June 17th, 2009
WILMINGTON, June 15, 2009 — With a format that seems rather like Twitter on stage, the international Ignite event comes to Wilmington on Wednesday July 22. This event is the first of its kind for the state, bringing together technical and creative people for a night of rapid-fire presentations, laughs and sharing.
Up to 18 speakers will present in a structured, rapid-fire format, with each one armed with 20 Powerpoint slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds, giving the speaker just five minutes to talk passionately as they share information about their lives, their work or things they just plain enjoy. Ignite Wilmington #1 starts at 6.p.m. July 22 at The Archer Group’s Wilmington Studios, 233 King Street.
The presenters will cover a wide array of topics, ranging from living in San Francisco during the heyday of the dot-com era, going green with IT, photography, Wilmington architecture, home-brewing beer and more. Master of ceremonies for the program will be Mark Mobley, director of community engagement for the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. Interested speakers can submit ideas on the website, www.IgniteWilmington.com, where the list of presenters is regularly updated.
The Archer Group, a Wilmington-based interactive agency, decided to organize this event after witnessing it in other cities. “We loved the concept of getting the area’s Creative Class together to share ideas”, explains Lee Mikles, Archer Group CEO. Best-selling author on urban studies, Richard Florida, coined the term “Creative Class” to represent knowledge-based workers, whom he feels are essential to the revitalization of cities.
“For the first event, we reached out to people we knew had interesting stories to tell. Our criteria was simple: would it appeal to the region’s Creative Class and would it be something we would love to hear about over a beer,” Mikles says. “I couldn’t think of a more perfect place to kick this off than in the heart of Wilmington’s Lower Market Design District, LOMA.”
Yes, beer will be served, along with finger foods, before the presentations start at 7 p.m.
“We’re trying to create a place where artsy-techy people can get together, enjoy themselves and celebrate excellence,” Mikles says.
Ignite Wilmington is cloning a format that was started in Seattle in 2006 and has been launched in dozens of cities since then. There are now thriving Ignite communities in Seattle, New York City, Paris and Portland, Ore., Mikles says.
Admission to Ignite Wilmington is free, but reservations are required, and attendance is limited to 150. To register, go to www.IgniteWilmington.com
Anyone interested in sponsoring or hosting an Ignite Wilmington program may email Ignite Wilmington at IgniteWilmington@gmail.com
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June 15th, 2009
If you have ever been to the Delaware Symphony Orchestra and wondered who was that good looking, humorous, golden throated spokesman introducing the night’s festivities on stage, well that is Mark Mobley. We are excited to announce that Mark will be the MC for the Ignite Wilmington #1, on Wednesday evening, July 22nd at Archer Group’s studios in Wilmington’s LOMA Design District.
Mark Mobley is director of community engagement for the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. He is also a frequent contributor to the “Cadillac of” pages at msn.com. While he was musical head of NPR’s Performance Today, the show won it’s first Peabody Award.
If you haven’t been to the DSO yet, you should! Last year had some great nights, including “Bugs Bunny on Broadway” and “Led Zeppelin”. Check out this year’s “Oz with Orchestra” where the Symphony plays while the “Wizard of Oz” plays on the big screen. Find out more about the DSO at www.DelawareSymphony.org.
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June 12th, 2009
Continuing the drum beat for Wilmington’s first Ignite, here are some more confirmed speakers:
Roland Scarinci
Diamond Technologies
Going Green with IT
Roland will talk about how he is saving the earth, one virtualized server at a time!
Brian Feeley
The Archer Group
Creating Video for the Web
Ever wonder what goes into pulling off cool web videos, after July 22nd, you will wonder no more.
Bill Taylor
Light Up The Queen Foundation
Light Up The Queen
Bill will tell everyone about the exciting effort to revitalize Wilmington’s historic Queen Theater.
Steve High
The Archer Group
Building an iPhone App
Steve will share some of hte nitty gritty he has gone through in creating uber-cool apps for the uber-cool iPhone.
More speakers are coming in. Let us know if you have something you want to share on stage.
Attendance is free, but we do need you to register before. Hope to see you there!
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June 11th, 2009
To kick-start the inaugural Ignite Wilmington event, we reached out to few people who we knew had interesting stories that would make for a great launch event. Here are a few of the confirmed speakers:
Todd Danner
arQitecture
Wilmington: A Place To Build Something
An architectural study of the pockets of potential within our city limits.
Chris and Paige Winburn
Preservation Initiatives and Delaware Children’s Museum
Tech_Bubble_Days.com
Sharing life in San Fran during the DotCom heydays.
David Wallin
The Archer Group
The Future of Multitouch
Know those cool displays used on CNN – he’ll talk about what’s next.
Brian Truono
The Archer Group
HDR Photography
Really cool photos, check out his Flickr Stream!
Jeff Schaller
Pink Cow Studio
Me and the Hoff
Jeff is a great artist, and he sells a truckload of art, in Europe. He will share a bit about his artwork and how he is making it as an artist.
Phil Jones
Homebrewing Beer
Hear how Phil is stinking up the house with homebrew beers. He might even bring some!
We will announce some more next week, but we still want to add more. Remember, 20 slides, 5 minutes, no sales pitches, just have fun! Go to the Speaking section to add your own!
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