I attended two events here in Jacksonville this week. They were less than a mile apart, but in substance, focus, and success, they were not even on the same planet. One was about building walls, the other focused on building bridges.

The first presentation was a dinner meeting at the University Club, where we drank sangria, listened to a very entertaining economist present a bunch of very important charts that confirmed the good news that millennial consumers who have crushing student loans are not afraid to use their credit cards to buy dinner at upscale casual dining restaurants. The call to action was delivered by a state senator who blamed federal regulations for oppressing helpless small business owners. I got confused about the part that regulations become laws only because senators vote for them.

The second event was billed as the world's largest live crowd-funding event. One Spark, in it's third year, connected 555 creators with almost 300,000 attendees who used a killer app to vote for their favorites during the 6 day event.

Not a winner take all proposition either. If your project got 2% of the vote, you got 2% of the prize money. The app made it easy for attendees to not only vote, but actually contribute. Close to $60,000 in direct funding was raised.

These two events were held on the North and South sides of the St. Johns River and were connected by, (wait for it), the Main Street bridge. There are only two kinds of people in the world. Those who build walls and those who build bridges. The contrast in terminology made my head spin. Consumers vs creators, lobbyists vs funders, line-charts that obscure vs transparent killer apps. 

The wall builders spend so much time on defense they hardly ever score. The bridge builders create value because they are always forward looking. HIFI, the social platform, attended last year's One Spark as creators, this year as sponsors. The velosity pins my hair back. As the 2015 edition of One Spark ended creators started working on 2016. Next year they plan to include mobile device charging stations at the beer gardens. You will be able to recharge your phone and your body at the same time.

If I were you, I'd vote for the bridge builders.