We Are Not Alone!
Ashley RayIs this the first you’ve heard of Ignite? You may be shocked to discover that Ignite Tampa Bay is just one chapter of a very large Ignite community, there are actually Ignites hosted in cities all over the U.S. While Ignite Tampa Bay is only in its first year, other cities have been around long enough to draw a large community of like-minded thinkers and submissions from celebrities, successful startups and even previous TED talk speakers! Don’t fret though, Ignite Tampa Bay is in its humble beginnings – we don’t have celebrities or TED presenters, just passionate speakers!
So how did it all start?
In Seattle, 2006 with two men: Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis. They began with the simple intention of sharing ideas with others over beers; an informal networking of like-minded people. And so on December 7, in a bar on Capital Hill, the first Ignite was held.
The first Ignite talk?
A competition of who could build the sturdiest popsicle-stick bridge.
Where else can Ignites be found?
New York
Baltimore
Phoenix
Atlanta
Boston
Boise
Raleigh
San Francisco
LA
Chicago
Cincinnati
Salem
Philadelphia
Anchorage
Oklahoma City…
… I could go on but I think you get the point. It’s not just all over the U.S. – it has also spread globally!
Talks range from topics like, “Everything I needed to know about social media I learned from being @the_swine_flu on twitter” to “A journey into negative space”.
So join the global community of like-minded thinkers, dreamers and igniters and be a part of something (presenting OR watching) to remember!
Ashley Ray
Ashley Ray is a community manager and rabble rouser for Ballywho Interactive by day and beer brewer, baseball blogger and literacy tutor by night. Ashley's passion is her blog and the cause she hopes As an anthropology major from USF she combines her love of culture with her love of baseball to produce a unique and thought provoking blog about culture in baseball that she hopes some day MLB will take notes on. She is the one igniting the interwebs!
