• Jim Tigwell – Up in the Air
• James Howe – Make your Voice Heard
• Jonathan Wise – What is the Cloud?
• Mohamed AbdElRazik Mansour – Egyptian Revolution and Social Media
• Janet Kennedy – Westward Ho!
• Corinne Taylor – Voluntouring 101: Rules for Success

Intermission

• Greg Kay – Mastering the Warm Call
• Jodi Sonoda – Overnight Rockstar: Social Media Style
• Sarina Bruni – My Big Fat Italian Family!
• Jacki Yovanoff – My Daughter’s 7th Birthday
• Jacqui Murphy – Why Art?
• Frank Reid – Nothing Says Peacekeeping Like a Blue Beret

The speakers killed it. What many people don’t realize is what a huge act of faith this event is. We don’t vette the speakers before they appear on stage, we’re hearing them for the first time along with the rest of the audience. Many haven’t spoken in front of a crowd since grade school and Ignite provides them the opportunity to overcome their fears and face a friendly crowd.

Thanks again to our sponsors Kik, OpenText, Communitech, Schlueter, The Guelph Technology and Design Cluster and Words Worth Books who made it possible for us to have guests brought in from Waterloo via bus, give away an iPad2, Wildcraft certificates and books to our contest winners, not to mention securing the beautiful venue. Thanks as well to Jacqui Murphy and Art Allies for coming out and showcasing some incredible local talent.

As always we can’t thank Philip Bast enough for consistently being there and video taping the event. Look for each of the speaker videos to be up in the coming weeks. With a new venue comes new challenges and we couldn’t be more grateful to Jonathan Fritz who managed all the intricacies of the new space and took care of our AV needs. Some of you may have also noticed the cool speaker and event organizer nametags thanks to Sean Yo and his fun itweet.as app.

The internets is trickling in with some great shots and recaps as well.

• James Bastow’s Flickr Photostream
• Speaker Cate Huston’s Presentation Notes
• Jackie Yo weighs in on the evening
• I offer a few thoughts as well
• Darrin White is back with another stunning photo essay
• Erich Nolan Bertussi Davies and a great Picasa Gallery

• Cate Huston – Why Do Programmers Have to Lie to Get Dates?
• Carol Moogk-Soulis – Schoolyard Heat Islands: They’re A Problem, Pass It On
• Syd Bolton – Uses of Old Computers
• Shaminda Attygalle – Lessons From 221 B
• Bob Rushby – Digital Light …Pixels Everywhere
• Ben Brown – Kiss Road Signs Goodbye!
• Louisette Lanteigne – Gravel and the Waterloo Moraine
• Kevin Magee – Brantford 2.0
• Shelly Steffler – My Life as a Favelado

Intermission

• Kelly Brooks – Mud-Ringing: Intelligent Collaborative Survival
• Steven Scott – Privacy: I’ve Got Nothing To Hide
• Adrienne Gingerich – Internet Creep
• Stephanie Tanner – Wine: What’s Your Style
• Graham Whiting – Energy
• Stephanie Shantz – How Captain Underpants Can Help Your Child
• Roelf Woldring – Decisions, Decisions
• Karen Toth – Awareness Through Movement
• Amal Isaac – The Technological Singularity

Touched by Ignite

My first exposure to Ignite Waterloo presented itself when a friend of mine informed me he was speaking at Ignite Waterloo 3. At that time, I was actively looking for events to attend and get involved in that would get me more in touch with the Kitchener Waterloo community. Ignite Waterloo was exactly what I was looking for. The event itself was inspiring and I walked away with the urge to present my own Ignite talk as soon as possible. The opportunity presented itself with Ignite Waterloo 5.0.

At the time I had recently accepted the position of Executive Director for 5 Days for the Homeless National, a campaign that gets students from universities across the country to live outside for 5 days and nights to raise money and awareness for the issue of homelessness and youth at risk. I knew that this is what I wanted to share with Kitchener and Waterloo.

Preparing myself for Ignite Waterloo 5.0 was a challenge in itself. I have done countless presentations in front of a variety of audiences, but nothing like what Ignite Waterloo was offering. This audience would be the best, brightest, and most active of individuals in their fields. I was nervous and excited to be presenting to such a dynamic and impactful group of people, especially about something I was so passionate about.

The presentation went better than I could have expected. I shared my experiences with the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign to a captive and interested audience. I felt comfortable sharing a personal story to people I had barely gotten to know, if at all. They were fully engaged in everything I had to say. After the presentations were complete I was able to talk to many different individuals who each had their own story to tell that revolved around the issue of homelessness.

The connections I made after my Ignite talk were impactful and worthwhile. Particularly, my Ignite talk inspired students from the University of Waterloo to participate in the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign despite the short time frame before the national campaign began. I was able to work closely with students from the University of Waterloo and helped them exceed their donation goal for the 2011 campaign benefitting two local organizations in the Waterloo region that support homeless and youth at risks. The University of Waterloo will now be an active participant in the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign for years to come and it is all because of the opportunity to present a 5 minute, 20 slide presentation on a topic that I am passionate about.

More information on the 5 Days campaign can be found on our website at or via Twitter at @5days_National. I encourage anyone who is passionate about something to throw their hat into the ring and give an Ignite talk. Presentations are one thing, but an Ignite talk takes everything to the next level. Nowhere else will you be exposed to an audience that can provide so much opportunity and potential.I only hope I can give another Ignite talk in the future.

When I arrived in Waterloo in 2010 I actively sought out events and opportunities to connect with others. That’s when I came across Ignite and so decided to attend Ignite 4 at the Conrad Centre for Performing Arts in downtown Kitchener. After a night of inspirational talks and great conversations with other attendees, I thought it would be a great event to share my story.

If you’ve considerings speaking at a future Ignite Event, I can offer simple advice. Do it! It’s an incredible experience to use your creativity, fine-tune your public speaking skills, and you never know what type of doors it could open.

Talk to any one who has spoken at Ignite and they’ll tell you what an exhilarating experience it was. There hasn’t been a single talk that didn’t resonate with someone in the audience. So whether it’s the distillation of countless late nights over beer, wrestling with the sexual politics of the Smurfs or your work building schools in Latin America we want to hear from you. Shed your inhibitions and share your story. Trust me, it’s a blast.

Even though we have the best audience in town we don’t just throw you to the wolves unprepared. We hold speaker workshops prior to every event. Attended by past speakers and ignite volunteers it’s all about honing your talk, sharing what works and what doesn’t and offering encouragement. Talking it out with like minded individuals over food and beer does wonders for your confidence. Even if you’re just toying with the idea of speaking at a future Ignite, come on out and learn a thing or two.

Shake off your fears and suck it up. It’s time you jumped in and filled out the speaker application form. We look forward to seeing you at our next workshop! Still not convinced? Use the form to tell us who you’d like to hear talk, nominate a speaker or topic for discussion. We’ll see what we can do.