The Best Hobby You’re Missing Out On – Katherine Hanson

For your typical American, anime is maybe some children’s franchises and one or a few very famous movies and porn. But really, it has something for literally everyone and their cat. In five minutes, illustrating examples from all demographics, I will do my very best to make you cry at all the time you have spent not watching anime, because its variety is that fascinating, its highs are that good, and even some of its crap is that fun.

About Katherine
Katherine Hanson is the Assistant Program Manager for an app called BooksILove and a lifelong nerd who blogs at Yuri no Boke. Read her tweets @yuriboke

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Building Better Humans – Torri Judith Brown

From Torri –

Building Better Humans is a campaign to increase scientific ingenuity in our young generation. Science isn’t seen as important to our young people as it did hundreds of years ago, and with our students going for easier-to-get jobs based on their education, the amount of innovation has decreased dramatically. We can fix this problem by teaching science from an informative as well as entertaining perspective.

About Torri Brown in her own words
I am 15 years old, and a total nerd! Learning about different scientific and technological advances is definitely my calling, and I love to talk to people about the things that I love. Continue reading “Building Better Humans – Torri Judith Brown”

Hacking Rembrandt – Bill Ritchie

From Bill-

Rembrandt would have been just another painter if he hadn’t hacked the new technologies of the day and become a bad ass printmaker. Bill Ritchie hacked toys and farming that taught him that things are not always what they appear to be. Amsterdam of the 17th Century and Seattle today are a lot alike as we benefit from the childish curiosity of the innovator, the survivor, and solver of problems.

Farm raised, free-ranging Bill Ritchie hacked his boyhood skills to be an art professor, etcher, press designer and author. Writing “Rembrandt’s Ghost in the New Machine” inspired him to start up Seattle Printmakers Center -a concept for a new city asset. Continue reading “Hacking Rembrandt – Bill Ritchie”

Why Parasitic Wasps are AWESOME – Steven Chau

From Steven:

Parasitic Wasps are amazing at what they do. They hunting down their prey, then using various mechanisms to control their hosts, including mind-control. Groovy.

About Steven
Steven Chau is a software developer who spends his time across many interests such as crossfit, Liddy Hop, and enjoying whiskey. His most recent challenges include planning a creative retreat and racing in Ski to Sea. You can find Steven on Twitter @whereisciao

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Mixing Business and Pleasure – Martina Welke

When best friends Britta and Martina decided to start a business everyone from their grandmas to the grocery store clerk warned them against going into business with a friend. Four years later, they’ve collected some hilarious stories and a little bit of wisdom – best of all, they’re still best friends!

About Martina
Martina Welke is the cofounder & CEO of Zealyst, an enterprise platform that utilizes data analysis and games to build stronger corporate communities. She’s also a board member of Seattle Women in Technology. You can find her on Twitter @martinawelke.

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How I Became Seattle’s Premiere Kaleidescopist – Katarina Countiss

From Katarina’s pitch:

Last summer, I quit my job as a multimedia designer to go on a quest of creativity. My art was experimental before and it got a lot weirder. Kaleidescopy is a genre of art that allows for anything to be beautiful. It also has the power to transform beauty into terror (on occasion).

You can find Katarina Countiss on Twitter @katcountiss and learn more about her at katarinacountiss.com.

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Experimental Ignite: 5 Talks That Will Astonish You

What happens if you get 16 amazing people to talk about their passions, but gave them only 5 minutes and automatically advanced their slides every 15 seconds?

  1. Would speakers find this format fun to do?
  2. Would this format be interesting to watch?
  3. Would this experiment be an unmitigated disaster?

Experimentation has been core to Ignite since those first hypotheses were posed. In the past 9 years and 26 prior events, we’ve seen Ignite talks that have expanded our minds and have pushed the boundaries of what an Ignite talk can be. In preparation for next week’s Ignite, here a few of our favorite Ignite talks that had experimentation driving their theme.

Experimental Ignite Talks

Sol Villarreal asked, “Can one person improvise a short presentation inside someone else’s presentation?”

Noah Illinsky & Teresa Valdez Klein asked, “Can you get married in 5 minutes?”

Dave McClure answered a question that’s important to many of us, “How to measure experiments (aka startups)”

Hacking The Format

Two talks that were not experiments per se, experimented heavily with the how an Ignite talk could be presented.

In our first foray into live music, Karen Cheng showed us “How to Solve a Song.”

And finally, at our first outdoor Ignite (an experiment unto itself), Bev Sobelmen tells us how to run away and join the circus while performing on a trapeze.

Ignite 27: Experimentation is next week, May 20th and we’d love to see you there. Tickets are available online now. We expect another sell out crowd, so get your tickets today!

Think Like an Artist – Bryan Ohno

Do you want to know the secret of how artist think creatively? Why they do what they do and their ability to go to parts of their brain and body where most of us will never go?

About Bryan

Bryan Ohno is a Seattle art gallerist who features up and coming contemporary artist from the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Rim. His art career started in late 1980’s in Tokyo then worked with glass artist Dale Chihuly before opening his gallery in 1996, presently located in the International District, J-town neighborhood. You can find Bryan on Twitter @BryanOhno

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Ignite Seattle is TONIGHT!

Our first Ignite of 2015 is TONIGHT at Town Hall Seattle. Tickets $5 at the door or in advance. Doors open at 7, with cash bar and a fun social game (you don’t have to play but you probably will despite what you think as you read this). Talks start at 8pm, with an intermission.

Our usual fantastic MC Monica Guzman will be out of town doing super cool journalistic things. Filling in will be Scott Berkun, former-fill in host from Ignite 17 and a multi-Ignite-Seattle-veteran.

NOTE: We are expecting a larger crowd than normal, so we’d advise you to get there a little earlier to get a good seat.

Here is our stellar roster of amazing speakers

First Half

Second Half

Please spread the word. A great night awaits you and your friends.

Move over baseball, esports are here: or, why I shaved my beard – Jason Preston

From Jason’s pitch

“Five nerds from China just made more money in three hours than you’re going to make in your life. In front of 20 million people (that’s more than watched any World Series game in 2013). Doing something you probably think is stupid: playing a video game.

I wake up at 5 a.m. four days a week to play Counter-Strike in front of a digital audience. Here’s why eSports aren’t the next big thing, but the NOW big thing. “

About Jason
During the day, Jason Preston organizes the Dent conference and is also an organizer of Ignite Seattle. You can follow Jason on Twitter @jasonp and watch him playing Counter-Strike on Twitch.

Continue reading “Move over baseball, esports are here: or, why I shaved my beard – Jason Preston”