Changing the World Starting in Austin Thesparkaustin.com 1
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Key Idea: Showcasing Showrooming means going into a store to look at a product but buying it online. Showcasing means trying a product in an inventory- free “store” and ordering it for home delivery or downloading. 11
At the Same Time, in Austin … 12
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In the headlines Dec. 8, 2015 21
Austin residents spend $1 billion per year on Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation outside the home. Our 26 million visitors spend another $500 million. Yet a recent Austin Business Journal survey of almost 400 respondents rated Austin “D” or “F” for the quality of our museums. 22
The solution: Austin’s Innovation Experience 23
The Spark 40,000 Square Foot Space in Austin Targeted Opening 2017 Targeted Attendance 400,000+/Year Targeted Ticket Price $15 3 Keys: Stories – Showcase – Events Supported by Café and Retail Shop Includes Robotics and Drone Arena Includes Auditorium with Stage 24
Stories Showcase Events Engaging, ever-changing Embedded in Stories and Almost continuous stories replace traditional Events, sponsors and weekend and weeklong exhibits exhibitors strut their events around themes latest stuff Each focuses on now, new, Each focuses on now, new, Each focuses on now, new, and forthcoming and forthcoming and forthcoming innovations innovations innovations Allow visitors to try, Allow visitor to try, touch, Allow visitors to try, touch, play play touch, play Include historical Sponsors and Exhibitors Ties to local schools with perspective and look at pay space rental and robotics competitions, job more distant future commissions fairs, etc. Focus on innovators, how Our team selects the most Weekend events for major & why, human stories exciting innovations to local innovators: Dell, put on show Samsung, UT, City, State Stories are unified by Showcase is unified by Hackathons, Maker themes, the dots are themes, the dots are events, … connected connected 25
Stories About People (Innovators) Top: Elon Musk, Hedy Lamarr, Sol Price Bottom: Fred Smith, Leonardo Da Vinci, Walt Disney 26
Stories: Innovation Across Society Key Topics for Austin Location Agriculture Electronics Music Architecture/Construction Energy Photography/Video Art Finance Printing Astronomy/Space Food/Cooking/Nutrition Religion/Spirituality Chemistry/Physics Innovation @ Home Retailing/Restaurants Clothing/Textiles Innovation @ Office Social Media Communications Journalism/Publishing Sports/Athletics Cosmetics Games Toys Crime/Law Enforcement Medicine/Biology/Health Transport/Mobility Education Movies/Television War/Defense 27
Connecting the Dots Discovering Patterns Who was the innovator? Gender, location, age, education, … Where did the idea come from? Research, accident, need, … What served this purpose before this innovation? Major Category of Innovation? Product, service, idea, method Type of Innovation? Additive, subtractive, transpositional, … How long did it take? Institutional setting? Corporate, startup, solo innovator, … How big/pervasive is/was the innovation? How was it distributed/disseminated/diffused? How was the innovation financed? Entrepreneurial strategy? Low cost, higher quality, good design 28
Interactive, Family Friendly, Visually Exciting, Surprising 29
Traditional Museums Immersive Experiential Education /Storytelling Close at 5 PM Open evenings when customers are free Open 6 days a week Open 7 days a week Donors and critics the priority Visitors the priority Own building, using capital Lease building, flexibility Static, permanent “exhibits” Ever-changing, fresh “stories” Focus on objects and Focus on people and technologies evolutionary processes Passive, read and take it in Active, try, touch, experiment, play Ideas are driven by curators Ideas are driven by both staff from above and our visitors Feels like an encyclopedia A magazine or movie Weak on narrative, storytelling Storytellers Gift shop and café tacked on Integrated visitor experience One location Investment and expense 30 savings from building a chain
Individualized Experiences: Each Visitor has multiple options Play our scavenger hunt, customized to your age and interests. Get course credit for passing a quiz at the end of your visit. Our automated tickets and apps allow you to see the things you are most interested in. Participate in various adventures and games. Be part of our “Guinea Pig” program to playtest games etc. Special events for your group. 31
Showcase Companies, schools, universities, students, independent innovators, Kickstarter and Indiegogo ideas, and governments show off their innovations and tell their stories of innovators to the general public for periods short or long. New and future products, services, and features can also be tested on our hundreds of thousands of visitors. 32
Sponsor/Vendor Revenue Streams Space/table rental fees Contribution of exhibits, trade show displays Staffing and maintenance fees Commission and affiliate income Focus group and guinea pig fees Corporate events and parties General sponsorship and advertising Co-promotion (e.g., half price tickets at Tesla dealership drives more attendance) 33
Events 34
Booming MakerFaires attract Over 1 million per year 35
In Austin This Year: MiniMakerFaire Two Days May 8,000+ Attendees @ $18/adult Classic Game Fest Two Days July 5,000+ Attendees @ $10 SXSW Create and Game Expo Three Days March 79,000+ Attendees Free 36
Types of Events Open to public, organized by others (MakerFaire, SXSW) Open to public, organized by The Spark Corporate and private meetings and parties Performances and concerts Competitions and contests, including robotics and drones Classes and hackathons Meetups, club and community meetings 37
Events 38
Example Schedule Date Event 4 th Weekend September Fall Job Fair 1 st Weekend October IBM Fest, innovations, IBM employee discount 2 nd Weekend October AISD Innovation EXPO 3 rd Weekend October GameEXPO (4/ year) 4 th Weekend October UT McCombs Showcase 1 st Weekend November Dell Fest 2 nd Weekend November Fall Food & Fabric Fest (2/year) 3 rd Weekend November Biotech and Medicine EXPO 4 th Weekend November Robotics competition (2/year) 39
Working with Schools Robotics competitions Science Fairs Job and Placement Fairs Recruiting and admissions events Art, music, other competitions Events for each school district Special programs for class field trips Integrate our message with the school lessons Provide space for events and meetups 40
Our Team: Founder Gary Hoover 41
A History of Creating Engaging Customer Experiences In the 1980’s, the average US chain bookstore had revenues of about $500,000. In 1982, Gary and colleagues founded BOOKSTOP, whose first store in Austin did $1.8 million the first year. 7 years later, the company operated 26 stores from Miami to San Diego averaging almost $3 million per store, and was bought by Barnes & Noble. 42
A History of Creating Engaging Customer Experiences In the 1990’s, the average US travel agency sold $1 million worth of tickets, and the top performers sold $3 million. Gary and colleagues founded TravelFest, whose first store in Austin did over $9 million the first year. Despite winning many awards, this concept failed when the airlines stopped paying commissions. 43
A History of Attracting the Finest Talent in the Industry When BOOKSTOP was sold for $41.5 MM and Hoover’s was sold for $117 MM, the buyers kept the great teams we had assembled. So far, The Spark has assembled 17 Advisors with diverse, relevant talent. 44
Advisors: Students of Innovation Name Expertise Name Expertise John Arlotta Brand Experiences, Lynne Perry Kincaid Marketing, Marketing, Retail Community Building Glenn Astolfi Retail, Finance, Bill Leake Technology, Social Education Media, Marketing Zeke Brill Game/Interactive Adam Lipman Biotech, Education, Design Technology, Operations Alan Chai Retail, Finance Mary Maltbie Experience/Game Design, Project Mgt. Amanda Dewoody Medicine/Health Robert Matney Technology, Theatre Douglas Ferguson Technology, Music Dave Stanwick Social Media, History Izzy Flores Robotics, Education, Arnie Weissmann Storytelling, Tourism Music Russell Foltz-Smith Technology, Leslie Wolke Website, Museum & Education Wayfinding Design Temp Keller Education, Finance And many are 45 parents!
We are presently seeking the ideal building to lease. Our team includes commercial real estate experts Don Cox and Chris Oddo, construction veteran Patrick Flynn of Flynn Construction, and top architectural firm Barley/Pfeiffer. 46
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