We are now accepting talks for Ignite Seattle 21, which will be held in August, exact date and location tbd. The submission deadline isn’t until mid-June, so there’s plenty of time to think up a talk and post it.

From time to time we like to collaborate with other Ignites and help with promotion and sharing talks. In July, O’Reilly is running their Open Source Convention in Portland Oregon, with an Ignite on the first night to kick things off.

O’Reilly is looking for submissions to speak at the Ignite event. If your talk is accepted, you’ll get a free pass to the conference on Tuesday (the day after Ignite), and a 50% discount if you wish to attend the rest of the conference.

This is a great opportunity to do a more technical talk that wouldn’t be suited for the usual Ignite Seattle crowd. Talk submissions are due by May 2nd. Follow the link to submit your talk idea.

Our good friend from Ignite Denver, John Wilker, is bringing the 360|intersect gathering to Seattle’s Triple door on Saturday April 27th and Sunday April 28th.

360|intersect is focused on the intersection of creativity and technology. Speakers are technologists from around the world, talking about the things they do away from the keyboard, that make them awesome at the things they do at the keyboard.

You can see the schedule and great topics at http://360intersect.com/schedule

John’s given us a special 20% off discount code for anyone who’d like to attend – Just use the code “SeattleLocals” for a 20% discount.

Ignite Seattle 20 is another double feature at Town Hall Seattle – Your $5 admission gets you into Ignite and a reading by psychotherapist and author Gary Greenberg.

Gary will kick off Town Hall’s May 16 double feature at 6 pm (one $5 ticket gets you into see him and Ignite!) with an entertaining expose of the new, fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — the DSM — the American Psychiatric Association’s compendium of mental illnesses “Bible.”

Since its debut in 1952, the DSM has been frequently revised and, with each revision, so has the “official” view on which psychological problems constitute mental illness. Homosexuality, for instance, was classified as a mental illness until 1973, and Asperger’s gained recognition in 1994 only to see its status challenged nearly 20 years later.

Each revision created controversy, but the DSM-5, the newest iteration, has shaken psychiatry to its foundations. The APA has taken fire from all corners — and now from Greenberg — for extending the reach of psychiatry into daily life by encouraging doctors to diagnose more illnesses and prescribe more therapies — often medications whose efficacy is unknown and whose side effects are severe.

Get tickets over on the Town Hall Seattle event page.

Here is the final lineup for tonight’s event at Town Hall. Speakers start at 8pm and we will be live streaming the event. If you’re tweeting, please use the hashtag #IS19, you can also watch that tag and our Twitter feed for live tweeting throughout the event.

1. Tae Phoenix - How to Write a Song
2. Jonathon - Colman Surviving as an Introvert in an Extroverted World
3. Wendy Hinman - We’re Gonna Die!
4. Lindsay Sharma -What do Swaziland, Papua New Guinea and the United States have in common?
5. Sara Kiesler - How to Give Up Cheese
6. Bruce Ryan - Nothing is Impossible
7. Adam Philipp - NETWORKING, the RPG

Intermission

1. Jessika Satori - So you want to make an indie movie!
2. Forest Gibson - How to make a viral video (and why it’s not easy)
3. Kate Bergstrom - Online Dating Tips I Have Learned After Meeting Over 100 Men
4. Andrew Dumont - Projects: From Idea to Launch and Beyond
5. Sara McNally - How the downturn made me a small business owner (and why it was a good idea)
6. Hillel Cooperman - How I got seriously hurt at summer camp, and ended up meeting Donnie and Marie instead.
7. James Davenport - Mapping the United States of Starbucks
8. Geraldine DeRuiter - Sharing Personal News Online

We like to start every Ignite off with a game or a challenge – something to get attendees up out of their seats and interacting a little bit. Tonight we’re playing a variation of the party game “Telephone”.

We’ll start by handing out small notepads and markers. On the front page of the notepad will be a drawing. Your first step will be to guess what that drawing is. Write that at the bottom of the drawing. Then you’ll flip to the next page and copy the drawing (to the best of your ability). After about 30 seconds, you’ll hand your drawing on to
the next person. They will try to guess your drawing and copy it, etc. Once everyone is done, we’ll leave all the notebooks out front so people can come down and look at them.

Doors for Ignite open at 6:30, and we’ll start the game in the main hall around 7:00. Head upstairs, grab a seat and join us.

We are looking for 4 people to volunteer as “runners” for Ignite Seattle 19. No specific skills needed, just people to help with the various odd jobs. You’ll get free entry to the event and you’ll get fed dinner beforehand.

If you can be at Town Hall tomorrow from 5:30 until the end of the event (10:30ish), then please fill out the I’d Like to Help form. One of us will be in touch to coordinate. Thanks!

In what became the very first standing Ignite Seattle talk, office fitness expert Larry Swanson gives a great introduction to the health benefits of standing desks and presents a number of inventive DIY standing desk designs. Be sure to stand up before you hit play.

It’s easy to hold onto anger and resentment for a lifetime. But why? Especially when forgiveness feels so damned good. Seattle’s Matthew Lawrence shares his story of getting unstuck through forgiveness in this great talk from Ignite Seattle 18.

Our parents and friends get older all the time, and sooner or later we’re going to have to help them deal with serious medical issues. Amy Harris, an expert on Dementia, has some advice for all of us.

Tae Phoenix (@TaePhoenix) How to Write a Song

Have you ever wondered how songwriters create the music you listen to on Pandora or Spotify? In this talk, local singer-songwriter Tae Phoenix will give you a peek into how she makes it happen – from choosing which chord progressions go with a particular vocal phrase, to refining lyrics, to arranging, recording, mixing, mastering and releasing a finished product.

And yes, there will be singing.

Wendy Hinman We’re Gonna Die!

Imagine spending 24 hours a day with your spouse in 31 not-so-square feet . . . for years; crossing the Pacific Ocean on two gallons of fuel; and tossing spaghetti marinara around your living room, then cleaning it up while bouncing like ice in a martini shaker. My husband and I paid off our mortgage and set sail aboard a 31-foot boat that fit our budget better than it fit my husband’s large frame. We never imagined we’d be gone for seven years or have so many “character-building” and near-death encounters. But we felt truly alive. We chucked a conventional life to pursue our dreams and would do it all over again. At the end of our lives we won’t remember the safe moments, but instead the times when we pushed through our fears to follow our dreams. Don’t wait. You need to follow yours, wherever they may lead.

Jonathon Colman (@jcolman) Surviving as an Introvert in an Extroverted World

What exactly *is* introversion? It’s commonly misunderstood as shyness or a misanthropic desire to be left alone. Many extroverts mistakenly assume that introverts hate them. And that’s simply not true (well, most of the time). And many introverts think that there’s something wrong with themselves, something broken that they can’t seem to fix. And that’s not true, either.

We can do better. In this Ignite Seattle talk, we’ll learn what introversion is, what it isn’t, and specific tactics to hack ourselves and our interactions with others in order to survive in our extroverted world.

Sara Kiesler (@sarakseattle) How to Give Up Cheese

Ever wondered how vegans give up on cheese, ice cream, and all those other melty, creamy delights even vegetarians have a hard time parting with? Sara Kiesler tells you how in this inspiring, informative talk that’s anything but cheesy.

Hillel Cooperman (@hillel) How I got seriously hurt at summer camp, and ended up meeting Donnie and Marie instead.

The summer after 9th grade I got into a serious accident at summer camp that landed me in the hospital for a week. Against all odds, I wasn’t permanently damaged. Additionally, I ended up meeting Donny and Marie.

Lindsay Sharma What do Swaziland, Papua New Guinea and the United States have in common?

The United States is one of four nations in the world that does not mandate paid time off for parents to care for their newborns. Here, only certain populations are offered paid parental leave through their employers. Paid family leave should be guaranteed, not a privilege. The first 1,000 days of life are critical for a person’s lifelong health, as much as half of our health is programmed during this brief window of time.

Why should I care, you ask? I get great benefits through Microsoft, Google, or Amazon. We all suffer by depriving all parents the ability to take paid time away from work to bond and care for their children at this short but critical stage of life. The health of our nation is declining compared to others and it will only continue in this direction until we enact policies and programs that help the disadvantaged as well as the privileged. Paid Family Leave should be available to all because no one is protected from the potential negative consequences that arise when a person’s early life is compromised. Remember this the next time there is a school shooting.

Jessika Satori So you want to make an indie movie!

Many people pitch story ideas to me “you should makes this movie, it would be a great hit!” Maybe they have an inkling of what ALL has to happen in the crucible to get the thing made!
I’m a writer/director who has made give short films and have worked with the best–screenwriter Stewart Stern (Rebel Without A Cause, Sybil) Director of Photography Dan Kneece, who has collaborated with David Lynch for 20 plus years and Ron Vidor, who started the Society of Camera Operators, and logged in such films as Stand By Me, Romancing the Stone and Five Easy Pieces. My films have been screened at Ojai Film Festival, Trail Dance FF (yes it was a Western) and Poppy Jasper FF.

James Davenport (@jradavenport) Mapping the United States of Starbucks
We’ve all heard it: there’s a Starbucks on every corner, especially in Seattle! Recently I studied the distribution of Starbucks locations throughout the United States. Using math and visualization, and matching the Starbucks data to the US 2010 Census, I found some interesting results about Starbucks, and our society’s relationship to the caffeinated giant.

Adam Philipp (@mypatents) NETWORKING, the RPG

Are you a geek? An Introvert? Afraid of the crowds? Not sure what they will make of you? But you still want to connect with people? Then you want to play: NETWORKING, The Role Playing Game

On your very first dungeon/networking event you can go out and:

– slay kobolds (meet technical recruiters)
– fend off orcs (accountants and lawyers)
– drink healing/mana/attribute potions (wine/beer/whiskey)
– collect loot (contact information!)
– equip your character (get dressed up and ad props)
– form parties (agree to meet up with someone again)

and even:

– level up (move on to talking with speakers or higher level dungeons)

Hey, you already have some idea of what class you are, not let’s see what kind of alignment you goes with it!

If you apply all the skills you honed with years of playing: D&D, GammaWorld, Top Secret, etc., you will find the networking is just another great RPG except the characters are really well developed and the GameMaster is not so scary. Let’s go out and play!

Bruce Ryan (@brucery) Nothing is Impossible

The picture says a LOT.

I’ve lost 140 pounds and my wife has lost nearly 70 pounds in less than a year. I’m 50, she’s over 40. Neither of us had surgery or used any drugs to do it. I used common sense and a few modern-day tricks (iPhone app, wireless headphones, mutant tortillas, and more). We followed the same overall principle, but our actual execution methods were very different (there is no ONE best way for everyone). Also, why you don’t need a personal trainer or a fad diet or live like a hermit to lose a lot of weight.

My friends and my wife’s friends keep asking us how we did this, so the Ignite audience might be curious, too.

Kate Bergstrom (@DatesWithKate) Online Dating Tips I Have Learned After Meeting Over 100 Men

After ending a long relationship over 4 years ago, I jumped into the world of online dating. Since then, I have gone on dates with over 100 men. I learned so much and had so many…experiences, that I launched my own website, DatesWithKate.com, detailing my dating adventures, one man at a time. I also started a podcast so I could share my wisdom with veterans of the dating wars along with those that are just dipping their toes into the online waters. My blog has been featured on SeattlePI.com and I have been a guest on a couple of local radio programs. I love Ignite and I think I could give a entertaining and informative talk about the perils of online dating.

Geraldine DeRuiter (@Everywhereist) Sharing Personal News Online.

We’re constantly sharing stories from our personal lives online, but what happens when the news we have to share isn’t all that good? I blogged about my brain tumor and impending surgery, and my personal stories don’t just belong to me…

Forest Gibson (@ForestGibson)How to make a viral video (and why it’s not easy)

In today’s world of viral hits and memes, it can be easy to get lost in the seemingly randomness of it all. However, there is a formula for certain types of viral content, albeit a complicated one. Following this formula can yield extremely positive results, garnering millions of views. How do I know this? Well, I have done it time and time again. With 30 million viral views under my belt, I understand what it takes to get videos seen, and why most of you don’t want to bother…

The next Seattle Ignite is Wed February 20th, at 6:30pm. We’ll have our usual pre-show games, but an alternative is this lecture on the U.S. history of government response to hacking, including commentary on the Aaron Swartz story. One ticket gets you access to both!

Phil Lapsley: The Government’s Response to Hackers, Then & Now

When: Wednesday, February 20, 2013, 6:00 – 7:30pm

Where: Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5. Double feature!

Phil Lapsley, author of Exploding the Phone; believes today’s war against hackers is  more aggressive that decades past. With an eye toward culture, technology, and current events, Lapsley illuminates the forgotten history of the phone phreaks—and addresses how the FBI’s pursuit of them differs from the legal tactics used today against people such as Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide while facing more than 30 years in prison. Prosecutors alleged Swartz broke into a secure MIT computer closet in 2011 and downloaded articles from a subscription-based academic research service; his death has led to calls by lawmakers to amend the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Get tickets here (includes access to Seattle Ignite).

Many good people write bad bios for themselves. We want you to sound as awesome as you are so please take our advice. These five simple rules make writing bios take less time, less effort and make everyone happy to learn something about you.

1. The more impressive you are, the shorter your bio can be.

For example, compare this:

Bob Smith won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, twice. He’s currently the head of Amazingness at Wonderment University.

With this:

Bob Smith spent 2001-2004 developing yard waste in Atlantic City, NJ. Then the better part of the 90′s working on psoriasis in Libya. For kicks, he studied in 2002-2008 licensing regulations for circus clowns in West Palm Beach, FL. Garnered a second place industry award while merchandising mouse yogurt in Las Vegas, NV. Had some great experience consulting about near-UFO experiences among visitors to  Ocean City, NJ. Spent two years licensing cannibalism for farmers, and recycling Pez dispensers.

Everyone wants your bio to be shorter. The shorter it is, the more people who will read it. No one is impressed by a long series of unimpressive things. If you have a great one sentence bio, people will be curious enough to find out more. On the other hand, if you have a bad and long bio they are certain never to want to learn anything about you.

2. Write for the real audience

If you are asked for a bio because you are speaking somewhere, perhaps Ignite Seattle, shape your bio to best fit what you are speaking about. Your bio will be read by people at that event to help them understand what you’ll be talking about.

For example, if you are speaking on fly fishing, don’t do this:

Sally Shmeckes is a software developer and designer who has written code in every language known to mankind.  She works mostly as a hired gun for startups in trouble, who need a superhero to help turn trainwreck projects around. She studied 3-D Film Theory and Anti-Nuclear Architecture at the University of Ridiculousness, and has 3 children if you count her husband.

Do something like this instead:

Sally Schemkes is a veteran software developer and designer. Her Dad taught her to fly fish before she could walk and she has fished every day since he died. She’s on twitter at @sallyschemkes56.

3. Invert your pyramid

Put the important facts first. The fancy term for this is the Inverted Pyramid. Assume with each word in your bio that fewer and fewer people will keep reading.

This is good:

Bono is the lead singer for the rock band U2. He is an advocate for many important political and social causes. His real name is Paul Hewson. He owns many interesting pairs of glasses.

Not this:

Bono likes the color red, especially on Tuesdays. He loves to drink whiskey (on all days). He learned to drink whisky from his childhood friend Zippo, when they went to school together at Mount Temple Comprehensive School. His real name is Paul Hewson, He is best known as the lead singer for the band U2.

4. Be clever only if you’re certain it’s actually clever

From the Department of Made up Facts:

• Percent of people who think they are clever: 64%
• Percept of people who are actually clever: 6%

If you think you are clever, and write what you think is a clever bio, get feedback on it from someone you know who is actually clever. If they approve, you have our blessing. One good joke in a bio is more than enough.

5. Watch the slashes Jack

A sad trend born of Twitter are bios where people self describe themselves by a dozen different traits. This makes you look like someone who sucks at everything. It’s fine to be a Jack of All Trades, but to insist on telling everyone you’re a Jack of All trades mostly makes you Jack of Many Annoyances. Our species has small brains: we need you to tell us the one or two of your trades that will be most relevant to us, or to what you will be talking about.

Instead of:

Nina Nana is a designer/juggler/smuggler/hellraiser/accountant/anti-ninja/metallurgist/snake charmer

Since this is a bio and not metadata listing for SEO purposes, have some courageous clarity:

Nina Nana is a designer who has mastered juggling, smuggling and many glorious pursuits of diverse ingenuity.

That’s all. Happy bio writing!

[Note: The second example from #1 is a revised creation of the auto bio generator.]

For every Seattle Ignite we get dozens of submissions. Some fall right on the line between being an interesting talk and being a sales pitch. Sales pitches have their place, but Seattle Ignite isn’t it.

We know our audiences don’t like it. They don’t want to merely be sold something.

Instead the heart of any Ignite talk should be one of the following:

• Inspiration
• Education
• Entertainment
• Great Storytelling

If along the way or at the end you mention the URL for your website, or your twitter handle, that’s great! We very much want people to learn more about you, or your project, when your talk is over. But don’t confuse your 5 minutes of fame with a free 5 minute advertisement. If you go too far we’ll have a hard time inviting you back.

If you want to talk about a book or blog:

• Pick stories, facts and lessons and talk about those (one chapter or post is enough)
• Think of the talk as the movie version of your book, not the trailer for the movie
• Deliver substance, not teasers

If your talk is about an organization or company:

• Focus on a personal story: such as who founded it, how and why
• Focus on a meaningful result: the story of one person, family, place or thing that was helped (or not)

If your talk is about a cause or campaign:

• If it’s a non-profit there is more room for pitching – we’re a community and like to help community builders
• You should still focus on telling a great story though

If you’re not sure if you’re going to far, we’re happy to help guide you. If you really just want to market to our audience, consider being a sponsor.

If you’re still thinking about submitting a talk for the Ignite on February 19th, now is your chance! You have until Monday at midnight to get your talk in for consideration. After that, we won’t be taking any more talks until late February.

Our friends at Seattle Town Hall have a nice doubleheader next week on Wed. January 9th.  If you buy tickets to either talk you get entry for the other.

at 6pm: William Janeway, an active venture-capitalist for decades leading the Warburg Pincus Technology Investment team (which sounds impressive but I’ve never heard of), will be talking about his new book Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy, an examination of the triad of government, finance and entrepreneurs. He thinks in triads and wears a bow-tie: what more could you want? Tickets here.

at 7:30pm: popular business writer Daniel Pink offers a fresh look at sales and persuasion, showing how economic forces have changed how people approach convincing each other to do things, in his new book To Sell Is Human, a title that either makes you cringe, or gleeful at the prospect of the sales that await in your friendships – Please go and tell me my cynicism is unfounded! Tickets here.

Also coming soon at Town Hall:

• Jan. 14, James Weatherall discusses The Physics of Wall Street (or: Predicting the Unpredictable). Apparently he also likes cats. Tickets.
• Jan 21, Oliver Burkeman: The Positive Power of Negative Thinking – advocates a “negative path” to happiness by embracing failure, pessimism, insecurity, and uncertainty, a perfectly timed talk for Seattle in January. Tickets.

We’ve been working hard over the last few months to get the most recent Ignite Seattle videos up on YouTube. You can see videos from both Ignite 17 and Ignite 18 over at our YouTube channel.

In the coming weeks, as we get closer to Ignite Seattle 19 (Feb. 20th @ Town Hall), we’ll be posting some of the highlights from the last two events.

Also, don’t forget to submit your talk ideas. The submission deadline is early January, so get your ideas in now.

Happy Holidays from everyone at Ignite Seattle!

At the last Ignite KUOW 94.9 (our local NPR station) recorded the evening. They’re broadcasting tonight. You can tune in listen from the comfort of wherever you listen to radio things.

We’ll be on their Speaker’s Forum Show. You can listen live to KOUW here in various formats.

Our friends at Town Hall have a special offer for the Ignite Community. Tickets are 50% off  for a great talk by one of the most controversal figures in intellectual circles today: Nassim Nicholas Taleb. He’s in town promoting his new book AntiFragile. He’s the author of the bestsellers The Black Swan and Fooled By Randomness. If you’ve read his books, which I have, he is sure to entertain, as his sizable ego and intellect take no prisoners in his critiques of politicians, executives, enemies and our species at large.

When: Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm

To get your special Ignite discount, buy tickets and use the code: ignite on the checkout screen (4 tickets max at discount).

Here’s more about the lecture:

Called “the hottest thinker in the world” byThe Sunday Times of London, the always-provocative (and often-hilarious) Nassim Nicholas Taleb outlines the fragile world we live in—and how and why we should become more “antifragile.” What Taleb calls the antifragile actually benefits from shocks and stressors (just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension); this, he says, makes uncertainty not only desirable, but necessary. Posing a revolutionary message (“There is no stability without volatility, and what is not antifragile will perish.”), the author of The Black Swan and the new Antifragile explains how we can gain from disorder and chaos while being protected from fragilities and adverse events. Presented by Town Hall and University Book Store as part of The Seattle Science Lectures, sponsored by Microsoft. Series media sponsorship provided by KPLU.

Advance tickets are $5 at www.townhallseattle.org or 888/377-4510 and at the door beginning at 6:30 pm. Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street.