One Spark and Bold Events reschedule after Hurricane Irma

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, One Spark, Inc., One Spark Ventures and Bold Events, LLC have jointly decided to postpone the One Spark 2017 Innovation Festival. This year’s event has been rescheduled to take place in the spring of 2018 on Friday, April 6 and Saturday, April 7, at EverBank Field.  A kickoff concert will be hosted by Bold Events at the new Daily’s Place amphitheater on Thursday, April 5.

Many communities across Florida and the Southeast, including Jacksonville, suffered tremendous losses due to the storm, and will face financial, physical and emotional hardships over the coming weeks and months.  One Spark Creators were no exception as challenges with storm preparation, evacuation and response prohibited many from submitting or completing their applications to participate in this year’s event.  One Spark and Bold Events hope that postponing the Innovation Festival until April will give potential Creators the chance to recover and resume their work with the same passion, energy and conviction needed to participate in the event.

From the start, the purpose of One Spark has been to develop both new businesses and a thriving community in Jacksonville where businesses can flourish.  Hurricane Irma was a life-altering event for many individuals and businesses across the city, state and region, the effects of which will be felt for months to come.

“Community and people come first,” said Chad Johnson, Bold Events and Jacksonville Jaguars senior vice president of sales and services.  “By postponing this year’s Innovation Festival, we can better serve the needs of the Jacksonville community.  We look forward to a bigger and better One Spark at EverBank Field in a few short months.”

About One Spark, Inc.: One Spark is a nonprofit committed to fostering environments of creativity and innovation. The company does this by connecting entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world with the community, providing a platform for engagement and making the connections innovators need to move their ideas forward at One Spark branded events and festivals.  The One Spark festival is one of the most efficient ways for individuals and teams to receive market validation, direct feedback and to network with those who may be able to provide personal or professional connections to advance innovative ideas to the next stage of development. One Spark will take place April 5-7 at EverBank Field in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida. For more information visit One Spark.

About Bold Events, LLC: Bold Events serves as a one-stop concierge service for planning events at EverBank Field and Daily’s Place. This includes events at the amphitheater and covered flex field as well as the unique spaces throughout EverBank Field such as the US Assure Club, Fields Auto Group Terrace Suite and FanDuelVille. Meeting planners and concert promoters interested in touring the space, researching date availability or receiving a customized event proposal can reach out to the Bold Events team.

'One Spark' resurfaces with some local good news

It may have been awhile since we’ve heard from the crowdfunding corporation “One Spark”, yet the agency has posted a company that has successfully benefited from the 2016 campaign.  A new, innovative device designed to enhance the training of nurses, paramedics, and other clinical specialists has begun a two-week series of field tests at the University of Florida’s Center for Simulation Education and Safety Research (CSESaR) and the University of North Florida in the Health Sciences and Nursing division.

Elizabeth Benson, RN, co-founder and CEO of B & G Educational Innovations (BGEI) delivered a Beta proto-type of the company’s wearable sleeve to help students learn and practice starting an intravenous injection (IV).

BGEI designs low cost, reusable, wearable simulation devices for training clinical students in hands-on skills and provider/patient interaction.  The wearable sleeves, legs, gloves, etc. include sensors, as applicable, to record and store student performance when drawing blood or starting an IV.  The devices include microphones to record the student provider/patient communication and identification codes to track the progress of each user.

Following their earlier success as one of the winners at One Spark’s “Spark Tank” innovation competition in April, the team at BGEI has since relocated their business, their ReaLifeSim subsidiary and half their management team from Maryland to Jacksonville, Florida.

Citing the “favorable business climate, significant healthcare workforce, educational institutions and supportive entrepreneurial network,” Elizabeth Benson, co-founder and CEO, explained why “it made perfect sense to make Jacksonville the home for our business.”

Co-founder Linda Goodman reported, “BGEI gained significant national recognition recently when Nurses.com featured our business in an article citing the potential impact our training tools will have on clinical simulation education.”  For further information see their Website.

About One Spark: One Spark is a non-profit committed to fostering environments of creativity and innovation through crowdfunding.  The company does this by connecting artists, entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world with the human and capital resources they need to move their ideas forward.  The One Spark festival is one of the most efficient ways for individuals, teams and large companies to receive market validation.  The event is the world's largest crowdfunding festival that brings together hundreds of thousands of people to support ideas and projects that inspire them via rewards-based crowdfunding. One Spark Jacksonville 2016 took place April 7 - 9, 2016 in Downtown JAX, FL.  The event was not covered by this columnist, because One Spark seemed to be going through a change in leadership.