Effort showcasing failure stories sets up during auto show this week

DETROIT (AP) - An effort to showcase individual and personal stories of failure will be in Detroit during the auto show.

Failure:Lab organizers say the aim is to eliminate the stigma around failure and encourage risk-taking. Events include short stories and performances.

"Failure:Lab offers a unique convergence of ideas and perspectives, and foster creativity and professional growth, long after the events end," Jordan O'Neil, co-founder of Failure:Lab, said in a statement.

One of the highlights of Failure:Lab's 2016 calendar is this Thursday's event at a temporary downtown venue called "Michigan House." It happens as previews are taking place for this year's North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center.

At the Detroit event, scheduled participants include Fiat Chrysler design chief Ralph Gilles, artist Sabrina Nelson and Lawrence Technological University Professor Wesley Taylor.

Failure:Lab says its other marquee events this year are in March at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, and in May at Vivid Sydney in Australia. Other Failure:Lab events are planned in the U.S. and India.

In the past year, Failure:Lab has grown to encompass dozens of independently produced events around the world, noted co-founder Jonathan Williams.

"Failure:Lab is rapidly expanding because it's a platform that presents the rawness of an individual's struggle, but never the answers. This open-ended, vulnerable truth allows the audience to create parallels of understanding in their own lives," Williams said.

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Online:

http://www.failurelab.com.

Published: Wed, Jan 13, 2016