@tdhurst Hates Ignite: The Rebuttal

Tyler Hurst posted Why I hate Ignite yesterday. Most of his 10 points were incorrect, false or just plain unsupported opinion. I offer a point-by-point rebuttal to Tyler:

Yes, it generally is newbies. Hearing the same people over and over again would get boring. We all love Evo Terra, Pam Slim, etc., but we don’t want to see them give an Ignite presentation about their passion every time. We hear about their passions through their well-publicized work. Also, the presenters aren’t out there to make their mark. They present because they want to share their passion for a particular topic with the rest of the community. Jonathan McNamara wasn’t presenting because he wanted to make his mark by talking about Gundam robots; he just wanted to share his passion.
It’s run by the same people because they’ve gotten good at it and have learned from experience. Also, so what about the “look and feel”? It’s an hour and half event every three months. Unless the look and feel really sucks ass, no one’s going to be worked up about it.
Since when did you care what “mainstream media” says?
Audience interaction happens before the event, during intermission, after the event, at the after party and on Twitter throughout the event. You would know this if you’d been to an Ignite Phoenix.
Short is the point. The format maintains momentum and energy.
The motivation to not screw up is the deep rooted human desire to not look like a complete dumbass in front of a theater full of people. Most people aren’t as comfortable in front of an audience as you are. To call presenting at Ignite easy disrespects the time, effort and courage that presenters put into their work.
Yes it is. If you manage to find one, please let Jeff or another Ignite team member know.
That’s your completely unsupported opinion. The 400+ people who have attended the past 2 Ignites don’t share it.
The presentations aren’t meant to be epics which cause tremendous changes in the community for years to come. They’re meant to be five minutes in which the presenter displays passion for their topic. The long term effects come as a result of the community getting together and seeing what people are passionate about. The connections which are formed and conversations which are started as a result of Ignite are what really bring about long term change.
WTF? Can you elaborate on and support that opinion a little more, because I’m not exactly sure what you mean.

Tyler, since you have yet to attend an Ignite, it seems very difficult for you to render a valid judgment of the event and the concept.

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wesleytech

Nice. Great rebuttal Matthew. This past Ignite was my first and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
http://www.twitter.com/TinkFan Lisa

Bravo! I know Tyler likes to stir the pot…but still!
http://twitter.com/tysoncrosbie tyson crosbie

I wish you'd have included is points for reference in this article.

Besides that nice work!
http://tdhurst.com tdhurst

What the hell do you think my blog is besides UNSUPPORTED OPINION?

1. Glad you support it. I don't.

2. It never evolves. Feels like a copy of a copy of a copy.

3. Not worried about the mainstream media, was talking about the mainstream people who see it for entertainment value only, which cheapens it.

4. I've been to one and have been out of town for the rest. Have also watched the Twitter feeds, which were mostly parroting of what was said on stage. And, DURING THE SHOW, it's hard to interact with those who aren't sitting very close to you in any sort of theatre.

5. Yes, I get the point, but don't like it.

6. I said it was easy to SUCCEED. The hard part is having the guts to get on stage.

7. Not much anyone can do about this. Mesa Arts Center is up next time, it seemed to handle Tedx just fine.

8. Yep. Opinion. Mine.

9. I don't think Ignite attracts the right kind of people, so I disagree.

10. The very nature of one person talking to many, and a relatively uninformed (given the format, time, topic, etc) one person at that, means that Ignite doesn't really teach people much, it just inspires. But if it fails at inspiring, it's not worth it to people like me.
http://www.stacyholmstedt.com/ Stace

If you told me a year ago how many cool new people I would meet because of Ignite, I wouldn't believe you. That was the high point for me — connecting with this entire community that I didn't know was out there!
http://derekneighbors.com/ Derek Neighbors

Awesome to see a counter point. Here are some of my thoughts to your points.

3. To be clear I don't think he said “mainstream media” just “mainstream”.

4. The Ignite I spoke at felt like people were encouraged to leave directly after and not much was happening before or at intermission. The after party would have showed lots of promise if the venue didn't suck for conversing with people. I heard the first one had quite good interaction.

6. Absolutely agree. Presenting on timed slides is difficult regardless how good/comfortable speaker you are.

7. I have offered to find other venues, Tempe was the “central” golden child. Glad to see Mesa given a shot. My offer still stands.

9. I slightly disagree here. Why is it called “ignite” if there is no intention of lighting a fire in people?

When it's all said and done. Unlike Tyler I don't hate Ignite. I think it's pretty cool actually.
http://www.stacyholmstedt.com/ Stace

If you told me a year ago how many cool new people I would meet because of Ignite, I wouldn't believe you. That was the high point for me — connecting with this entire community that I didn't know was out there!
http://twitter.com/andrewkfromaz Andrew k

#7: Venue change for Ignite 6 is gonna be awesome. TEDxPhoenix had minimal wifi issues, although we'll have to see whether it scales.

#5: I LOVE the energy and momentum brought about by the time limits – occasionally, the horribly cliched “bite-sized” moniker is actually appropriate, and in this case, 5 minutes is about perfect for sharing passions.

#10: Tyler, why don't Ignite presentations inspire you?
jmoriarty

We try to make Ignite Phoenix a way for people to share their ideas and connect. If people learn something new, great. If they meet someone new, better. If they take something they hear and change their actions or views, perfect!

All the Ignites are different. Some are geeky, some are general. Some are in bars, some are in theaters. Some are large, some are small. We've tried to keep Ignite Phoenix reflecting what people in the community want to discuss, and that's definitely not hardcore. Fortunately we have things like Developer Ignite to fill that gap.

We moved Ignite 5 as close to Geek Week as possible to help support the other awesome events going on. Everything in this crazy ass week of chaos has a different focus, not everything appeals to everyone, and not everything is Geeky (AZEC, SustainaBIL, etc). Any event that tries to be all things to all people would fail fast.

I'm clearly biased, but I think Ignite is a great event. I'd go even if I didn't help run it. And anyone who wants to help make it better or bring new ideas is welcome to pitch in and help out.
http://tdhurst.com tdhurst

I don't know. The only Ignite I was in town to attend felt forced and disjointed and, judging from conversations I've had with people who've attended the rest of them, Ignite seems to lack any real staying power.

Inspiration is great, as long as it prompts action. That doesn't seem to happen.
http://ignitephoenix.com/ Jeff Moriarty

4 – We've been trying to bring emphasis back to the networking at Intermission and the after party. We had two bad after party venues (which is why we kept moving), but this last one went great. We also refused to shorten the Intermission this time to give more networking there.

6 – The timed slides is (IMHO) part of the value. It forces even experienced presenters out of their comfort zone and has them really speak to their topic. Being a little off balance is a good thing.

7 – We had three times in Tempe as a result of the sponsorship we received after Ignite 3. Mesa is next, and we're trying to get a nice rotation of sites. If we frequent a location in the future it will be for quality of site, as we're now able to secure our own sponsorship.

Cheers!
bill chattington

it's nice to see people making change, bringing people in, and supporting creativity. chill with your being a hater attitude.
http://tdhurst.com tdhurst

No. For all the glowing fairy dust I've heard about Ignite, it has some weaknesses that I PERSONALLY don't like.
http://customersystemsinc.com Chris Lee

Nice job, Matthew. I had almost identical points in my reply to Tyler's post then I found that comments were limited to 1,000 characters. I feel very similarly! At least Tyler's got people talking again.
http://krystofer.com/ krystoferJames

Good stuff, brother.
An addendum to 4/9 – This last ignite had a thread of interaction running through it. From beats to clapping to responding to Bony Tony, presenters were engaging with the audience live. And many presenters created a site to continue the conversation, get user submissions, and one even developed an alternate reality game.
Interactivity was the name of the game this time.
ignite is neat… but that's just my opinion.
http://tdhurst.com tdhurst

That's pretty cool. Can I now rip you apart for saying you LIKE Ignite?
Pingback: My take on Ignite Phoenix « Katie Charland
http://matthewpetro.wordpress.com Matthew Petro

Ha! I originally wrote this whole thing as a response on his blog, then I found out there was a character limit. So I made it a blog post. And yes, I'm glad people are talking about this.
http://customersystemsinc.com Chris Lee

That's why I need a general blog myself. : ) Ah the trouble with a common name…
http://matthewpetro.wordpress.com Matthew Petro

Ha! I originally wrote this whole thing as a response on his blog, then I found out there was a character limit. So I made it a blog post. And yes, I'm glad people are talking about this.
http://customersystemsinc.com Chris Lee

That's why I need a general blog myself. : ) Ah the trouble with a common name…
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