Attracting 450 people for a day of workshops, discussion, brainstorming, information-sharing, panels, art, music and dancing, ShareFest Porto Alegre was a great success. In true sharing style, the event was a group project from its inception, with organizers deciding that it should be as collaborative as possible, from the planning stages up.
Anyone with an interest in the sharing economy was invited to participate in the creation of the ShareFest. The focus of the event, which was sponsored in part by Shareable, was to promote the local collaborative economy and bring attention to local sharing projects and initiatives.
There were discussions, panels and workshops throughout the fest
For three months prior to the event, planning sessions were held at a series of open, weekly meetings at local venues. The idea for each meeting was to engage people from different backgrounds and interests so the meetings were held in many different locations including Esporo, a coworking space that fosters local projects; Nós Coworking, a coworking space focused on innovation and entrepreneurship projects; Fábrica de Ideias, a coworking/hackerspace; Meme Santo de Casa which fosters local artistic development, the Duplan House, the first and only LivingLab of Porto Alegre; and the Casa de Cultura Mário Quintana, a cultural center named after one of Porto Alegre’s best known poets.
The ShareFest was a great opportunity to make connections with other sharers
Alessandra Guglieri, one of the organizers of the fest, says that during the three months of planning and organization, the ShareFest team had the opportunity to collaborate in numerous ways and they were warmly received in all of the venues they met in. In the end, more than 80 people and 47 institutions or projects contributed to the creation of ShareFest Porto Alegre. They also gathered 1,300 followers to their Facebook page. In conjunction with the meetings, organizers mapped projects and initiatives related to sharing and collaborative processes.
Makers learning how to build (and play)
The result of all the planning and collaboration was a ShareFest that featured 50 hours of content, and space for more than 500 people doing 25 different activities. “We ended up,” says Guglieri, “creating a real festival!”
“During the public meetings we met a lot of people with knowledge and skills to share,” she says. “We realized that we had enough offers to cover a full day. The coolest thing is that during the day we had six different rooms with parallel workshops, presentations and lectures going on; everything as collaboration.”
Music adds a nice touch to any ShareFest
Free to anyone interested in the collaborative economy, the ShareFest offered a way for people to make spontaneous financial contribution for supplies and activities through an online platform called noslab, which was offered to the group through collaboration as well. Attendees were asked to bring one item of clothing or one kilogram of food to donate to Amovisa, a local organization that supports at-risk young people.
And where there's music, you can usually find dancing
The following were some of the themes of the ShareFest:
- Artistic Connections: Art as a cultural expression of society, identification element, and creativity.
- Sustainability: Our connection with the planet and our responsibility in the creation, production and distribution process on goods and services.
- Conscious Gastronomy: Awareness of the impact of our food choices on the world and within ourselves.
- Educative Fusions: Knowledge shared transversely aimed at human empowerment.
- Innovation: New perspectives and possibilities for creating solutions and models for a better world.
- Urban Mobility: Solutions, models and new ways of getting around in the city, and the impacts of this movement on our quality of life.
- Social Entrepreneurship: Initiatives, programs and actions allowing communities, cities and regions to develop through sustainable models.
Sharing tips on bicycle maintenance
When all was said and done, ShareFest Porto Alegre catalyzed the creation of “an amazing network” that worked together to create the event. In addition to creative and logistical collaboration, organizers were able to secure furniture, LCD televisions, computers, a 3D printer, food, knowledge, graphic design, printed materials and photographers.
They collected 153 pieces of clothing, six backpacks, five purses, “a lot” of toilet paper (“We wrongly forecasted and bought a lot more than we needed,” says Guglieri), 15 kilograms of beans, 22 kilograms of rice, nine kilograms of sugar, two kilograms of flour, one kilogram of coffee and two kilograms of pasta. Guglieri notes that they've reached a perfect balance of financial co-responsibility for the event, spending R$770 total and raised R$945, leaving them with R$175 for the next event.
Time for a ShareFest selfie
While organizers acknowledge that there remains a lot of work toward making the world a better place, they agree that the ShareFest, and sharing in general, is a good approach to take.
“If there is a formula or a path, for sure it passes by sharing,” says Guglieri. “Sharing knowledge, sharing responsibilities, sharing resources, sharing laughs, sharing life.” She continues, “As we said a lot here, a better world just depends on the people.”
The following people all contributed to the success of ShareFest Porto Alegre:
Alessandra Guglieri, Alison Costa, Amanda Latosinski, Andréa Prestes, Andressa Quadro, Bibiana Petek, Camile Pasqualotto Lewczynski, Carina Levitan, Cassandra Dalle Mulle, Cezar Reinbrecht, Cris Streit, Dani Costa, Daniel Caminha, Daniel Fernandes, Diana Manenti, Eros Carrasco, Fabiane Fialho, Fabíola Pecce, Federico Testa, Felipe Cabral, Felipe Bucchese, Felipe Mianes, Fernando Cotta, Fernando Flores, Fernando Freitas, Flávio Cotta, Gabriel Alves, Gabriel Aydos Maia, Gabriel Maia, Gabriel Rodrigues, Gabriela Treteski, Guilherme Rezende, Guilherme Viegas, Jayro Dornelles, José Inácio Konzen, Júlia Caon Froeder, Kátia Oliveira, Kemi Oshiro, Leandro Valiati, Leonardo Brawl, Lucas de Paris, Luiz D´Avila, Luiza Beck, Maísa Del Frari, Maitê Vallejos, Marcelo Bento, Marco Brellinger, Marco Lovatto, Marcos Delgado, Marcus Vinicius Aguiar da Silva, Mariana Wahrlich, Markus Lothar Fourier, Mathias Eidelwein, Michele Schell, Mimi Aragón, Morena Santos, Nasser Hassan, Patricia Clavijo, Patricia Lima, Patrícia Rabello, Paula Biazus, Paula Borges, Pedro Sander, Philipe Martins, Pietro Rocha, Poty Burch, Rafael Channin, Rafaela Camerini, Renata Bretano, Ricardo Yudi, Rodrigo Granja, Rúbia Bueno Barasuol, Sady Jacques, Samuel Thomaz, Saulo Fietz, Sheila Uberti, Sophia Corá, Thaís Lemos, Thomas Tschoepke Soares, Verlaine Grazziotin, Victor Hugo Reimann, Vinicius Koenig, Walker Massa, William Tempel
The following projects, institutions, organizations and companies also contributed to the success of the ShareFest:
AcquaLive, Aguiarcycles, AMOVISA, OuishareFest, Associação de Software Livre – ASL, Associação Gaúcha de Startups, Big House Web, Biz, Bodoque Produteria, Bonsai Conteúdos, Brasil27, Camp – Escola de Cidadania, Casa da Cultura Digital, Casa Liberdade, CCMQ, Coletivo Escuta, Cooperativa Mãos Verdes, Costa&Koenig Advogados Associados, Datadesk Informática, De La Madre Gastronomia, Drive Design, Dulcíssima Atelier de Doces, Engage, Esporo.cc, Fábrica de Ideias, Fil, Flor Gastronomia, Global Shapers Porto Alegre, Grafiset, Holograma, Imagi.ne, Improvida, Las Brujas, Lata Mágica, MVM Technologies, Nós Coworking, Nóslab, Pasárgada, Projeto Vizinhança, Querosene Filmes, Raíz Urbana, Sagoux, S3 Food Design, Tagarellas Audiodescrição, Translab, Tribo Viva, VH Audiovisual, Viva Sustentabilidade, Yuph!
##
All photos from the ShareFest Porto Alegre Flickr Page (CC). Follow @CatJohnson on Twitter
