Ignite 4
Mar 8th
Right, I’m blogging about this. I wasn’t going to, but I feel the urge to now, so here goes….
Firstly, I ask you to consider one thing. Could you stand on stage, in front of 100 strangers and talk about something that you are passionate about?
I suspect most of us would say “No way“. With that in mind……..
What is Ignite? Let me tell you (well, let O’Reilly tell you as it is….!)
Ignite goes global—from March 1-5, 2010, 50+ Ignites will take place in cities around the world. Upwards of 10,000 entrepreneurs, technologists, DIYers, creative professionals, and enthusiastic knowledge-seekers will gather in local pubs, theaters, and other convivial venues for an evening that is a unique blend of networking, information, and fun, encapsulated in the Ignite motto: “Enlighten us, but make it quick.”
In talks that are exactly five minutes long, Ignite presenters share their personal and professional passions, using 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds.
Understand now? Cool. So this was Cardiff’s 4th Ignite, after 3 pretty awesome ones (2 in particular because of the speakers 
). I know how hard it is to get up on stage, in front of 100 – 150 people (most of them strangers) and talk about something that is passionate to you. You’re never going to please everyone.
The planning and effort that goes into organising these events is epic. My input was minimal (really, setting up the slides, and introducing people on stage. Oh and buying the speakers drinks if I could find them!). The effort that Claire Scantlebury and Neil Cocker put in, along with Rob Ashelford at the WMC was insane. And yes, it was all done in their free time, to make the evening good for everyone who came. Also a massive thanks to Ruby Samba, who kindly played at the after party in Ffresh, absolutely amazing.
And all in all, I think it was a good event. Ok, so some of the speakers were different. But if it was the same every time, then people wouldn’t want to come, would they? Variety is the spice of life. One of the best things about Ignite is that as the hosts, we get to see the slides before the event, but have no idea what people are actually going to stand up and say. It’s as exciting for us as it is for you!
So yes, after this event one journalist wrote an article that, in my opinion, was a bit harsh. But, that is my opinion on that article, and I’m entitled to it, just as they are entitled to write what they did. What upset me was that it got published on a popular website with such appalling grammar and spelling, even getting names wrong, and using old pictures from previous events. I just think if you’re going to be critical, at least get the basics right out of respect. But that doesn’t reflect badly on me, I didn’t write it. That’s all.
Personally, I think the only fault from this event was that we didn’t have more speakers. And to be honest, we were let down at the last minute with this, which is a risk you take when everything going on is voluntary.
And that’s Ignite, a free event, where 95% of the people there come for the social side of it, and to hopefully be enlightened by the speakers. If it doesn’t float your boat, that’s absolutely fine, and lets not be too harsh about Journalists, after all, it’s their job to spark opinions, get people talking etc, it’s just unfortunate that it’s Ignite that got picked on this time.
So that’s that. A massive thanks to all the speakers, and to everyone who came along. It takes a lot of guts and courage to stand up on stage and discuss something you are passionate about.
Now ask yourself, “Could I do that?”
If the answer is “Yes“, then get in touch, Ignite Cardiff 5 is already in the pipeline 
Video of moi!?
Oct 31st
Unfortunately so! This is the video from the talk I did at Ignite Cardiff 3. I won’t go into detail, other than the basics:
- 20 Slides
- Auto rotate every 15 seconds
- Karaoke Style (Claire and Neil made the slides, I had 2 days to write the “content” for the talk)
Enjoy (if you can!)
Ignite Cardiff #3
Oct 17th
Ok, so, last Thursday I did another talk at Ignite Cardiff, (the 3rd Ignite in Cardiff, my second Ignite talk). This talk was different to the previous one, because it was a “Karaoke” talk. Unfortunately (or fortunately for the people watching), this didn’t involve any singing on my behalf (although, thanks to earlier speakers, the singing was covered!) Karaoke presentations involve the organisers (the amazing @Claire_s and @neil_raygun, from @boxuk and @nocci) creating a set of random slides, and myself and Rob (the other Karaoke speaker) having 3 days to create our talks (on anything we like) to match the slides.
Needless to say, 3 days of prep turned in to one night or mad googling (whilst England were playing….distractions!) to try and find something that would match the most random slides ever. Not helped by the fact that one of the slides, I can’t look at because I will start to giggle, and those of you who know me will know that once I start, I can’t stop.You’ll notice in the videos / images linked below that I’m holding my book. Yes, its naff doing a presentation with notes to prompt you, but my memory is poo, especially on a subject I know / knew nothing about it!!
Cut a long story short, Ignite Cardiff 3 was amazing, as always. All the speakers were awesome, anyone who has talked at Ignite before will appreciate how hard it is to stand up in front of 200 people and talk, so fair play to everyone that takes part.
Hopefully (or not) my speech will be online in Video format very soon, but for now, check out these videos of other Ignite speakers from the evening. or have a gander through some of the photos.
Ace all round
Mark
x
Ignite Cardiff 3
Oct 14th
It’s Ignite Cardiff 3 tomorrow evening, at the Wales Millennium Centre (18.30 start). For those of you who haven’t heard of Ignite, or if you want more information about the event, try one of the following links :
http://www.cardiffwebscene.com/
So, at the last Ignite, I did a talk on Twitter trends for Cardiff, and I really enjoyed it! So this time, I’m doing whats called “Ignite Karaoke”. To quote Claire….
When we came to announcing dates for Ignite Cardiff #3, along with new speakers a couple of our previous Ignite speakers got in touch saying they had such a good time before that they’d love to speak at Ignite again – but also wanted to give the newbies a chance.
Not wanting to say no I discovered that a lot of Ignites in the States run ‘Ignite Karaoke’ presentations, where I (as Ignite organiser) would put together a slide deck of random slides and our volunteers (in this case the lovely Mark Stevenson – @mstevenson83 and Rob May – @robwmay) then have to talk to my slides. They can talk about anything they like, but they only see the slides 3 days in advance of the event so have very little time to prepare.
And right now, I’m sat here with 20 slides in front of me, and absolutely no idea what to talk about. SOOOOO, if you have nothing better to do tomorrow evening, come along to Ignite and watch all the other amazing speakers…..and then have a laugh at my expense as I try to bumble my way through, what could well be, the most embarrassing 5 minutes of my life so far!!
Hopefully I’ll be able to upload the slides on Friday, with an outline of what I talked about……but that’s a long way away….!!
Wish me luck (I’m sure Rob could do with some luck too if his slides are like mine) !!
M
Ignite Cardiff
Apr 14th
It’s only taken me a week to get round to this, but hopefully it’s been worth the wait!!
So last Wednesday was Ignite Cardiff 2, at Sodabar. I won’t explain what Ignite is, just clicky here and have a read. But to summarise: It’s ace.
I was down to do a talk at the first Ignite, but just didn’t have a clue / time to prepare really, so offered to do this one instead. My first real public speaking experience (excluding Uni presentations etc etc!), so I was a smidgen nervous! An amazing turn out made it all the more nerve racking, but strangely, I love that!
If you’ve never been to an Ignite, then I really suggest you try and make it to the next one. Some really interesting talks. If you missed it, you’ll be screwed when the Zombies attack, be spending far to much on Wine, and have no idea where your Cat is. Intrigued?? You should of attended….!!
My talk was on Cardiff Twitter trends. A subject that, at first, worried me, because I thought it would be really dull to talk about (Stats, stats and more stats). Evidently, I think it went well. Of course, I think it went appallingly, but others beg to differ There is a video coming soon I think, but for now, there is a plethora of stats available here. It’s important to remember that these stats are in no way gospel, they are just an analysis of Cardiff Tweets over a period of time, extracting pre-defined terms that signal our emotions. Also, if you aren’t within a 10 mile radius of Bute Park and you don’t have your location set with Twitter, then you’re not in the stats
So that’s that, an evening with like-minded people, a good laugh, and some interesting talks. Ignite Cardiff is a definite must for anyone with an interest in the web, geeky things, social media / networking, or just a good night out
And I did that whole post without mentioning the copious amount of Alcohol that was provided free of charge for speakers and guests, because, although its an amazing perk, the event sells itself without that Special mention to Neil, Claire and anyone else who played a part in organising the event, really excellent
Roll on Ignite #3
Cardiff Twitterers
Feb 19th
So, for those of you who don’t yet know, the next Ignite Cardiff event is on the 8th April at the Sodabar. It should be a really good event, so if you’re around, its going to be well worth popping in for a bit!
I’ve (foolishly, maybe!) offered to do a talk, so even if your not in any way interested in the Web Scene or anything related, at least pop in and laugh at me (that’s a definite “at” me, and not “with” me!).
It’s OK offering to do a talk, but of course, you need something to talk about! So for the past couple of weeks now (and for the following weeks leading up to Ignite), I’ve been tracking Tweets from people within a ten mile radius of Cardiff (According to Wikipedia, the centre of Cardiff is slap bang in the middle of Bute Park, so its a 10m radius from there!). Basically, I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of tweeters we are. Whether that’s Happy, Sad, Moaning, Drunk, Over Worked or just chatting to each other a lot, I thought it would show some interesting, and hopefully amusing stats relative to the people who will be at Ignite.
Before any one worries…..I’m not keeping the tweets themselves, so there won’t be any examples of embarrassing drunken tweets about your boss, who may well be there!
I don’t want to reveal too much, but here’s a taster to the kind of things I’m noticing (If you’re interested in viewing the stats in detail, pop me a comment, I have graphs and everything, how exciting!)
Stats from Saturday 7th February to Wednesday 18th February 2009
- Top Twitterer: Sianz - An impressive 936 tweets so far, with a total word count of 11556. Ironically, 2nd place WalesOnline have tweeted 12825 words. Over 1000 more, but only a total of 563 tweets.
- Ville1955 really loves Dancing on Ice. Cardiff tweeters have used the trend 135 times, with Ville1955 using it a massive 98 times alone! (Along with the following Dancing on Ice related trends: #Ice, #Todd, #Ellery, #Ray)
- On average, we tweet over 50% of our Daily total during “Working hours”, making over half of us “Social Notworkers”
- Wmjohn is the happiest tweeter, with 124 of their 495 tweets containing smiles, or happy words.
- There are currently 1293 Twitter users being located within 10 miles of Cardiff. If only 30% of those users could come to Ignite, it would be amazing, and very full! Hint hint
Of course, these stats are just for fun.
If you’re interested in seeing the stats so far, or have any ideas of things that would be cool to track, then please let me know!
That’s all for now!