Ignite Portland

Do you know what you would say if you had five minutes on a stage? This is made possible for people with creative ideas by an event known as Ignite. The event is brought together by volunteers and presenting and admission are free of charge. People who are interested in presenting contact the organizers for a spot in the show, which happens on a single evening. If a presenter is chosen, he or she is allowed a Power Point presentation with 20 slides and a five minute presentation. Funding comes entirely from sponsors who donate the venue (Wieden + Kennedy was the venue for Portland) and food or drinks if requested.

Ignite Portland is about sharing original ideas with people who are interested. There is no single keynote speaker and there is no specific theme. The main rule is “Don’t Be Stupid” and a good presentation is one that is informative, fun, engaging, unique and not a pitch. Presentations can be for commercial ideas, but the presentation needs to be executed smartly or the Ignite audience will reject it. Some presentations in Portland had valuable topics such as “Are Surveys Useful?” and “Emergence in Business.” These topics were separated by topics like “As the Wheel Turns: Learning to Unicycle” and “You Give Good TXT: How to Talk to Someone Romantically Online.”

Ignite seems like it is a great experience for those interested. It would be fun to create a presentation about a topic of my choice and present it to an audience who will pay attention. I think this is a very cool opportunity for people who are trying to get an idea out on the table. After a group of presentations, there is a break for the audience to personally interact with the presenters. This is a very beneficial networking opportunity for presenters who are looking for people to interact with about their idea. Though I don’t see this as particularly important to society, I do think that it is a unique opportunity for interactions between people who would otherwise interact. Planners would see this as a great opportunity to test their ideas and get constructive feedback. Ignite attracts audiences who are eager to learn from presenters.

Planners could use this (a free event, remember) as a way to conduct research or test potential insights. Ignite has a strict format that includes 20 slides and 15 seconds on each slide, so creativity would be limited. Ignite wouldn’t replace other forms of qualitative research because only a small portion of consumers would be represented and there is no way to guarantee that the target demographic is in attendance. That aside, Ignite events would be a beneficial and cheap way for planners to communicate with audiences.