Pick your topic, create a 20 slide deck and prepare 5 minutes to talk. That’s the concept behind Ignite. In 2006 by Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis started Ignite in Seattle Washington and since has spread all over the world. The talks can be anything geeks are passionate about. And when I say “geeks” I’m not just referring to computer geeks. These are, art geeks, food geeks, social media geeks, you name it. You never know what to expect in some of these talks. The one thing you can count on is that you will learn something new. And for me, that’s when I get geeked.
This past Friday Ignite Columbus 3 took place at The Ohio State University in Mendenhall Labatory. It was a great venue for Ignite Columbus. I particularly enjoyed the theater style lecture hall. Made me feel like I was back on campus in school, especially after the Mathematical Infinity talk that Bobby Whitman gave. Which I actually enjoyed since that is one type of geek that I am. Although as much as I like technology and math my favorite Ignite of the evening was given by Matt Slaybaugh, “Columbus Artists Need You (Even More Than You Think)”.
SPEAKER LIST
- Matt Barnes – American acculturation as new civic and national identity
- Ryan Bauer – “Too Many” Great Ideas!?!
- Tom Carpenter – From Poverty to Passion
- Malcolm Lanham – To YOU Who is Jesus?
- Angie Meeker – The Iraq You’ve Never Seen
- Andrew Miller – A New Social Movement I Call Digitalocracy
- Matt Slaybaugh – Columbus Artists Need You (Even More Than You Think)
- Anthony Trippe – Why Patents Matter to Entrepreneurs
- Bobby Whitman – Mathematical Infinity
Gotta give a shout out to the two guys behind Ignite Columbus, Alvin Boromeo (The270) and Dan Rockwell (have doodle | meh porn). They do a great job of putting this together at great locations with food and drink and tons of people willing to talk about what they know.
Update: I almost forgot. After Ignite, a couple dozen of us headed over to Park Street Patio for FREE pitchers of beer and some live entertainment. Good times had by all.
Photos from Ignite Columbus 2
Creative Commons photo credits from Flickr: Alvin Boromeo – Wyliemac
