As we have been building up the Ignite Event the big question has been: “What the heck is this thing all about?” The great thing about this is that we aren’t the first so we can pull from the experience that organizers in other cities have had. Our first inclination was to contact the originators of the whole process who actually works for O’reilly publishing and puts on the Ignite Boston events: Mike Hendrickson.
Mike recently responded to a few questions over email to give us an idea of how it all came into being and what had worked and what hasn’t:
Ignite Phoenix: 1. How did you decide on a location? Was it your first choice? How did you present the idea to the property manager? etc.
Mike Hendrickson: We have an East Coast office in Cambridge. That is where I am located and the majority of our editors too. It is also a very vibrant Tech community and I think it is second only to Silicon Valley.
IP: 2. How many submissions did you get for the first ignite? If it was more than you could schedule what was your method for determining which ones to go with?
MH: The first one, I had more than the second and third. I had about 28 talks on the first Ignite, and I accepted 22. The method of which ones flew was based on my editorial background and what I wanted to have come across to the attendees. I had mini themes in the event. And I group talks into HardTech, SocialTech and general area. The first event we had a few ‘launches’ which I did not do this last go around. Launches were suppose to be about cool new products that are about the launch. It turned out to ‘marketing oriented’ so I nixed it from this last event.
IP: 3. What mistakes did you make and how have you learned from them?
MH: I would take fewer talks and have more breaks where we bring the speakers back and ask questions. Also, picking the right venue is very important. We did not have the right acoustics for the number of people that we drew. The second venue we had the right size, but rude site staff. They treated us like Geeks, and that was not alright.
IP: 4. What has been the biggest benefit(s) that you have seen from putting these on?
MH: Rekindling the tech community in the Boston/Cambridge area. Getting people to talk about cool things and connecting local VC money with folks. We draw a nice mix of people so that is always nice to toss together.
We want to thank Mike for taking the time to answer these questions. This has allowed us to focus on a few key things:
- Location, location, location – We made this our priority and feel confident that we will avoid many of the pitfalls Boston experienced.
- Presentations – Our presentation number is going to be 14 to 16 in two groups so that there will be 45 minutes of talks then a nice break followed by 45 minutes of talks then time to wrap up.
- Focus on Community – This is not about anyone individual or company, this is about getting creative people together in Phoenix and getting them talking. Check your ego at the door and meet some new people and get excited about whats going on the in valley of the sun!
More from Ignite Phoenix
- 5 Myths About Being An Ignite Phoenix Presenter
- Prepping for Ignite
- Ignite without Igniting – The Zenness of Submitting for Ignite Phoenix
- The impact of Ignite Phoenix
- Ignite Presentation Examples from Ignite Philly – June 12th 2008
Ignite Phoenix Recommends
- The Next Ignite: June 24th (Ignite Vancouver)
- Marc Chung Asked Me To Explain This (The Paleo Startup)
- Tips for a Great Presentation (Ignite Vancouver)
Did you ask them how they got their name?
@Beth – I’m not sure, but I think they went for the Ignite name because of the great metaphor of combining many different elements together and striking the spark to generate some heat!
One of the things I’ve really appreciated about all the different Ignite groups and O’Reilly themselves is how open and willing they are to help others get rolling.
I’m looking forward to seeing what the Phoenix Community puts out for presentations – what’s their “personality”.