SparkArts Festival: Day Two Report
category: general [glöplog]
Well, SparkArts is over now. I'm exhausted! A lot of people put a lot of work into organizing this event and making it a success. My sincere thanks to all of the other organizers for all their help and support. Thank you to A.VanVranken for your music performance. Thanks to Brooke and the rest of the staff at the Salt Lake City Public Library for everything you did to make our stay so comfortable, and thank you to all who attended and participated in the competitions. You all made the event a very pleasant experience.
I had some concerns about the turnout after the slow first day, but Saturday, hundreds of people filed through the doors to learn about the various art forms that were being represented at the festival. I personally welcomed dozens before I gave up trying to keep up with the flood of people and went to work helping participants get their entries in. In the coming days, we'll get those entries uploaded to the website so you can all download and enjoy them.
I would like to remind everybody that the lecture notes from my digital photography talk are available for download, including about 30 slides, copiously illustrated, and two complete, self-contained online mini-lessons that describe a couple of very important concepts on digital exposure in detail. I believe the other speakers will have some lecture notes to add in the coming days, as well.
Thank you again to everybody who was involved, and don't forget to check out Block Party coming in April, 2008 in Cleveland, OH. I just talked to the primary organizer. They will have their website updated soon with new details. I hope I get the chance to see some of you there, as well!
I had some concerns about the turnout after the slow first day, but Saturday, hundreds of people filed through the doors to learn about the various art forms that were being represented at the festival. I personally welcomed dozens before I gave up trying to keep up with the flood of people and went to work helping participants get their entries in. In the coming days, we'll get those entries uploaded to the website so you can all download and enjoy them.
I would like to remind everybody that the lecture notes from my digital photography talk are available for download, including about 30 slides, copiously illustrated, and two complete, self-contained online mini-lessons that describe a couple of very important concepts on digital exposure in detail. I believe the other speakers will have some lecture notes to add in the coming days, as well.
Thank you again to everybody who was involved, and don't forget to check out Block Party coming in April, 2008 in Cleveland, OH. I just talked to the primary organizer. They will have their website updated soon with new details. I hope I get the chance to see some of you there, as well!
this thread (and the day 1 thread) will probably get buried underneath the compost heap of threads arriving at pouet every day, but i'll chime in.
congratulations on a successful event. i was never quite sure how the demoscene side of it would turn out, but you approached it the right away (i.e. not just a demo party) and as a result got more attendees than i would have expected. some people may scoff at the fact there was no demo compo, but you've at least tested the waters and found a great venue.
a major problem you'll want to work on next time: the website. there was very little info on the site, and the forums were plagued with spam, thus rendered unusable. for the sake of visitors outside the city, some event/venue photos would be good (well, now you have some). given how far slc is from, well, everywhere, building your local scene first is fine. but a better website would at least give the event more global attention.
after the downfall of pilgrimage, it's good to see new activity and directions in the area.
-phx
p.s. i checked out your photographs, and seeing your talents and the throngs of beautiful women at your disposal, i envy your life. :)
congratulations on a successful event. i was never quite sure how the demoscene side of it would turn out, but you approached it the right away (i.e. not just a demo party) and as a result got more attendees than i would have expected. some people may scoff at the fact there was no demo compo, but you've at least tested the waters and found a great venue.
a major problem you'll want to work on next time: the website. there was very little info on the site, and the forums were plagued with spam, thus rendered unusable. for the sake of visitors outside the city, some event/venue photos would be good (well, now you have some). given how far slc is from, well, everywhere, building your local scene first is fine. but a better website would at least give the event more global attention.
after the downfall of pilgrimage, it's good to see new activity and directions in the area.
-phx
p.s. i checked out your photographs, and seeing your talents and the throngs of beautiful women at your disposal, i envy your life. :)
Were there any prods at all? Did you at least get to watch demos on a big screen?
Sorry I couldn't make it, but I'm really REALLY glad you took matters into your own hands and held your own demoparty. Remember, the first copyparties were tiny, so everyone has to start somewhere :-)
Kudos for getting it all done. :) Dilvie: it would be great if you could send me some stats and your thoughts at gloom@scene.org - I'm preparing some slides for a north american outreach effort, and would be more than happy to include some details about SparkArts. Pictures as well please!
phoenix,
After what happened (or didn't happen, rather) with Pilgrimage 2006, I was not expecting a big demoscene turnout. We decided this year to focus mainly on getting the local population excited about SparkArts -- something that Pilgrimage tried, and completely failed to do the whole time it existed. At Pilgrimage, there were only a handful of locals. At SparkArts, we had hundreds of attendees, and AFAIK, only two of them were from more than 50 miles away.
The website certainly does need improvement. We have already taken steps to improve it for next year. More photos are coming, too. I'll be posting them to Slengpung and flickr.
Yesso, one demo was entered, but it had to be disqualified because it contained nudity, and there were six year olds and their mothers at the event. I don't like censorship, but it looks like with all the press and our "everybody is welcome" attitude, submissions to SparkArts are going to need to be rated G. The animated entries that were voted on were two computer games (both programmed in one day), and a machinima film.
trixter, I really hope we get to see you next year. I expect more out-of-town attendees for next year, so I'll likely re-start my traditional Thursday evening BBQ and Sunday afterparty traditions for early arrivals and those who have Sunday evening flights home -- all of you are welcome, of course. If all goes well, I'll be in a much bigger house with room for a bigger crowd at home. I'm looking to buy a house I can use as a photo gallery / photography studio. It has three big rooms in the front, and a nice courtyard with a fountain. Plenty of space to BBQ, chilll, talk about the festival, or just plug away at your entries.
gloom, As soon as I'm finished processing the rest of the photos, I'll send you that email. =) What sort of stats are you looking for?
After what happened (or didn't happen, rather) with Pilgrimage 2006, I was not expecting a big demoscene turnout. We decided this year to focus mainly on getting the local population excited about SparkArts -- something that Pilgrimage tried, and completely failed to do the whole time it existed. At Pilgrimage, there were only a handful of locals. At SparkArts, we had hundreds of attendees, and AFAIK, only two of them were from more than 50 miles away.
The website certainly does need improvement. We have already taken steps to improve it for next year. More photos are coming, too. I'll be posting them to Slengpung and flickr.
Yesso, one demo was entered, but it had to be disqualified because it contained nudity, and there were six year olds and their mothers at the event. I don't like censorship, but it looks like with all the press and our "everybody is welcome" attitude, submissions to SparkArts are going to need to be rated G. The animated entries that were voted on were two computer games (both programmed in one day), and a machinima film.
trixter, I really hope we get to see you next year. I expect more out-of-town attendees for next year, so I'll likely re-start my traditional Thursday evening BBQ and Sunday afterparty traditions for early arrivals and those who have Sunday evening flights home -- all of you are welcome, of course. If all goes well, I'll be in a much bigger house with room for a bigger crowd at home. I'm looking to buy a house I can use as a photo gallery / photography studio. It has three big rooms in the front, and a nice courtyard with a fountain. Plenty of space to BBQ, chilll, talk about the festival, or just plug away at your entries.
gloom, As soon as I'm finished processing the rest of the photos, I'll send you that email. =) What sort of stats are you looking for?
dilvie: How many visitors, opening hours, what took place at the event, a little bit about the organizing behind it (history, people etc.) and if you know anything about next years event etc. Just the usual interesting tidbits. :)
SparkArts was founded in late 2006 in order to fill the void left after the collapse of the Pilgrimage demo party. Like the founders of Block Party, the founders of SparkArts had been involved to various degrees in Pilgrimage, and when it ended, we were all convinced that we could do it bigger and better.
The founders include myself, Adam Helps, Bryan Livingston,McKay Salisbury, and D. Travis North (of SceneSpot fame).
We had a few important ideas on what we could do better -- for one, we didn't want to pin all of the responsibility and hopes on one person. We wanted to delegate tasks and work as a team. Another major change we wanted to make was to generate more interest in the local community -- essentially, we wanted to revive the once thriving Utah demoscene.
Some of my best memories are from the early BBS demoscene in Utah. We had regular parties where it was possible to get together with like minded people -- ANSI artists, mod trackers, coders, etc... We used to get together regularly in person and show off our productions, collaborate, and socialize. When the internet came along, that scene evaporated virtually over night.
One major goal of SparkArts is to try to rejuivinate the local scene. There is a huge pool of talent in Utah. We have one of the most respected computer graphics programs at the University of Utah. We have a hotbed of high-tech companies and innovation here. There is an active community of professional and independent computer game developers. I learned at this year's SparkArts that there's even a class at one of the universities that dedicated an entire semester to making machinima. How cool is that?
Utah has the very real potential to become a hotbed of demoscene activity in the United States, and SparkArts can be just the catalyst we need to fulfill that potential.
We decided that in order to meet that goal, we needed to branch out. There's a saying in politics: If you're explaining, you're losing. I think the same thing goes with the demoscene in the US -- it really has remained a largely underground phenominon all this time. The fact of the matter is that most people in the US -- even most computer nerds -- have no idea what the demoscene is.
So, SparkArts isn't a demoparty. We're a digital arts festival. The distinction is mostly symantics. We have a lot of the same contests, and we encourage participation from the same group of people (artists, animators, coders, musicians). What we're trying to do here is pull all these people together who have various levels of exposure to collaboration in the digital arts (video games, etc...) and present demos as the ultimate culmination of digital art for art's sake, as opposed to art for the sake of making a marketable video game, or art for a website or product package.
Perhaps because we all started out as teenagers, we also really want to encourage young people to get involved. We're doing a lot more outreach with high school kids, for example, and there were even some very young kids (six years old) at SparkArts 2007.
Our primary goal for 2007 was to get a lot more local people involved in SparkArts -- and we did that. We broke every attendance record ever set by Pilgrimage -- with only two out-of-state visitors. The first day I'd say we had about 30-40 people. The second day, over 200 filed in and out throughout the day.
There were 33 entries, including machinima, two games programmed in one day, graphic design, photography, and music.
Next year, we're planning to alter the structure of the competition a bit. Some of the competitions will be over before the event starts. Submissions and judging will happen online. One reason for this is to cut the length of the judging and awards ceremony -- another is simply because, for things like the music competition, or the game competition, it makes sense for individuals to be in control of the experience -- to fast-forward through a song that isn't doing anything for them, for instance, or to take a video game for a test drive.
One advantage of that idea is that we can actually print and display winning entries from the graphics contests, art gallery style. I'm looking forward to having a full-blown art exhibit at the next SparkArts Festival.
Some other changes we hope to make include a major revamp of the website. We intend to simplify it considerably, for instance, and of course to make it easier to submit and judge productions online. Using photos we took this year, you'll be able to go to the website and get a sense of what SparkArts is about, meet the organizers, browse materials like past competition entries, lecture notes, and video.
I'm really excited about the potential of SparkArts, and I hope to see some great demo entries next year.
I'm interested in talking to people who might want to give talks, demonstrations, or performances at SparkArts 2008. We're already in the process of locking down the date for next year -- the venue will be the same. One thing is fairly certain, it will be a Friday and Saturday in October, the library will be open between 9:00am and 6:00pm Friday, and 9:00am - 8:00pm Saturday. I'm already planning some before and after parties for people who want to stay longer, and have some place else to meet up and celebrate when the library closes.
In the mean time, I hope to see you all at Block Party!
The founders include myself, Adam Helps, Bryan Livingston,McKay Salisbury, and D. Travis North (of SceneSpot fame).
We had a few important ideas on what we could do better -- for one, we didn't want to pin all of the responsibility and hopes on one person. We wanted to delegate tasks and work as a team. Another major change we wanted to make was to generate more interest in the local community -- essentially, we wanted to revive the once thriving Utah demoscene.
Some of my best memories are from the early BBS demoscene in Utah. We had regular parties where it was possible to get together with like minded people -- ANSI artists, mod trackers, coders, etc... We used to get together regularly in person and show off our productions, collaborate, and socialize. When the internet came along, that scene evaporated virtually over night.
One major goal of SparkArts is to try to rejuivinate the local scene. There is a huge pool of talent in Utah. We have one of the most respected computer graphics programs at the University of Utah. We have a hotbed of high-tech companies and innovation here. There is an active community of professional and independent computer game developers. I learned at this year's SparkArts that there's even a class at one of the universities that dedicated an entire semester to making machinima. How cool is that?
Utah has the very real potential to become a hotbed of demoscene activity in the United States, and SparkArts can be just the catalyst we need to fulfill that potential.
We decided that in order to meet that goal, we needed to branch out. There's a saying in politics: If you're explaining, you're losing. I think the same thing goes with the demoscene in the US -- it really has remained a largely underground phenominon all this time. The fact of the matter is that most people in the US -- even most computer nerds -- have no idea what the demoscene is.
So, SparkArts isn't a demoparty. We're a digital arts festival. The distinction is mostly symantics. We have a lot of the same contests, and we encourage participation from the same group of people (artists, animators, coders, musicians). What we're trying to do here is pull all these people together who have various levels of exposure to collaboration in the digital arts (video games, etc...) and present demos as the ultimate culmination of digital art for art's sake, as opposed to art for the sake of making a marketable video game, or art for a website or product package.
Perhaps because we all started out as teenagers, we also really want to encourage young people to get involved. We're doing a lot more outreach with high school kids, for example, and there were even some very young kids (six years old) at SparkArts 2007.
Our primary goal for 2007 was to get a lot more local people involved in SparkArts -- and we did that. We broke every attendance record ever set by Pilgrimage -- with only two out-of-state visitors. The first day I'd say we had about 30-40 people. The second day, over 200 filed in and out throughout the day.
There were 33 entries, including machinima, two games programmed in one day, graphic design, photography, and music.
Next year, we're planning to alter the structure of the competition a bit. Some of the competitions will be over before the event starts. Submissions and judging will happen online. One reason for this is to cut the length of the judging and awards ceremony -- another is simply because, for things like the music competition, or the game competition, it makes sense for individuals to be in control of the experience -- to fast-forward through a song that isn't doing anything for them, for instance, or to take a video game for a test drive.
One advantage of that idea is that we can actually print and display winning entries from the graphics contests, art gallery style. I'm looking forward to having a full-blown art exhibit at the next SparkArts Festival.
Some other changes we hope to make include a major revamp of the website. We intend to simplify it considerably, for instance, and of course to make it easier to submit and judge productions online. Using photos we took this year, you'll be able to go to the website and get a sense of what SparkArts is about, meet the organizers, browse materials like past competition entries, lecture notes, and video.
I'm really excited about the potential of SparkArts, and I hope to see some great demo entries next year.
I'm interested in talking to people who might want to give talks, demonstrations, or performances at SparkArts 2008. We're already in the process of locking down the date for next year -- the venue will be the same. One thing is fairly certain, it will be a Friday and Saturday in October, the library will be open between 9:00am and 6:00pm Friday, and 9:00am - 8:00pm Saturday. I'm already planning some before and after parties for people who want to stay longer, and have some place else to meet up and celebrate when the library closes.
In the mean time, I hope to see you all at Block Party!
I posted more photos <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/dilvie/sets/72157602444995367/">here</a>. =)
woops.. here.
Thanks. :)
