Ignite London – Call for Speakers

We are looking for 20 speakers for the first Ignite London. What do you want to tell people in 5 minutes? You get 20 slides for 15 seconds a slide. They are automatically timed so you are forced to move forward when your slide does. If you’re unsure of how it works, watch a couple of videos from other Ignite events.

Please note that Ignite events are not about self-promotion. We are interested in talks that are driven by passion, not by sales. There is no limit to the kind of topics you can talk about from technology and science to the arts and everything in-between. For example, you could talk about how to bake the perfect cupcake, your favourite period of architecture, why lightning strikes metal objects, or how to build a paper aeroplane. Whatever you’re passionate about, we’d love to hear about it.

How to submit a Proposal

Email your proposal to amy@boxuk.com. Please include the following:

•            Your Name

•            Title of Your Talk

•            Brief description of what you want to talk about

•            Twitter Name (if applicable)

•            Email Address

•            Blog or Website URL

•            Short Bio – who you are and what you do

By submitting a proposal, you are agreeing that we may use your name and the title of your talk as part of Ignite London promotions.

Deadline

Proposals must be received by 6 pm on Friday, October 9, 2009. We are planning to have 20 speakers but based on the response thus far, we’re expecting to receive many more submissions then can be accommodated. We will endeavour to respond to your email within 24 hours to confirm we’ve received it.

How will selections be made?

Talks will be primarily selected based on whether the topic is interesting, inventive, creative and unique. We will also make an attempt to select a wide range of topics so that there isn’t too much overlap in terms of content.

Because of demand, each speaker will only be chosen to give one talk at Ignite London. Feel free to submit multiple proposals but keep in mind that we reserve the right to select the one you will present.

Anything overly commercial will be disqualified.

We will let you know by Friday, October 16th whether or not your presentation has been selected.

Announcement of Speakers

The first ten speakers will be chosen and announced on a rolling basis, but the final ten will not be chosen until after the deadline of October 23rd.  The earlier you submit your proposal, the more spots will be open for you to fill so get in touch soon!

About Ignite London

The first Ignite London will take place on the evening of November 18, 2009 at Ginglik at 1 Shepherds Bush Green.

Ignite was started in Seattle in 2006 by Brady Forrest of O’Reilly Radar and Bre Pettis of Make. Since then hundreds of five minute talks have been given across the world. Besides Seattle, there are thriving Ignite communities in Portland, Sydney, NYC and a lot more. The idea is simple: presenters are required to stick to a rigid format of 20 slides, each of which changes automatically after 15 seconds, ensuring that each presentation is exactly 5 minutes long. The format forces presenters to think long and hard about every slide.