Ignite London – More Speakers Announced!

We are really excited to announce the final roster of speakers for Ignite London! There are now 21 great talks confirmed from a really interesting and diverse group.

Here are four new ones to whet your appetite (the remaining talks will be announced later today or tomorrow):

John V Willshire’s talk is called If Advertising is a Firework, Social Media is a Bonfire.  John is Head of Innovation at PHD Media, which is about “the creation and cultivation of ideas through the study of social, cultural and technological trends.” Learn more about John by visiting his website or follow him on Twitter.

Sofia Pires will talk about CREATIVITY slash AUTISM. Two years ago Sofia left her job at Ogilvy & Mather in Mexico (she has also lived in Madrid) and joined Ignition, a creative unit at OMD Worldwide, based in London. She is now part of their strategy team and responsible for the company’s creative delivery – her position has also been described as “cultural sponge.” Learn more about Sofia on her websites here and here.

Matt Edgar’s talk is called 1794, So Much to Answer For. Matt works in product strategy and design leadership in web and mobile media. Before that, he was a newspaper journalist and history student. On his blog, he wonders about the history of technology and innovation; cool stuff that happens when media and print converge; and emerging patters for great mobile experiences. He lives in Leeds with his wife and three sons. To learn more, you can also follow Matt on Twitter.

Alan Smith’s Ignite London talk is called Design + Business, A Real Life Friendship. He is a co-founder at the aptly named change agency The Movement, which has offices in Toronto, London and Geneva. He works with inspired clients to blend community knowledge, business logic and design thinking. The resulting strategy, communications and interactive projects feel like artefacts from the future but always connect to the people of today.  Learn more about Alan on his website or follow him on Twitter.

Andy Kervell – Our Ignite London MC!

Just a quick note to let you know that preparations for Ignite London are moving quickly along. We are still looking for sponsors, so if you know anyone, please do put us in touch. The deadline to submit talk proposals has now passed and we have a whole roster of new speakers to announce this week, and they’re a very interesting bunch.

And now a bit on our Ignite London MC:

Andy Kervell is a digital mapping specialist currently working in SW London. He has, until recently, been working overseas in Australia and Cambodia for the last nine years on a number of issues, including landmine clearance planning, land dispute reporting and land salinity issues. Andy loves standing up and talking in front of people, especially when hosting his annual Burns Supper, so if he breaks into strangely worded poetry this evening, this may be why!

Learn more about Andy on Twitter by following @andykervell.

Ignite London Talk: Craig Smith on the Upsides and Downsides of Standards (web, language and otherwise)

We are really pleased to announce that Craig Smith of O’Reilly has agreed to give a talk at the upcoming Ignite London!

His talk is called The Upsides and Downsides of Standards (web, language and otherwise).

Craig runs the GMT blog for O’Reilly where they cover what’s going on in the developer community this side of the Atlantic. He co-runs the iPhone and Smartphone Publisher and Developers Meet-Up in London, though he says his role is more of a cheerleader than anything else. Craig is something of a music geek, playing guitar with The Scaremongers, and he had a long poem published by Rue Bella called A Quick Word With A Rock and Roll Late Starter.

To learn more about Craig, follow him on Twitter.

Ignite London Talk: Alby Reid on Operation Paul Bunyan

Alby Reid’s Ignite London talk is called Operation Paul Bunyan, about a military operation on the North-South Korean border, which involved attack helicopters, B-52 bombers and used more than 800 men to cut down a tree. Alby is a physics and science teacher who most recently spoke at the Interesting 2009 conference. Learn more about Alby by visiting his website or follow him on Twitter.

Ignite London Talk: Melissa McVeigh on Why Photography Defines Our World

Melissa McVeigh’s Ignite London Talk is called Why Photography Defines Our World.

From Melissa:

“What we remember about major events, what is fashionable, who is fashionable, our understanding of masculinity and femininity etc are defined by images. Maybe that seems a little bit obvious because photography is so ubiquitous but in some ways we undervalue it’s influence, it’s ability to mark time, even influence & change our understanding of history.”

Melissa is currently the Head of Digital at a design/digital agency in London. She loves all things digital, design and technology but her passion is photography and image-making. She studied a BA and MA in photography in Australia. Her Masters was on how we construct and define celebrity in modern fashion photography and a lot of her reading, research and thinking is framed around how photography defines our world.

To learn more about Melissa, visit her website or follow her on Twitter.