Baratunde tells it all! Tips from a fellow Igniter!

Looking through Ignite videos from all over the United States and dreaming of an incredible Ignite Tampa I wondered: If I were to reach out to a fellow Igniter, what advice would they give? What draws people to speak/attend at other Ignites? I stumbled across a presentation by Baratunde Thurston (the Director of Digital for the Onion) called:

 Everything I Need To Know About Social Media I Learned From Being @The_Swine_Flu

 It was awesome.

 So I went out on a limb and asked him to share his thoughts with me. Here’s what he had to say:

 Me: What made you want to be a part of Ignite?

 Baratunde: I had participated in a mini-version in April 2009 in Cambridge, Mass. We just got two minutes, but I could see the fun inherent in the system. It reminded me of speed-dating, except the dates were ideas. I love dates AND ideas, so it was a great match.

Me: How did you choose your topic?

Baratunde: I considered what stories I had to tell that no one else could, and the most recent experiment I'd done was to be a ridiculous version of @The_Swine_Flu on Twitter. I'd done the character completely anonymously, and it had gained some notoriety. So in addition to being a fun story, relevant to tech, it would be a big reveal.

Me: How did you prepare?

Baratunde: Very tediously. I reviewed all the activity I'd done as the swine flu: tweets, facebook posts, disqus comments, images, etc. I also looked at the conversation generated by this ridiculousness and started grabbing scores of screenshots to recreate the flow of what had happened. Once I'd gotten about a third of the way through this cataloging process, I realized that this swine flu experiment was a good way to teach people about social media, and much more interesting than a dry, straightforward presentation on the subject.

Thus, "Everything I Need To Know About Social Media I Learned From Being @The_Swine_Flu" was born.

Me: What do you think makes a great presenter?

Baratunde: Be confident. Be comfortable. Speak clearly. Read the tone and mood of the room. Say something interesting.

Me: Did you picture the audience naked?

Baratunde: No. Maybe I would if I were in a nation of super attractive people like Brazil, but in America, that's just a bad idea.

Without further ado I give you “Everything I Need To Know About Social Media I Learned From Being @The_Swine_Flu”

Purchase you tickets today! What are you waiting for?