The way Art Walk information is distributed is about to change. The current way information is distributed is neither timely or incomplete, it’s never been a good system You can get the information on a PDF, but you have to download it. Once you do, it’s limited to a subset of “official” events.
The other way is to pogostick from blog to blog in search of information. JaxScene does a good job, but again, it’s limited. These sources are very valuable, but there has to be a better way right?
So I created First Wednesday. First Wednesday aims to gather Art Walk events into one place. It’s decentralized, open to the community and definitely unofficial. It allows anyone; artists, vendors, retailers, etc; to list and promote Art Walk events for free.
This site is by no means comprehensive, but has the potential to be. I’ve opened the First Wednesday platform to the City and it’s artists, retailers and businesses to make it what they want. So please help me spread the word and let’s build this thing.
First Wednesday: Homepage
The homepage features a link to download the official Art Walk flyer and a link to the Art Walk website. Each event listed below has a short description, map to the venue and any extras associated with the event like free booze or bands.
That’s pretty much it. The site doesn’t have many features and doesn’t need many. I wanted to see what I could create quickly to improve the process of finding and promoting Art Walk events. The whole site took me 2 weeks from concept to completion.
Mobile Access
iPhone users can really reap the benefits of this website with Google Maps and your phone’s GPS. Let’s say you go to First Wednesday and find an event you like. Clicking the map link opens Google Maps on your phone and drops a pin on the location. Now get walking directions from where you are to where you want to go, in less than 2 minutes. Google Maps double true!
Here are two other applications. Before you head to Art Walk you can use your phone to drop pins on locations you want to visit and bookmark them. Then when you get downtown you can check out all the spots you want to hit.
Finally you can broadcast your location. Say you’re checking out Surrealville – Super Funtastic Extraordinaire at The Library and want to tell a friend where you are. Just share your location and your iPhone send an email with a map to your location. Boom!
First Wednesday: Event Detail Page
On the event detail page you’ll see a link to map the location, event extras, a full description, a flyer (if any) and a visual map. I’m not sure how much value the embedded map brings, but we’ll see. Instead of adding features like event editing and duplication detection, wanted to build something quick and then enhance it once I found out what people wanted or needed.
First Wednesday: Add Event
The great thing about First Wednesday is being able to add Art Walk events any time. You can even add events for future Art Walks. Let’s say you miss the deadline for getting on the official venue list, no worries! First Wednesday lets you add events all the way up to the day of Art Walk. Currently, I only allow people to add events for the next three Art Walks, but I’ll open it up so you can go at least 6 months in the future.
Also, there is no waiting for the official flyer to come out or approval process. You can add your event and start promoting it to people right away. I do receive an email each time an event is created so I can screen them and make edits if needed.
Wrapping Up
I hope both artists and people who attend Art Walk find this site useful. I’m not sure what will happen once I open this up to the community, but it is definitely something the City and Art Walk needed in a bad way. Please tell your friends and add your own events.
