This takes us back to the very first Ignite London! and what a night it was! Ignite London #1 was held in London at Ginglik bar in Shepherd’s Bush on Wednesday, 18th of November and it was awesome! I was in amongst the throng of the capacity crowd and this was a very good talk indeed. 1794 – So Much to Answer For by Matt Edgar
why we like it?
Dave says: 1794 is not a year that most people would recognise as an important year in history. As Matt Edgar highlights in this fascinating talk from Ignite London 1, the collision of a number of people in that very short space of time heralded important innovations in technology and thought. A classic example of how Ignite can help you discover the overlooked. And as good as Matt looks in his, if you are thinking of speaking at Ignite London 3, you don’t have to wear a waistcoat.
Got that friday feeling? excellent now watch this!
Restoring The Archimedes Palimpsest by Will Noel
Why we like it?
Claire says: this is brilliant, he loves the subject, as do I, digital image processing of manuscripts is amazing and he presents the process really well. He manages to fit ten years work into 5 minutes! Engaging the viewer in a world of mathematics, conservation and academia with ease, making it palatable and most importantly really interesting and exciting. (beware there is some swearing in the first 20seconds)
Are you thinking “Pah! I can do that”
Got something interesting to share? 20 slides in 5minutes Enlighten us, but make it quick.
What do you want to tell people in 5 minutes?
We’re going to be calling for speakers for Ignite London #3 soon…
Every Friday we will be sharing some of our favourite Ignite video’s from the global Ignite network, theres lots out there! This week we have been looking at Ignite Phoenix, so here is a brilliantly titled presentation from Ignite Phoenix #6:
What does the hard hat and Wonder Woman have in common?
Why we like it?
Claire says: the title, for one, is brilliant, secondly the presenter, Stacy Holmstedt, is wearing a fabulous dress. But mostly I really like her slides, I like the fact that she has taken the comic book concept and ran with it. Plus you learn some pretty cool stuff from it. Who knew the same guy invented Wonder Woman and the blood pressure monitor!?
Phoenix is really hot in June. My partner and I are currently on a year long, around the world journey and recently spent six weeks there visiting family and taking in enough sunshine to make up for the last two years in London. The desert was beautiful, the politics of the place a bit scary but the thing we noticed most of all was how isolated we felt where we were staying way out on the northern edge of Scottsdale, which is on the northern edge of Phoenix. Although it’s the fifth largest city in the US, Phoenix doesn’t really feel like a buzzing cosmopolitan centre; it’s too spread out and there’s no real, thriving downtown area that binds all the disparate suburbs together. Where were the young people? Where was everything happening?
On our last night in town, we were happy to find that there is actually a thriving community in Phoenix: designers, foodies, techies, geeks, cyclists and artists. And they all came together for one night at Ignite Phoenix 7. There were 18 talks, all focusing on ‘the art of’ something – very appropriate give the venue: the lovely Phoenix Art Museum. Although I love having our Ignite London events in dark little pubs – something that seems somehow appropriate for London – I really liked the marrying of an Ignite event with a museum. There was such a diverse crowd at the event and in-between talks, networking, beer and barbecue (I’ll get back to that), I think everyone fell a little bit in love with the museum and it’s friendly staff, quirky outdoor sculptures and stunning gallery spaces.
Right, barbecue. Anyone who has been to the southern states knows that there is barbecue to be had down there that is not easily replicated in other places. It’s a special culinary skill and not something that can be learned easily. Joe’s Real BBQ, the caterer for the night, obviously has some experts on staff because it was tasty and tender (the mark of really good barbecue). From the pork and chicken sliders to the homemade coleslaw and bakes beans, it was messy, messy perfection; the perfect accompaniment to the bright green margaritas they were serving behind the bar.
Ignite Phoenix 7 had a capacity of 600 people, which they sold out in under 20 minutes. An event of this size is not easy to pull off and this was reflected in the group of people organising it. The formal committee has about 15 people filling various roles from fundraising and volunteer coordination to speaker coach (yes, they actually have one of those) and on the night of the event, another twenty or so volunteers sign up to help as needed throughout the night. The flip side of having an event of this size is that, because of the cost, it isn’t free. Tickets were $10 each and, in my opinion, well worth the price. It is a conundrum though and one we’ve struggled with at Ignite London – do we keep the event small and free (and as a result be forced to turn some people away because they don’t have tickets), or do we grow the event and charge a fee to recoup some of the costs? Feel free to comment and let us know what you think.
There were so many things to love about Ignite Phoenix and it really speaks to the strength of the event concept (thanks O’Reilly!). There aren’t a lot of places where you can hear someone talk about The Art of Ghost Hunting, The Art of Creativity in a Prison Wasteland and The Art of Bastardizing Culinary Traditions all in the same night. Ignite is about people who are passionate enough to come together and share their excitement with a room of strangers; it’s amazing what you can take away from a five minute talk and where it can lead you.
After the talks were over, as we sat in the beautiful outdoor sculpture court of the Phoenix Art Museum listening to a live band play, with barbecue sauce dripping down our chins, our lips salty from margaritas, I felt that through Ignite we’d finally found a vital part of Phoenix. It took six weeks, but we left feeling like we’d learned more about that place and the people who live there in one night than in the 40 odd nights before.
All images by Amy Thibodeau. Please do not use them without proper attribution.
Amy Thibodeau is the co-founder of Ignite London, along with Dan Zambonini. She is a freelance writer, photographer and content strategist who is currently on a one-year around the world journey. You can find Amy online on her personal blog Making Strange, guest blogging for The Januarist, on Twitter, and via her online photography project Lost and Looking.
We are pleased to announce our fantastic venue for the third Ignite London event! The Luminaire in Kilburn will be the venue sponsor for Ignite London 3 on 28th September at 7pm. Get the date in your diaries now!
We are really excited about this venue, it proved to be a fantastic space for Ignite London 2 , it has a brilliant atmosphere, and the owner is very supportive having delivered an Ignite style talk himself .
Luminaire has won lots of awards for being a great venue: In February 2006, just eleven months after opening, Time Out magazine named The Luminaire as its Live Venue of The Year and in March 2007, two years after opening, it won Music Week’s UK Venue of The Year award. After seeing Luminaire in action as part of ignite london 2 we can understand why – it really is a great place and is a perfect fit for ignite, for our speakers and audience alike. So we are back again! Brilliant.
Details about The Luminaire can be found on their website.
The address is 311 Kilburn High Road, London, NW6 7JR and it is less than 5 minutes walk from Kilburn tube station (Jubilee Line) and Brondesbury station (London Overground).
A call for speakers for this event will follow soon, with all the details, how, where and why to submit your proposal. So all you budding speakers out there, get ready to rumble!
And now for a video break:
Fighting Dirty In Scrabble – Mehal Shah
Why we like it?
Dave says: A classic bit of geekery that makes you rethink your approach. Should help me beat my uber-competitive friend Laura for once. Unless she watches it too.
