The first Ignite Indianapolis was a huge success!
If you aren’t familiar with Ignite, it’s a series of rapid-fire presentations by people with something to share. The catch? Each speaker prepares a 20 slide presentation and the slides automatically advance every 15 seconds. It’s stressful for the speaker, but the time restraint encourages concise, big-picture presentations about, well, anything. If you’ve got something to say and the guts to stand up in front of a crowd for five minutes, well, we’ll listen. It’s a blast. (more history on Ignite) (The format is nearly identical to PechaKucha – which also is one heck of a good time.)
Ignite is about experiencing a whirlwind of ideas while simultaneously meeting all kinds of interesting people in your city – from CEO’s to college students to bison farmers.
Ken Cristie, President, The 543 Group (photo cred. @NeluLazar)
The event was held at the Indy Fringe Theater right off of Massachusetts Ave. The venue wasn’t huge but offered a nice intimate feel; The perfect size for our first Ignite. The room had a very nice stage at the front, professional lighting and sound, and a cash bar in the back. I thought of taking photos but I wanted to focus on the people and the presentations (I spend too much time behind the lens already).
I have to commend each of the 12 speakers – each presentation was either entertaining, informative, or some combination of the two. I felt engaged during all 12 talks, and everyone applauded sincerely after each presentation. Bravo!
My favorite presentation was given by Daniel Poynter (a recent Purdue grad, like myself. Boiler up!). Daniel talked about a side project he has in the works called Six Degrees of Awesome – a series of interviews with an interesting twist. Here’s how it works:
First, he interviewed the most awesome person he knew. At the end of that interview he asked them, “Who is the most awesome person you know?” He then reached out to that person and interviewed them. Again, at the end of the interview he asked the same question, “Who is the most awesome person you know?” And so the trail of interviews continues.
He’s following a trail of awesome people, collecting interviews and insights along the way. To stay updated on the project and get in on the awesomeness, check out sixdegreesofawesome.com.
Ideas for next year’s Ignite
I want to congratulate Pat Coyle on an impressively solid launch of what will hopefully be the first of many Ignite Indianapolis events. I had the chance to talk with Pat afterwards and it was exciting to hear his ideas for improving the next event.
Allow use of cell phones!
In the same breath that Pat said “welcome” he also said “please turn cell phones off.” This caught a lot of people (read as “everyone”) off guard. Something about the phones interfering with the wireless mics?
Don’t take my technology away from me. I get hostile.
This caused some thick tension right off the bat. Not the laid back, warm and fuzzy welcome I was hoping for. How are cell phones operating on the same frequency as wireless mics? Fail. I suspect this was a ploy to encourage us to stay focused on the speaker. 
If you’ve ever been to a PechaKucha you know this is the polar opposite of the vibe there – where the speaker is guaranteed no attention unless they earn it and the tweets flow freely.
Wi-Fi
Not super important, but it would have been useful in the case that people can’t use cell phones.
Open attendance
The event was exclusive to members of the social networking site Smaller Indiana. I talked with Pat about this and he gave me his perspective. He didn’t really know what to expect and wanted to make the first Ignite a bit smaller and more controlled experience before unleashing it 100%. I can understand that. It was a bit cumbersome to explain to my friends though… “No, you can’t attend unless you join this social networking site called Smaller Indiana.”
Pat said the next Ignite will have an open registration process through a web app such as Event Brite.
Don’t limit attendance
People missed out because the event was “booked.” There was even a waiting list. Turns out there were empty seats. I’d rather have people sitting in the aisles, standing in the back, and standing on their tippy toes in the doorway than have empty seats.
Music
Upbeat music playing before the show, between speakers, and during intermissions would have encouraged the vibe. Speaking of between speakers…
Give more time between speakers
I like to discuss each speaker with the people around me – if even for 2 minutes. Sometimes there was less than 30 seconds between speakers! I don’t want a full-on intermission between each presentation, but maybe at least time to send a tweet and talk more with the people around me.
Success
I had a great time and feel proud to be a part of the first Ignite Indianapolis. I want to thank all of the excellent speakers which included Ken Christie, Dustin Wortman, Ann Edwards, Joe Wikert, Stacie Porter-Bilger, Daniel Poynter, Jason Moriber, Kevin Makice, Bob Mattax, Brian Shafer, Dan Miller, and Doug Karr. Bravo!
I also want to thank Pat for organizing the event and for being our emcee.
Pat mentioned organizing the next Ignite Indianapolis soon (this summer?) – maybe I’ll give a presentation next time around. Hmm…
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