Ignite Minneapolis last night was a lot of fun. I put on a humorous performance, and those looking to laugh were not disappointed.
But what about those looking to learn?
Today, instead of feeling great, I find myself feeling a bit foolish, like I've let people down. Why didn't I take it more seriously? I have ideas. Why didn't I share them?
Upon reflection, I feel like everything that happened was a logical result of my entire Ignite experience.
My experience
A few weeks ago, at two successive events, both Pete Barry and Mykl Roventine approached me to say, "Are you doing Ignite? You have to do Ignite!" Knowing nothing about the event, I told them I'd sign up. And because of what I'm aware Pete and Mykl know about me, I assumed they encouraged me because I could make people laugh.
I looked at the website. It said things like "wonkish," further reinforcing the notion that humor was the way to go. By the time I'd read everything and heard epic tales of Jen Kane's "Douchebags" and Pete Barry's "Orange. WTF?," I was absolutely convinced this should be comedy. I signed up and refused to watch any former presentations to avoid polluting my own originality.
I submitted my deck, filled with inanity and (I hoped) hilarity. I rehearsed an accent. I was set.
Then, the day before the event, @IgniteMpls tweets about Global Ignite Week.
What?!
So I looked into Global Ignite Week, and it's kind of a big deal. People are getting together to share ideas. Knowledge. Useful information.
And here I am, sharing... a performance. That's it. Laugh though you might, after viewing my presentation, your only takeaway can be, "Wow - neat performance."
Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. I think it's OK to entertain. But there are some smart people out there with some high expectations, who I wish I could have impressed.
Additionally, I don't want Minneapolis' Ignite to turn into a giant exercise in mental masturbation, which, let's face it, is all comedy is.
"You're being too critical."
Am I? Is it unreasonable for me to expect great things from this community? To expect that we come together and start something, rather than just to drink beers and laugh?
There is a time and place for comedy, and maybe Ignite is not it. Great ideas punctuated by jokes? Wonderful. My presentation? Tripe. And I'm a little embarrassed.
Please - I am NOT fishing for compliments. I've been complimented enough in the past 12 hours to inflate my ego to a dangerous, might-not-fit-through-doors-soon level.
What I want is change. I want Minneapolis to rally and do more than just show up. I want us to be a think tank, a community known nationally - internationally - for generating incredible ideas.
We're capable of it. We just need to re-frame, change our approach. We can do big things, huge things, if we find the right people.
In sum
Ignite Minneapolis was really great at being what it was, but I think it could be much more.
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19 comments:
Meghan,
I was there, too. Most presentations had some information or wisdom to share and I learned some new things. One or two *could* have made a point but I'm not sure what it was. And some were entertaining. That's okay, too.
Fair enough. Like I said, Ignite was really great at being what it was, and that involves a sort of celebration of the comedic and irreverent.
First: I'm quite relieved that wasn't your real accent. Because after two minutes I was convinced that it was.
Second: I'm with you on the "morning after" regrets. As I mentioned in a tweet yesterday, this was the first opportunity I've had in 12 years to talk about something other than content strategy in a public setting. And I chose to do a stand-up routine. But… I'm also aware that I'm being hard on myself. My round-the-clock job is to bang the big drums for content strategy. The opportunity to get onstage and do of a self-parody was almost a relief to me.
Far more importantly, in the bigger picture, this was our city's second Ignite. As a community, we're still working to figure out what we want it to be. At the end of a long winter, clearly most of us wanted it to be a lot of laughs. So, yay!
Finally: I've been involved with (and committed to) the web professional community here since 2002. My experience is that there are, in fact, many people who are generating brilliant insights and breakthrough ideas. But one key difference in the Twin Cities (from other US cities) is that we have several *very* active professional organizations that bring these folks together for knowledge exchange.
For example, MIMA is the largest IMA in the country. The SMBMSP has seen tremendous attendance since its inception. We have the Unsummit, MinneWebCon, MinneDemo… the list goes on and on. These are dedicated groups of professionals who are regularly seeking inspiration and insight from industry experts and their peers. It’s awesome. And it’s unusual. Everywhere I travel, people express envy over what we’ve created here.
I’m not convinced IgniteMpls needs to be our professional calling card to the world. If most people want to get onstage and generate laughs, I’m okay with that. I love seeing different sides of my colleagues. And frankly, in Minnesota, it’s not always easy for us to let loose like that.
So, yay for pustules!
I thought we had a good mix of information and entertainment. Ignite is not supposed to be a TED conference. In the description on our website, the word wonkish means intelligent and nerdy. A lot of the comedy at Ignite stems from the fact that people are getting up on stage (many of them for the first time) and flying their freak flag. The presenters are not professional keynote speakers with earth-shattering ideas. They're amateur speakers with an interesting point of view on something. Anything. And your doctor's appointment talk killed, by the way. Nice job. I'll contact you as we start planning the next one if you still want to help. Thanks again for presenting.
I think you're right in thinking that there could have been a bit more useful info tucked in between the humor. At least, I think you're right cause that's what I was thinking too. That said, I can't imagine anyone following up a hilarious presentation on sandwiches with a talk on the importance of web accessibility. That'd be a tough sell.
Maybe next time do half the program on more substantive topics and the other half on whatever you want, and let the audience vote by seeing who's paying attention?
Ignite is to TED what a poetry slam is to a poetry reading.
At a poetry slam, a poet has 3 minutes onstage in a bar and is being judged by 5 people plucked randomly from the audience. What they read, and how they read it, is way different than what a published poet would pull out at a Barnes and Noble. Is one better than the other? I don't think so.
Don't get me wrong: I've seen some pretty craptastic slam poetry in my day, but I've also read some pretty craptastic poems in books. What I'm getting at is that they are two different genres, two different beasts entirely. With a poetry reading you have time to build a longer, quieter story. With a slam poem, you gotta get to the point and keep the audience's attention away from their cocktails and on your piece. Both have merit.
That's my long-winded way of saying that presenting on a topic in 5 minutes in a casual venue with free beer is different than having in 20 minutes in a dead-silent formal theater setting.
I think Minneapolis *is* an amazing think tank full of crazy smart people doing crazy smart things. I think it's okay to entertain ourselves and blow off steam at events like Ignite. I loved that there was a crazy quilt of topics that ranged from educational to entertaining.
I hear what you are saying but I think there are other venues for think tankery and doing great things and generating incredible, spreadable ideas (speaking of which, the last TEDxTC event was pretty darn cool and I know another one is in the works!). I think Ignite is pretty great at being what it is.
Frankly, you were a perfect end to the evening. In the immortal words of Kristina Halvorson, "Yay for pustules!"
Not to get too high off my own supply, but if you're looking for something a bit different from Ignite or Pecha Kucha type gatherings, you might want to check out Give & Take.
It's a locally ideated concept that connects people through knowledge and curiosity. It happens monthly at Intermedia Arts and I think it's a great way to connect with people at any level you're interested in.
But don't just take my word for it! Richard Chin at the Pioneer Press wrote about his experience at February's event. He called it "Wikipedia, only with beer and eye contact." I think that sums it up pretty well!
Quite frankly I'm looking for a little more of this: 'Great ideas punctuated by jokes? Wonderful.'
Although all of the presentations were great, if all I wanted was comedy I would attend one of the many venues around Minneapolis. I think the point is that Ignite does not have a theme. Ignite is not just for tech people or social media people, if it were we would go to Unsummit, MinneWebCon, MinneDemo.. but being a web person I would like to hear something that I don't hear on a daily basis. How to extract a giant tumor growing teeth. How to grow a hydroponics garden in my basement. It's learning something that you otherwise would not have thought to look into while being witty AND wonky all at the same time. I totally agree with Meghan on this one
Not much to add to the great conversation going on here except to say this is all Pete Barry's fault.
Oh, and I learned a lot from your presentation. Mostly about your quasi-obsession with Will Smith, but knowledge is knowledge, right?
I was at Ignite Raleigh (here in Raleigh, NC) on the same night and it, too, was great. There is so much potential for this type of event. Most speakers are new to it and so are learning as they go. Lots of positive energy and creative ideas. The slightly geeky audience takes it as entertainment but engagement is essential.
I had the experience of following a very funny talk on sandwiches to talk about the even more exciting topic of spreadsheets. My intent was to educate an audience on a tool that I use daily and am passionate about, in a format that was enlightening to the audience, relevant, and engaging.
After seeing what other speakers presented on, combined with amazing delivery, I knew my deck on Pivot Tables was going to be drivel. I was using data straight from audience members and speakers, but I don’t think I nailed my point home or inspired anyone to go work with a set of data and learn. I don’t know if cats would have saved me.
But for me, to get on stage and talk about a subject that I know, helped me personally. I’ve looked at spreadsheets in an office or cube for 10 years. While I get to talk to the C-Suite on the data, I’ve lost so much of the communication skills that I had in the college years. Getting on a stage in a public speaking matter was something that helps me talk to people in a non-digital way. This is true for any subject. That was my Ignite for the night.
You know what? I'm a horse's ass.
Thank you all for your comments. I really appreciate it.
You're right - Ignite is fun and should be.
For the record, I'm never blogging under the influence of one tweet again. ONE TWEET! This is the stupid comment that got me all worked up: http://twitter.com/Shawn_Butler/status/10009795200
Note to self: Don't blog for critics. At least not before coffee.
Sorry for being... an ass. Thanks for being so kind in your replies. You all are great.
Meghan, last year there were way more serious presentations than this year. This year I enjoyed the Japanese garden, pivot table and meme presentations, all of which I consider to be serious presentations. Last year there were very few presentations steeped in humor. I assume that the popularity of the humorous presentations last year may have had an affect on this years players. I've got plenty of ideas and, while I share them on my blog, I don't think of them as great Ignite material. It could be that I'm long winded and feel that I couldn't share enough about any of my ideas in just 5 minutes. In my Ignite presentations I hope to make people think about something that they may not have thought of before or possibly inspire them. I can't imagine doing this without humor, but that's just my style. Some people can present great information in a short period of time without humor. I envy them. Don't feel like you let people down because you didn't. You provided laughter and mystery. People found you hilarious and the buzz was all about whether or not you really talked like that. Great job.
Depends what the expectations are. I took a .05-assed book outline and wanted to gauge interest. Doing my slides I realized if I didn't add some humor I'd be toast. But I saw mine truly as a balance of light info/light social critique. Yet I enjoyed sandwiches the most. And I got enough good vibe to decide to actually go for the book.
Meanwhile last year I did an onstage storytelling event - expected it to be like the Moth - tackled something soulful and followed three flat-out comedy routines. Brutal!! I finally got the audience around but... The seredendipity and unknowingness is part of what I like about these types of events.
I thought your prezo was great - the joys are in the mix and the friction- I think
Meghan:
My name is Arik Hanson. And I'm an Ignite virgin. Well, at least I *was* an Ignite virgin. So take my comments for what they're worth as I did not attend the first event as many in this comment stream did.
Ignite was, without question, one of the best events I've been to locally in quite a while. Not because it provided me with meaningful content and ideas to help me become a smarter communicator or marketer--but quite the opposite.
There was creativity (sandwiches!). There was guts (Kim singing at the end of her presentation). And yes, there was Bollywood (thank, Meghan). I loved every minute of it. Yes, even the pivot tables.
The beauty of Ignite, obviously, is that it's the opposite of most events you routinely attend. Yeah, there's some structure to it. But, it moves at a very fast pace. It encourages intense creativity. And, it rewards risk. Those are all very important concepts, skills and learnings for our professional lives.
I'm a big fan. And you better believe I'll be at the next Ignite. I may even volunteer to embarass myself and present.
Ok I dig on all this stuff. but I must tell you as I was watching the SMBMSP at the Comedy Club, I'm thinking stand up in a world of Youtube must be a huge risk.
So Meghan, what if you worked for some typical corporate company or even if your humor is viewed as offensive by your employer.
People I think social media is coming to an interesting era in our culture. It might be a time when those early adopters will be challenged by those companies that see the benefits, but want to limit the risk.
it might be time to say "Lighten Up Francis" First one to comment from which comedy this line if from gets a beer, or if typos are allowed a beet.
ARE YOU HIGH?!
THIS DISCUSSION IS AWESOME!!!
Your post is AWESOME!!!
I think it's fantastic that you were questioning the way the event went, and I think it's great that people chimed in. I'm looking back and I don't see a single person saying you are "wrong"... lots of different perspectives, opinions, insights.
I am still cringing that I did a stand-up routine, by the way. ;)
Albert, that's from the Bill Murray movie, "Stripes." Boo-yah! Beer me!
Sweet Kuni you are right again! Your beet beer awaits, special brew from the Ukraine with a hint of radish.
Let's connect when i return from #sxsw
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