Tomorrow, next month, next year?

The team at Ignite Austin has been debating for a long time about the next Ignite Austin event, and we went back and forth about whether or not to organize an event during March for SXSW or to hold off until June. The point of contention was that holding an event surrounding SXSW does make it more of an international event, rather than a local event, but it does of course expose Austin to speakers that typically visit once annually.

Our final decision as a team was to hold off until June for the next Ignite Austin in an effort to preserve the local feel and flavor of the event and focus efforts on local speakers, topics, and of course, sponsors. We will likely hold another Training Camp in April for the June Ignite Austin event, and we are definitely looking for sponsors for the event since we have opted to Keep Austin Weird Ignite(d) (was that last comment too lame? Nah, that works).

Next steps

1. If you are interested in going to a Training Camp to learn more about Ignite Austin, how to get a topic proposal approved, speaking tips and connecting with past speakers, click here as the camp will only occur if there is enough interest.
2. We are already accepting speaker’s proposals, so if you have a humdinger of an idea, submit it here. If you have ALREADY SUBMITTED, your proposal will still be considered.
3. If you own or work at a company that would like to sponsor the June event, we are definitely looking to speak with you – email us at lanirosales@igniteaustin.org and we can chat.

We’ll keep you updated about Training Camp and will announce the actual date and venue as soon as possible. We are very excited about our decision to keep the focus of Ignite Austin on Austin, and look forward to hearing from all of you!

Feel free to leave any comments or questions below:

Don’t be late on your homework!

We’ve already told you that anyone can speak at Ignite, even shy people and we’ve told you that the first ever Austin Ignite Training Camp will be on November 19th to help potential speakers get an idea of what they’re getting into and (bonus) meet with past speakers and the Ignite leadership team in an intimate setting to help develop your topic and give you tips on maximizing the success of a speaker proposal.

If you haven’t RSVPd yet, there are a few spots remaining, but you shouldn’t wait because we’ve already assigned the first round of homework, so you better catch up so our Ignite teacher doesn’t rap your knuckles with a ruler! Okay, we won’t do that, but we’d like you to know that there will be homework, so RSVP right now, right this second.

That’s what makes Ignite special- we believe that every person has a unique story to tell and that anyone can get up on that stage. Every person who has spoken at Ignite Austin can tell you that they were scared before they got on stage, even those of us who speak before large crowds frequently, or those of us who are extremely outgoing. You worry you’ll screw up, your timing will be off, your topic will bore people, and you worry that yours will be the one Ignite speech that sucks. Everyone has those worries. Everyone.

We want to dispel the myth that only professional speakers or outgoing people grace the stages at Ignite Austin. Come meet past speakers at the first ever Ignite Austin Training Camp where we’ll break out into smaller groups so you can brainstorm ideas for speaker submissions and learn the secret tips and tricks on how to blow the audience away with an Ignite speech.

The goal of Ignite Austin is to spark new conversations and collaborations across cultures and disciplines throughout the city of Austin with fast-paced, bite-sized presentations. It’s a great opportunity to meet smart, interesting people (if we do say so ourselves) and maybe even learn something.

Interested in speaking at a future* Ignite Austin event or learning more about how in five minutes and 20 slides someone can tell a unique story? The format can be daunting and the stage large, but we want to help you get on that stage and blow the crowd away!

Join us for the first Ignite Austin Training Camp where we will help you discover your inner story, give you tips and tricks on how to get your speaker submission approved and share best practices for preparing and executing an Ignite speech from past speakers themselves. We’ll be breaking up into smaller groups during the event and holding a relaxed mixer afterwards, so you will have a chance to ask a lot of questions and prepare yourself to tell your story on stage in front of the eager crowd.

The event is free, but space is limited, so RSVP today.

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*The next Ignite Austin is in March 2012. We highly recommend attending this event if you plan on submitting a speaker proposal for Ignite.

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