As you know we love crowdfunding at BLY. Thats why we were excited to find out about One Spark. One Spark, The World’s Crowdfunding Festival, is a global platform to connect artists, entrepreneurs and visionaries with the resources they need to get projects off the ground.
This year, One Spark expands to Europe. One Spark Berlin will take place September 12-14, 2014 at the Alte Münze in Mitte.

We had the chance to speak to Travis Todd the man behind the Berlin chapter!

In one sentence what is One Spark?

One Spark is a festival that connects creators in art, music, science, technology and innovation with the resources they need to succeed, whether those are financial, human or informational.

How did you come up with the idea?

The idea of One Spark was hatched by three friends in Jacksonville, Florida who were frustrated with trying to raise money and gain traction for their ideas in a smaller city in the US. They found that other creators had the same problems, so they created an event that brought these resources to them. Travis Todd proposed the idea to bring One Spark to Berlin when Elton Rivas, one of the original founders was travelling around Europe looking for their next location. Travis convinced Elton that Berlin had a rich creative culture but a similar lack of resources leading to a lot of talented yet ultimately unsuccessful artists, startups, makers and visionaries. This was something One Spark could fix.

As a guest what can I expect?

One Spark is a lot of fun. It’s a festival with a purpose. Musicians perform their music; Artists do live demonstrations; There is a killer food village featuring local food trucks; There is a speaker series of inspiring people; We even have a beer garden with specially-brewed local beer. But most importantly, the event is about the creators getting votes. As an attendee its your job to vote for the creators you like the most. Your vote helps divide a public prize purse of over 100,000€. You get the chance to have a lot of fun and make dreams come true.

As a creator how can I present my idea?

However you like! We give you the space and you decide how best to use it and show off your idea. Last year a creator built a house out of t-shirts. This year we had a full on aquarium on display. Creator registration will open June 1.

Your concept is very consequent – you are crowdfunding a crowdfunding
festival what will you be doing with the money?

Of course! We believe in the power of crowdfunding, so it makes sense we would start with a crowdfunding campaign. It’s also a great way to get early feedback on the concept. The money goes directly to the operating costs of getting the festival running. A portion of it also goes directly into the “crowdfund,” the public prize money.

Why Berlin?

Berlin is rich with artists, musicians, startups, makers, visionaries and creators. The problem in Berlin is, without any major industry in the city, its often hard to get the resources to bring your creative project to the next level. One Spark seeks to be a launch pad for our creative community. The other magic of One Spark is that it brings all these innovative people together under one roof. There are very few events in Berlin that bring together artists with scientists, musicians with technologists. This is where the really great ideas come to reality.

How can the BLY readers engage?

First and foremost, like, tweet and fund our crowdfunding campaign.
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