Someday, Durham and Triangle backers may look back on a “beer conversation” as the starting point for a cultural event that rivals SXSW.
The brainchild of several leading thinkers and promoters in the Bull City is a two-day festival planned for June 6-7 called “Paradoxos,” a “maximum collision of people and ideas.”
The unconventional name represents the fledgling efforts of groups in Durham and the Triangle to put together a cultural and technology showcase that might do for this area what South by Southwest has become for Austin, Texas – a phenomenally successful means of celebrating and promoting it to the world.
“Let’s celebrate everything that is going on,” says Chris Heivly, co-director of The Triangle Startup Factory and an organizer of multiple other kinds of events such as Tech Jobs Under the Big Top where companies try to recruit workers. “We want artists, musicians, food, technology, and fun.
“It’s not overly Durham, and it’s not overly tech,” he adds. “Let’s broaden that out.”
SXSW is the inspiration, and its success a driving factor in the creation of Paradoxos with various groups sharing calendars and resources to put together two days of fun, food, block parties, business and talk about the Next Big Thing – all in Downtown Durham. Heivly and other started a conversation about collaboration over a beer. That initial talk ignited a rush to put together a plan.
Heivly, Casey Steinbacher of the Durham Chamber, Joan Siefert Rose of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, and Adam Klein of the American Underground, Matthew Coppedge of Downtown Durham, other people and groups are among those pitching in to shape the Paradoxos concept.
Steinbacher likes the Paradoxos term since it points to bringing together creative people, or as Heivly describes it: A place where the ”Triangle’s best and brightest misfits collide.”
The groups and individuals are seeking to take all the “buzz” about Durham – from being a “tastiest town” to one of “America’s smartest cities” – to higher levels of recognition, thus bringing job seekers, new businesses and more economic growth.
Klein, Coppedge and Steinbacher are still reveling on the attention that Durham received at the global Chamber of Commerce event in Qartar where the “World’s Smallest Office,” or “The Smoffice ” (which is snuggled into the front of the downtown Beuy Cafe) won the top economic development prize.
But none has any intention of resting. Paradoxos will combined Heivly’s “Pitch Day” for the current startups completing the business accelerator program at the Startup Factory with a TED-event like series of discussions organized by Steinbacher. Music, beer and food will serve as the overall links to the showcase.
“We want to plant the best creative and entrepreneurial minds in a cool downtown space and see what happens,” said Klein. “When you add in Durham’s great food, beer, and music that’ll be on display, this festival will be part spectacle and part community building—ripe for new ideas. We want to create an event that brings together the diverse talents from across the community and make everyone feel at home.”
