Thing 358 Ignite Talks

Alright, I'll grant you that's a very grainy photo, but I don't think the ones that I took are any better, so Surfer Girl's come up with the goods, while Lou Lou has my camera. I'm a disorganised mess. Still, this is a cool event and it's a smashing idea. It's more of a Galway idea than a Limerick one, as in, it's the kind of thing you'd expect to find in Galway, but it was a sensation for Limerick. It's called Ignite Night.

Last night there were nine speakers. Each had a topic close to their heart. They each get five minutes to talk about their given topic while twenty different slides, each changing after fifteen seconds, play behind them. There's no longer than five minutes per speaker, so you can't possibly get bored, and every fifteen seconds you've a new photo/slide to look at.

If you're not getting the gist of what I'm saying, or couldn't be arsed exercising your imagination, then here's a little link that'll help. It's Ignite Night in Seattle, and a funny man is talking about how science is ruining his childhood... CLICKETY CLICK.

It's an amazing idea though, for a few reasons. Firstly, it's not for profit. No one makes money, miLKlabs, the collaborative responsible for setting up the event spent some serious money on putting it on, only to make no money. So if there's no money to be made, why is it on? Literally just so people can share ideas. Nothing else. Well, not nothing else, you're there to have some fun too, but mainly the idea sharing. No cover charge, free in.

Secondly, there's no limit or constraints on what gets talked about. It could literally be anything. In my case it was public humiliation in The Project. The guy on before me talked about weather information processed correctly can be turned into music through computers and programming. The guy before that talked about the music recording computer program he wrote. Try following two technical genii with some nonsense about embarrassing yourself in public. It was embarrassing, ironically enough.

Thirdly, the people there are there for the same reason you are, which is that they're interested in sharing something for no reason other than they think you might get a laugh. What the hell is wrong with that? Plus, it's another one of those alternative to drink things that are really out there if that's your thing.

Now for all the crap and junk in the Project that I've done that's embarrassing, and I talked about that stuff at length, you'd think there'd be nothing left in me to shame. Sadly, this is not true. I was terrified of the thing. I was freaking out over it. Me? Having a problem talking for five minutes? Are you serious? I never shut up. This should have been a cake walk. Instead I was freaking out and my palms were sweaty.

I was pleased about how it went though. I didn't completely fail, and there was some fun had. I want another one. I want Ignite talks. And not just so I can run my mouth, ones that I can turn up to and just see other people talking. Anyone hear of any in their area. Let me know.