Ignite Houston 2012 – Highlights & Photos

Ignite Talks feature speakers presenting 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds – for a total of 5 minutes. Last night was Houston’s very first Ignite program hosted by our friends at C2 Creative, featuring two of our very own Schipulites Ed Schipul & Katrina Esco

Below are some highlights of the evening for me.

All photos by Ed Schipul (except for the twitpic of him). Check out all the photos in the Ignite Houston photo gallery on Facebook

1.The Fabulous Speakers

All of the Ignite Houston speakers were wonderful – whether they were funny, insightful, uplifting,   thought-provoking, or performed death-defying stunts with helicopters… we loved them all.

2. The Main Man MC Brian Block

You gotta love this guy. He’s funny & smart & doesn’t take himself too seriously. He was a fantastic MC who kept everything moving right along.

3. Schipulite Katrina Esco’s “Writing Good Emails Will Change Lives”

I wholeheartedly agree that bad emails eat your soul, and also that writing great (helpful, informative, clear) business emails will change the world. Check out Katrina Esco’s Ignite Houston presentation on Slideshare below!

The Best Business Email Ever Written

… And view the full recap of “The Best Business Email Ever Written”

4. A Rubber Chicken

There were two talks discussing space and space exploration. One was on behalf of Camilla Corona SDO – aka NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory’s rubber chicken mascot. She actively helps with Education and Public Outreach, visits class rooms, science festivals, fairs and space exhibits to teach about the Sun, space weather and space exploration. And was great fun at the after-party.

5. Subliminal Messages from Kristen Baker

Kristen Baker discussed tricking people into advertising for you by creating a cult out of your brand. Who knew free stickers could be so powerful? Another favorite moment was her commentary around building loyalty from the inside… by keeping your employees fat & happy.

6. Daniel J. Cohen on How NOT to Write

I especially loved Daniel J. Cohen’s presentation on what not to do in copywriting. His major two sins to avoid: 1) Having no concept & 2) Grammatical issues… Including hilarious examples.

Daniel’s advice for copywriting: Start with a strong concept, consider the audience, and tighten your mechanics. Otherwise you’ll end up with something like this:

7. Flying Robot Invasion!

The finale of the event was Ed’s presentation on Invasion of the Drones, including a flight demo of one of his quadracopters. No one was injured during the presentation (though Ed may or may not have some injuries from the workshop in preparation for the event).

My favorite example Ed showed on the power of these machines are the Nano Quadracopters that have swarm and agile flight capabilities (so they can navigate around obstacles automatically). And yes, they are captured on YouTube.

8. The Volunteers!

A big thanks to all of the organizers and volunteers of this great event. You were wonderful!

Want more Ignite?

• Check out LetsIgniteHouston.com for more information on the event
• Flip Through Ed’s full Ignite Houston photo gallery on Facebook