Making Jacksonville the epicenter of innovation and entrepreneurship is the goal of One Spark, a new type of global event planned April 17-21 in the heart of Downtown.
"For five days in April, Downtown Jacksonville will be overwhelmed with creators," said Elton Rivas, One Spark co-founder and president.
Rivas was the speaker Monday at the Rotary Club of Jacksonville meeting.
One Spark is designed to create an environment where people "on the leading edge" of science, technology, art and music can gather and show their ideas to the public, he said.
The public's responsibility will be to view the myriad projects and creations and then vote on what it considers has the most potential.
Based on the public's ballot, a $250,000 prize fund will be proportionately distributed to the creators.
"The $250,000 is there just to get the party started," Rivas said.
In addition to the prize fund, One Spark raised more than $100,000 with a campaign on Kickstarter.com.
"We had 400 donors in 30 days. That validated One Spark from a market standpoint," said Rivas.
The event will be divided into two zones: the Creators Zone, where exhibits will be hosted at venues from Hemming Plaza to the St. Johns River, and the Entertainment Zone, anchored by the East Bay Street nightlife district.
Rivas said more than 65 venues have so far registered and more than 100 exhibitors already have expressed interest in participating in the event.
The entry fee for exhibitors is $45.
"We want the creators to have some skin in the game, but any student with a .edu email address can enter free of charge," Rivas said.
He said the event was inspired by the belief that innovations do not always originate in the corporate world. Rivas said the next great ideas could be forming in garages and dorm rooms.
He said another inspiration was when he and other entrepreneurs were advised to relocate if they wanted to succeed.
"We got tired of people telling us we had to move (away from Jacksonville) to do something innovative," Rivas said.
The next step for One Spark is to develop a team of community volunteers who want to assist with putting on the event.
Rivas said a volunteer coordinator will join the staff in January.
For more information about the inaugural One Spark or to register for updates, visit beonespark.com.
@drmaxdowntown
(904) 356-2466