How Glow Can You Go?

It’s one thing to be a sparkle pony; it’s quite another to be a Darkwad. Don’t be a darkwad, Burners. Please. If you won’t glow, don’t go. No matter how fucked up you get, surely you can activate at least one blinky light on your person.

Anyway, there’s no need to fret, n00bies. Lighten up! Ben G from Glowyshit.com wants to sort you out. Need some glow? You can find him at White Ocean’s camp, 10 o’clock between Cinammon and Darjeeling.

This year, Ben is taking the glow to another level. He’s throwing a convention in San Francisco called Glowcon – billed as the world’s first convention for glowy technology. And about time too!

It’s at the Mos-glow-ny center…just kidding. Venue is in negotiation and has not been finalized yet. Quite how they’re going to be showcasing lasers and UV lighting effects will be interesting to see…presumably they turn the main lights off, and the black lights on.

Ben says:

Last year you covered the Glowing Away party I threw with White Ocean:

http://burners.me/2013/08/13/white-ocean-glowing-off/

This year I’m throwing something much bigger and much more ambitious.  The weekend before Burning Man (Saturday August 16th), I’m teaming up with a bunch of technologists, entrepreneurs, and burners to throw GlowCon 2014– the world’s first convention for glowy technology.  The convention will be held in San Francisco\, the heart of all things Burning Man and Technology. [venue TBD]

There’s going to be a ton of new light technology on display, from crazy lasers to programmable LEDs, to wearables that light up. We’re going to showcase everything from independent inventors all the way up to giant corporations that make the glowy shit burners love, as well as showcasing amazing works of art from Burning Man camps old and new.

The main thing we’re looking for right now is creators, inventors, and entrepreneurs who want to showcase and/or sell their glowy creations to the burner community.  Individuals and organizations interested in registering a booth or showcasing their work should apply before all the spots are taken up:

http://www.glowcon2014.com/apply.html

Who’s behind the event?  A bunch of burners who love technology:

Ben Greenberg (Me) —  GlowyShit.com creator and Engineer at Lyft
Matt Earnest aka Disco Lyft — community leader at Lyft and known for his glowy mustache car 
Devon Meyers — an independent inventor of hardware-controlled and wearable LEDs.   He’s deep in the Maker’s Faire and Burner community and has worked on dozens of burner/glow projects.

Maybe you can catch a ride to Glowcon in the Disco Lyft.

Will Lighting Luminaries Lumigeek be giving a keynote? Instead of TED talks, they can have LED talks…

Burners sure do love their glowy shit – in fact, it is essential on the Playa. Even if you’re too cool to be a raver, you need glow. Let others find you, so you don’t get run over by a bike or an art car. And help you find your friends on the dance floor. Bringing one item isn’t enough – if you’re going to be out there for a week, you’re gonna need a ton of glow. Burners generally prefer battery-operated glow to MOOPy single-use glowsticks that get discarded or dropped after a few hours. But don’t let the Burnier-than-thous dim your shine – if it glows, it’s good, in my book.

This event sounds fantastic, and kudos to Ben for putting it together. White Ocean are 2 for 2 right now: come on, other camps, what you got?