Before dashing off to the beach Wednesday night, I stopped by this Ignite event that our own Bryan Zug has been promoting. Pretty cool. Anybody who has anything worth sharing takes 5 minutes of their life, and gives a sort of mini presentation - could be about anything. There were about 20 short talks on topics ranging from networking tips to an insider’s view on a personal addiction to Legos (yeah, the kid’s toy).
The networking was as its best, and with Bryan’s kind introductions, I handed out an entire stack of business cards and made quite a few new connections.
Who wants to hear a bunch of random people talk about random things? Well, that’s exactly the beauty of the event to me. Our brains work like filter feeders, they need to be exposed to new ideas to grow. Ignite offers a perfectly random stream of fresh content, that is guaranteed to give you something to think about, probably something to write down, look up, look into or try out - whether personal or professional (note pad highly recommended). At only 5 minutes per talk, if you’re really not interested in a particular topic, it’s over quickly.
Here’s a great example of one of the presentations that I found valuable, which just happens to reinforce why you might want to attend an event like Ignite.
Phinney Bischoff was a proud sponsor. I’m not sure the nature of the sponsorship, but I’m sure it was worth it on both ends of the deal.
Thanks, Bryan for sharing. Thanks, Matt for the beer. I hope to attend again and probably give my own 5-minute talk one of these days.
We’re happy to announce that Phinney Bischoff Design House is a proud sponsor of Ignite Seattle, which is happening tonight over near Belltown. Details can be found on this post by Brady Forrest over on the O’Reilly Radar Blog.
What is Ignite you ask? Picture a quick succession of 5 minute powerpoint presentations on a wide range of interesting topics. Speakers get 20 slides which automatically advance every 15 seconds.
Lively to say the least.
Doors open at 7:00, Paper Tower Competition begins at 7:30, and presentations start at 8:30.
Here’s a video of one of Ignite’s most popular past talks - “How to Buy Car (without getting screwed)” by Rob Gruhl:
PresentationCamp is an ad-hoc gathering of passionate folks who want to share, interact and spread the love around the topic of presentation design and delivery. It’s for anyone interested in public speaking, pitching and presenting. Come to learn, come to share: everyone walks away knowing a little bit more.
Sign up now over on the Eventbrite page for the event. It’s $15 until the day of, then it’s $20.
It’s an unconference which, if you’ve never been to one, is a blast. The main idea is that the best thing about most conferences are the hallway conversations, so why not make up a conference on the fly that has that feel to it.
So participants gather in the first hours of the conference and propose session ideas, then the popular ones are assigned slots. Looks from the schedule that this camp will have some good pre-planned sessions and some slots for real time session creation.
I’m proposing a session tentatively titled “Telling Ain’t Persuading (or teaching, selling, or training)!!: Case studies in conversational/Socratic presentation methods“.
It will be a discussion of presentation examples / methods that don’t just give an answer, but that invite people into dialogue / experience — and how that often has much more staying power that just passing along information.
Will be touching on:
The structure of the attention economy unconference talk I’ve presented a few times — “Starbuck vs. Samwise in a Fight (and what does that have to do with the Attention Economy?)” — and how the form of the talk is an effective design for learning.
How the unstructured and question driven nature of the classic video game Myst is arguably more involving (and compelling) that most present day games.
Since 2005, I’ve had the honor of serving as the lead writer for Boeing’s standalone exhibits at the Paris Air Show and the Farnborough International Airshow, which alternate hosting duties each year. These international events—where the world’s aerospace community gathers to showcase key innovations in both civilian and military aircraft—attract thousands of exhibitors and more than 150,000 visitors annually from around the world. From the 787 Dreamliner to algae-based biofuels, Boeing has utilized the Paris and Farnborough events to unveil game-changing advances. This year’s show in Farnborough was no different, and focused on new technologies, some of which had never been publicly detailed before. The exhibit was visually stunning; the biofuels area of the exhibit even featured live algae tanks. More importantly, though, it communicated Boeing’s significant investment in a carbon-neutral future for aviation. As always, PBDH was thrilled to collaborate with Boeing’s brilliant designer, Paul Haverly, project leader Laura Henderson, and all the other amazing professionals at the aerospace innovator.
I could go on forever, but I think you’ll enjoy the photographs more. Have a look and let me know what you think.
I’ve just returned from the American Marketing Association’s 2008 Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education, where I spoke on developing a compelling brand strategy within the constraints of a consensus-driven organization. Basically, how to keep from diluting an idea internally to the point that it becomes meaningless externally. I covered five approaches—all of them free!—for achieving alignment across diverse internal audiences without sacrificing boldness and clarity. My presentation slides are available here.
Nearly 700 professionals attended the conference, held this year in Chicago, which I was glad to see is still buzzing with the Obama victory. There were a number of really fantastic presentations, including a keynote by author Neil Howe articulating the challenges colleges and universities will face as they welcome millennials to campus; a great show and tell by the marketing team at Southern Polytechnic State University of some really compelling viral work; and a portrait from the team at the University of Delaware on updating audience perceptions. I was sorry to miss the presentation of Dartmouth’s Karlyn Morissette, especially after I heard the raves. Karlyn also provides a recap of the conference here.
On Saturday, June 7th, Swedish Hospital is unveiling their brand new Orthopedic Institute. The 11 a.m. public open house invites the lay person to view all the state-of-the-art inner-workings without having to undergo surgery.
We had the opportunity to develop a high-level brochure for the new institute and it’s been fascinating to see the facility in various stages of completion. The architecture is striking in comparison with older hospitals not only in its use of aesthetically pleasing materials, but its bigger hallways, higher ceilings and large windows that open the interior with natural light. The inpatient rooms are especially comfortable and spacious.
Built to house surgeries as well as medical offices, rehabilitation equipment, pharmacy and café, the institute provides a continuum of orthopedic care in one location. Because orthopedic surgeries are largely elective, patients have time to choose their care providers; the combination of expertise, convenience and newness should appeal greatly to those seeking treatment for orthopedic problems.
Where
Swedish Orthopedic Institute
First Hill campus
601 Broadway
Seattle, WA
When
Saturday, June 7
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
