Joel Fariss spent almost two years working for the Seattle Mayor. His is a story of championing creativity, challenging power, questioning his identity, and finding hope in the margins of society.
Trust is critical because the act of creativity is fundamentally about bringing something into existence that doesn’t exist yet.
As a disaster responder, people think Chris Sheach helicopters in to dig out people from collapsed buildings, feed starving children, or evacuate whole cities from an impending storm. This is a myth. His superhero power is dispelling these myths and sharing insight on how anyone can be a hero, by providing aid that really helps those affected by disasters, at the time they need it most.
95% of people after a disaster are rescued by friends and family. These are the real heroes. A lot of my focus is on mobilizing local disaster response.
Linnea Westerlind had a child and decided she needed to get out of the house. So what did she do? Decided to visit every park in Seattle in a year. OK, it took four years, but she discovered some pretty cool stuff. Like, did you know that some of our parks were built in areas that were previously dangerous? Or that one overlooks an international engineering marvel? Or that one hosts a stolen totem pole?
More than 11% of all the land in Seattle is park. And 96% of Seattleites live within a half mile of a park.
Maryam Hosseini tells the story of Mahmoud, an Iranian immigrant, and his pursuit of the American Dream. The presentation ended with her introducing the audience to her father, who also happens to be Mahmoud, and appreciating his sacrifices that cured the fear of the other.
His life is a symptomatic obstacle, one after another after another. And this man manages to smile, remain resilient, to smile, give back to him community, and encourage his children to foster this incredible relationship with the people they know. Because the America he came for he still believes in.
Lauryl Zenobi explores how the stubborn little Anna’s Hummingbird manages to survive our gloomy Seattle winters, why everyone should turn their backyard into a hummingbird food bank, and what lessons we Seattleites can learn from the resilience of these magical creatures.
Jeri can teach us to remember to care for others and that even those that aren’t from here can find there niche, with just a little bit of help.
If you love pets and want to travel the world, consider house-sitting! Silvana Clark and her husband are “house-sitting hermit crabs.” They’ve lived for free in a chalet, a manor house, a Swiss barn, plus homes in Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Australia. No paying mortgage, internet, utilities or even for toilet paper!
Dude would only relieve himself after a one-hour walk. But we lived 20 minutes from downtown London with him! So we take him for a long walk, and then head off to see a London show, which was great.
Our 32nd Ignite event, and part of our 10th anniversary year, takes place on Thursday February 23rd, 7pm/8pm at Town Hall Seattle. Tickets $5 at the door or in advance (we frequently sell out – buy tickets early. Or NOW. Really).
Doors open at 7pm, with a cash bar and a fun (optional) social interactive game (you don’t have to play, and since there is a bar you can stand and drink and make fun of the people who do, but we suspect you’re more likely to play than you think).
Talks start at 8pm, with an nicely sized intermission halfway through for you to do various acts of biology and sociology, including getting more drinks.
Looks like a great night, yes? Get your tickets here.
Our 30th Ignite event is Thursday, May 26th, 7pm/8pm at Town Hall Seattle. Tickets $5 at the door or in advance (we frequently sell out – buy tickets early. Or NOW. Really).
Doors open at 7pm, with a cash bar and a fun (optional) social interactive game (you don’t have to play, and since there is a bar you can stand and drink and make fun of the people who do, but we suspect you’re more likely to play than you think).
Talks start at 8pm, with an nicely sized intermission halfway through for you to do various acts of biology and sociology, including getting more drinks.
We received more than 55 talk submissions. Many were excellent. But since we are restricted by the laws of physics we had to pick just 16 speakers for this event (If you have supernatural powers beyond the laws of please volunteer: we can use you).
Looks like a great night, yes? Get your tickets here.
Our 29th Ignite event is Thursday, February 18th, 7pm/8pm at Town Hall Seattle. Tickets $5 at the door or in advance (we frequently sell out – buy tickets early. Or NOW. Really).
Doors open at 7pm, with a cash bar and a fun social interactive game-like-thing (you don’t have to play, and since there is a bar you can stand and drink and make fun of the people who do, but we suspect you’re more likely to play than you think).
Talks start at 8pm, with an nicely sized intermission for you to do various acts of biology and sociology, including getting more drinks.
For Ignite Seattle #29, we received more than 55 submissions. Since we are restricted by the laws of physics we can only have 16 speakers in one event (If you have supernatural powers please volunteer: we can use you).
(Speaking order TBD. Stay for the whole night – you’ll get far more than your $5 worth):
* = Ignite Seattle Alumni
Looks like a fantastic evening, yes? Get tickets here.
From Ahasan:
“So much to do, so little time. And really, we don’t use that time as well as we could. Ahsan discusses some of what he’s learned about planning his time in his quest to finish things.”
About Ahsan
Ahsan Kabir makes software, mostly. He obsesses about what makes for good experiences in software, ice and everything else. He posts occasionally at aephemera.com and you can find him on Twitter @aephemera.
Ignite Seattle 