In the spring, I was enrolled in the class “Social Media for Journalism.” Myself along with 19 other students and one professor, decided to report on a local crowd-funding festival called “One Spark” in Jacksonville, Fla.
If you don’t know what crowd-funding is, I’ll explain. The concept allows people to show off their ideas they want to make a reality. For example, I may have came up with a really cool invention of some sort, like a headpiece to put on dogs so people can understand what they are trying to tell them. Okay, that would be really cool, but I’m not that clever.
Really cool inventions require major cost to invent, distribute, advertise and sell. Many of these people at One Spark have a really neat idea, but need the funds and awareness to create their product. Therefore, crowd-funding allows people to give to other people with really cool ideas, projects and even musical bands who want to become well known.
We created the news bureau #IgniteMedia, and reported on many of the entrants who showcased their ideas at One Spark. There were many cool concepts at One Spark including a solar powered lawnmower, veggie ice cream and new and cutting-edge educational programs for schools.
We posted on social media sites including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We also published articles on our website and even have had our stories published in the Florida Times Union and Folio Weekly.
I had the very special privilege of being able to video document all the happenings of One Spark. It was a really neat experience being able to write and film all the inventors, innovators, scientists, musicians and just really cool people with fresh, new ideas who wanted to be heard.
Due to the success of One Spark in Jacksonville, Fla. (where it was founded), other countries became interested and wanted in on the festival.
Berlin, Germany will host their first One Spark festival this year from September 12-14.
After the class ended, my professor asked us if we would be interested in going to Berlin to report on their very first One Spark festival. Myself along with five other students and my professor decided we are going to put our best efforts to crowd-fund and raise money to report One Spark news in Berlin.
We have created our news bureau, #ZündenMedia, Zünden meaning “Ignite” in German.
So far, we have raised over $4,000 and need another $5,000 in order to reach our goal. If you are interested in contributing, please consider our RocketHub campaign which can be found here. We would appreciate any donations, and are offering incentives for anyone who does donate.
Sarah Ashley 