous three years, the prize fund available to entrants will be based on attendee contributions.
That actually could increase the prize fund, said Byers.
“If 250,000 people show up and give $1 to each of two projects, that’s $500,000 in prizes,” he said.
That message will be delivered starting later this year, said Michael Munz, Dalton Agency executive and One Spark board member.
He said to term the changes announced Monday as “rebranding” would be an “overstatement,” but the change in focus to emphasize the crowdfunding aspect of the festival will be better communicated through mass media and social media.
Registration for potential exhibitors at One Spark 2016 runs Nov. 9-Jan. 29. Up to 50 exhibitors in six categories will be chosen by a group of experts in those areas.
The festival is April 7-9 along the Laura Street corridor, between Hemming Park and the Jacksonville Landing.
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