In continuing our look back at some favorite presentations, we have to mention Daniel Davis’ presentation Survive Your Commute. Daniel is a local artist and the creative mind responsible for the web comic Monster Commute. At Ignite Phoenix #2, he brought the art and characters of Monster Commute together with the Ignite format to create five minutes of laughter and absurdity.

Daniel’s a highly talented artist, but you don’t have to be able to draw a web comic to present at Ignite Phoenix. All you need to do is be passionate about something and have fun with it. Present on whatever you’re good at. Head on over to our submissions page and show us something that makes you who you are.

As we gear up for the eighth installment of Ignite Phoenix, we’ll be presenting a series of posts which take a look back at highlights of past Ignites. Not only do we want to remember how far we’ve come from the conference room at Jobing.com’s offices, but we also want to offer some inspiration to those who are contemplating submitting their idea for an Ignite presentation.

Fittingly enough, our first highlight comes from Austin Baker at Ignite Phoenix #1. Austin is a serious coffee fan and has spent a lot of time in the coffee business. In his presentation, he offers advice on how to run a successful coffee shop.

Watching Ignite Phoenix #1 via live stream that night was a real estate agent named Steve Belt. Some of you may know him now as the owner of Scottsdale’s newest coffee shop, Echo Coffee. Austin’s talk planted the seed which over the course of two years grew to fruition in Steve’s new coffee shop. Echo Coffee is so fantastic, the Ignite Phoenix team recently made it our regular meeting location.

So the story comes full circle. Creations inspired by Ignite are now giving back to Ignite.

We’ve come a long way.

But there are still many different passions in this city, and many more people to present them. What’s your passion? Head over to our submissions page and show us, Phoenix.

Want to read more about the origin story of Echo Coffee? Head over to Steve’s blog post for the full account.

Well Ignite Phoenix fans, the time has come again! Ignite Phoenix #8 is just over 6 weeks away, but we want you to bring the awesome in the form of presentation ideas. Whatever your passion is, we want to hear about it. If you think lots of people want to listen to you talk about it for five minutes, then you should submit it now. If you think no one wants to listen to you talk about it, then you’re probably wrong and you should definitely submit it! Seriously, if you’re passionate about something, that alone will make other people interested in what you have to say when you’re on stage. The submission window is open until Friday, September 10, so you have a less than two weeks to get that idea sent to us.

Image by MoLo_trash on flickr

Now, enough pep talk. We also have some less abstract reasons to get your submission in sooner rather than later. Remember the totally awesome Ignite Phoenix t-shirts the presenters and volunteers received at Ignite Phoenix #7? Well, we have a few reserves which we’ve kept secured in a top-secret vault located deep beneath Ignite Phoenix HQ, and we’re prepared to give away three of them to some lucky people. To be eligible to receive one of these exclusive shirts, you need to submit a presentation topic by midnight on Friday, September 3. The next day, we’ll randomly choose the names of three submitters who will receive t-shirts. If you’ve already submitted, have no fear; you’re already in the drawing. But if you’ve been putting off submitting, hurry up and you may be one of the three lucky people to be sporting a brand-new Ignite Phoenix t-shirt this fall!

Once again, big thanks to Jenny North of Yeager North Creative Marketing for the phoenix bird design.

We are happy to announce that Ignite Phoenix 8 will be at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts in the Virginia G. Piper Theater. Check out the picture above. The theater is simply stunning.

Recently renovated, it boasts a plethora of state-of-the-art amenities perfect for the Ignite Phoenix format including excellent acoustics, 1080p 10,000 lumen projector and 24′ x 13′ screen. In addition, all 853 attendees can be assured an intimate experience given the slightly sloping seating layout. You won’t need to worry about any sound or viewing issues at this time around.

We look forward to sharing the Ignite Phoenix 8 experience with you all. Stay tuned for more information on tickets and keep your submissions coming.

If you have been following us on Twitter and Facebook today, then you will have noticed our clues and answers for the Great Guess Where Ignite Phoenix 8 Will Be Contest. If you haven’t won a set of tickets or just didn’t give your answer quick enough, don’t despair as you still have a chance to win the major cool VIP package. So, now you are asking “Ignite Phoenix, how do I win the Great Guess Where Ignite Phoenix 8 Will Be Contest?” Here’s your answer.

We have listed the clues and answers below. Take one letter from each answer’s word. Those letters create an abbreviation of the location for Ignite Phoenix 8. It isn’t a formal abbreviation, but will help you guess the answer. Be the first to reply or DM us on Twitter, post the answer to our Facebook Wall, or comment below and you win.

HINT: The placement of the letter for the abbreviation is common among all answers. Also, all the location guesses that have been Tweeted or put on our Facebook wall are not correct. Keep guessing….

Clues & Answers:
1. This sponsor produces our beautiful posters and programs. Answer: Splinter Creative
2. This Ignite Phoenix 7 presentation called The Art of “?????” mentioned soup cans in relation to pop art. Answer: Comics
3. Our video pusher, you’ll find a Credit for him on our site. Answer: Fred von Graf
4. After Ignite Phoenix 4, a few of our attendees had this happen to their cars. Answer: Towed
5. This technique presented by @gregheadaz shows you how to be more productive. Answer: Pomodoro
6. Think back all the way to Ignite Phoenix 1. Give us the first name of A presenter who talked about PB&J. Answer: April

Good Luck!

Mark your calendars. Ignite Phoenix #8 will happen Friday, October 15 from 6:30pm-9:30pm at ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?. Oh, you didn’t think we would make it that easy did you .

Want to know the location and win tickets?

Tomorrow, we will be kicking off “The Great Guess Where Ignite Phoenix #8 Will Be Contest“. Beginning at 8am, we will post the first of a series of clues leading up to the big announcement of our next venue. One clue will be provided every hour. The answers to those clues will help you figure out where we are headed (hint, hint, hint). The rules of the contest are pretty simple.

Rule #1: Provide the correct answer to each clue and you will win your choice of two tickets to Ignite Phoenix #8 or an Ignite Phoenix T-shirt. Your choice.

Rule #2: Based on the clues, be the first to provide the location of Ignite Phoenix #8 and you will win “The Great Ignite Phoenix 8 VIP Package“. Sounds awesome, right? Well, it is.

The winner will receive four tickets to event, reserved seats and four official Ignite Phoenix #8 t-shirts for you and your guests. Just think. You don’t have to worry about buying tickets, being there early for seats and you get to sport what will likely be another great Ignite Phoenix t-shirt.

Rule #3: If you already know the location and we know you know and you cheat or tell someone and we find out, we’ll lock you in a room and have our fearless leader Jeff Moriarty pummel you with bad puns for several hours. In addition, you will just suck. So, don’t participate and don’t tell anyone if you already know.

Submissions Closing Soon.

Submissions for Ignite Phoenix #8 will close Friday, September 10 at 5pm. That means you have about 18 days to get your topic sent to us. Check out all the great submissions and get yours in ASAP!

Keep in touch with us.

Want to track tomorrow’s clues, find out when tickets go on sale or be the first to learn about Ignite Phoenix news? Check us out on Twitter or Facebook, email or RSS feeds, you will find us there.

Want to sponsor Ignite Phoenix 8?

As always, we are looking for a few good sponsors to help us make this event happen. Have questions about sponsorship? All the answers can be found on our sponsorship page or simply send us an email.

We love word of mouth

As usual a television and radio campaign is out of the question, so we would love for you to spread the word about Ignite Phoenix 8. Please take a second to forward these details to your friends, family or coworkers, and tell them about your Ignite Phoenix experience. Sharing tools, including email, are below.

We can’t wait to experience Ignite Phoenix #8 with you on Friday, October 15th.

Thanks to the efforts of the great people at JinDianZi who developed and maintain our iPhone app, the videos of every Ignite Phoenix presentation ever delivered can now be easily viewed on your iOS device. That’s right, every presentation from Ignite Phoenix #1 through #7!

Simply download the app here or update it if you’ve already installed it. Tap on the Presenters button and you’ll find links to the YouTube videos of each presentation. Want to watch that presentation from Ignite Phoenix #1 that you heard about? No problem! Want to relive that favorite presentation you saw at Ignite Phoenix #7? Well, you get the picture.

Enjoy!

Thanks to all the hard work of our video masters Brian Carson and Fred von Graf, all of the Ignite Phoenix #7 videos are now posted online. If you missed any of the presentations or want another look at your favorite, they’re all available in the Ignite Phoenix #7 playlist on YouTube. We’ve included the pre- and post-show interviews by Chris Carson and Markus von Graf, as well as everyone’s favorite mid-show entertainment, Slideshow Karaoke!

Image by MoLo_trash on Flickr

Also, official photographer Jason Garcia of Communication Collective has posted all of his pictures to Flickr. Jason’s photos from throughout the evening can be found in his Ignite 7 set. To see all of the photos taken by Jason and other photographers in attendance, take a look at our Ignite Phoenix pool.

Thanks to Jason, Brian, Fred and everyone who made Ignite Phoenix #7 happen!

The videos our sponsors made for Ignite Phoenix #7 really rocked. Not only do sponsors continually surprise us with their generosity, but they amaze us with their creativity. The amount of time and talent which went into producing these videos was truly incredible and we hope you enjoy watching them again!

Taken from Phoenix Art Museum video created by Forty Agency

Bookmans – The Art of Being an Individual
GoDaddy – coming soon! (They haven’t put their video online yet, but we’ll post a link as soon as they do)
Meltmedia – The Art of Analog Computing (full 4 1/2 minute video)
Phoenix Art Museum – Untitled Amazing 60 Second Spot
Splinter Creative – Mind Splitting Creativity

While we’re on the topic of videos, check out interviews of several attendees, done by Brian Carson’s son Chris, Fred von Graf’s son Markus and Fred’s friend Bobby. It’s great to hear opinions of the event from various perspectives and it’s really cool to see the next generation of Ignite fans getting involved already!

Finally, look for videos of the presentations themselves in the next couple of weeks. Fred and Brian are hard at work doing post-production, and we’ll let you know when they’re posted to our YouTube channel.

Image by Moriartys on Flickr

If you’re an Ignite Phoenix fan, you’ve probably read Jonathan McNamara’s review of Friday night’s Ignite Phoenix #7. If not, take a minute to read it. It’s a good and short review, laying out the many things he liked (the venue) and the few he didn’t (the chairs).

We dig Jonathan and have respect for his opinion, and not just because he writes for the Phoenix New Times or because he presented at Ignite Phoenix #5. We respect his opinion because he’s a sharp guy who does a lot around town and knows good and bad when he sees it. But he’s not the only person with an opinion. There were 600 other sharp people at the event, and that means 600 more opinions as to what we did well and where need to improve. So this is your chance to tell us and help make Ignite Phoenix #8 even better. Let us know what you liked and didn’t like about Ignite Phoenix #7. If you loved drinking beer in the sculpture garden, tell us. If you  couldn’t see over the person in front of you because of the seating, tell us. Whatever it is that you liked or disliked, tell us.

Post your opinions on the good and the not-so-good in the comments below. In keeping with Ignite style, make them short and to the point. Give us the essential points. We like getting feedback, but we don’t want to read a critique roughly the length of War and Peace.

Thanks for talking to us.