CC-BY-SA image credits: opensource.com, Mark Turner
What kind of SPARK gets you fired up? From September 15-18, 2011, SPARKcon takes over downtown Raleigh with creativity that has no bounds. Are you an artSPARK, danceSPARK, geekSPARK, or tastySPARK. Perhaps you’re a circusSPARK, fashionSPARK, musicSPARK, or wheelSPARK?
Don’t fit in yet? How about bazaarSPARK, designSPARK, ideaSPARK, or theatreSPARK? Not yet. OK, you’re at least into comedySPARK, filmSPARK, or poetrySPARK. However you want to rekindle your creative juices, you’ll find something that will spark your interests at SPARKcon.
Over on opensource.com, I got a chance to talk with one of SPARKcon’s founders, Aly Khalifa, owner of Gamil Design and recent recipient of a 2012 Eisenhower Fellowship. You might know Aly from DesignBox, Kirby Derby, or one of the many other great things he’s helped to showcase Raleigh’s creative passion.
In the interview with Aly, I make a great connection on how open source is applied beyond software development:
How do you celebrate the creativity of your community without falling into a rigid planning process? You open source it. By tapping into individuals’ passions, their willingness to collaborate, and creating a culture of transparency, you can light a spark that will inspire unpredictable–yet reproducible–results.
Aly really brings it together when he talks about the six years of success and how volunteers are key to making this event happen each year:
“SPARKcon is an attempt to apply open source principles to create a talent dialogue and showcase. It has been stunning to see how a growing creative community has resonated with this approach. As a result, this all-volunteer event is made up of some of the area’s top thinkers who can push the limits of their disciplines. Thus, each year has a fluctuation in which SPARKS come and go, and what they will program that year. SPARKcon is now seen by many as the one time a year to really do their most creative and collaborative work, contributing to an overall mission of fostering and highlighting local talent.” – Aly
Find out more in the interview where Aly tells us how newcomers to the SPARK planning embrace openness and how planners incorporate open source into their planning process.
Go enjoy SPARKcon and then come back to tell us about your favorite parts.