On 11 March 2017 FORUM 16 representatives participated in the first crowdfunding conference in Macedonia organized by the Association Leaders for Education, Activism and Development (LEAD) Skopje.The purpose of this conference was to familiarize the citizens of Macedonia with the concept of crowdfunding as an alternative way of financing projects and ideas, and to offer skills to implement crowdfunding campaigns.
In the first part of the conference FORUM 16 volunteer Iskra Talevska and President Natasha Chavdarovska had the opportunity to hear success stories about the concept of crowdfunding. The first speaker at the conference was Ivana Krstevka, a founding member of Final Frontier Games, a creator of social games, which in 2016 implemented the most successful crowdfunding campaign to date from Macedonia. The next address was made by Luke Pishkorich founder of Poligon, a creative center from Slovenia, which is also part of the initiative “Slovenia Crowdfunding”. Mark Gregovikj founder of Brodoto, agency for social impact, specializing for campaigns, design and media, also one of the organizers of the annual Zagreb Crowdfunding Convention, in his speech stressed that the crowdfunding market is open to all kinds of ideas, from trips to starting a business. The last speaker at the conference, Sam Vaknin, stressed the importance of teamwork and collaboration with the broadest possible group of people when implementing a crowdfunding campaign.
During the second part of the conference, Iskra and Natasha presented the project “Kino Kabaret – a tool for empowerment of youth activists” for which FORUM 16 plans to start a crowdfunding campaign.
The conference was organized within the project “Sustainability through alternative ways of financing”, implemented by LEAD in partnership with the Final Frontier Games, and supported by the Foundation for Internet and Society Metamorphosis within the project “Accountability through civil engagement”with support from the British Embassy in Skopje.