How Ignite Phoenix chooses presentations

After every Ignite Phoenix a few people make comments, mostly joking, that they submitted a presentation but “Jeff must not have liked it” because they didn’t make the cut. I wince every time I hear that, especially after Ignite #3 where we had a mountain of awesome submissions that we weren’t able to fit in (even after bumping the lineup to 18). So in a probably overdue post, I wanted to explain how presentations are chosen from all the submissions.

In the last week or so before submissions close, the Ignite Phoenix planning crew chooses about six judges. They have to be free the weekend after submissions close, because we try to turn everything around in 48 hours. They also can’t have  any direct tie to any of the submitters beyond casual friendship (spouses, family, coworker, etc).

We also look for a range of backgrounds, like one judge with a technical focus, one judge with an entrepreneurial background, another with an arts background, etc. We don’t expect them to vote for just their area of expertise, but it does provide a different blend of interests. We also try to balance male/female judges as best we can.

All the submissions are put into a spreadsheet, and the judges pick their top 20 most interesting, in order. “Most interesting” boils down to what they would most want to see if they attended, but we ask them to strive for some balance. For example, ten presentations on “Green topics” in a row could be fantastic for some people, but not for most. Look for a blend. Other factors the judges consider include how entertaining does it sound, how unusual, and how educational, but in the end each judge has their own approach.

The voting averages of all the judges is what sets the final lineup. There may be some minor tweaking for cases like a tie, but that’s it. So far every judge for every Ignite has had at least one presentation they really wanted to see that didn’t make the cut (including me).  I consider that healthy, because it means Ignite is remaining a blend of interests and nobody is exerting too much influence.

For Ignite Phoenix #4, we’re going to add audience voting to help determine the lineup. We’ve debated making it all audience determined, but that leads to all kinds of sticky issues with people trying to rig the voting and such. We’re working on a plan that will help ensure we get the audience voice included, without throwing everything up in the air. Stay tuned for details!

If you have any questions on the voting process, ask away!  Remember, submissions for Ignite Phoenix #4 close May 22nd, so now that all has been revealed go submit your idea!

More from Ignite Phoenix

• Attending & Viewing Ignite Phoenix 5
• Tickets for Ignite Phoenix 5
• Ignite Phoenix 4 – Recap and notes
• Lineup for Ignite Phoenix #4 Announced

Ignite Phoenix Recommends

• A Quick Preview of the Voting Tool for Ignite II on June 24 @ Ceilis  (Ignite Vancouver)
• Phoenix Twestival 2009  (TEDxPhoenix)
• Phoenix WordCamp is Sold Out!  (Phoenix WordCamp)

Tagged as: voting