'Enlighten Us, But Make It Quick'

That’s the theme of Ignite Seattle, the first of now more than 100 quarterly Ignite events nationwide which give speakers five minutes on stage and just 20 PowerPoint slides that rotate automatically after 15 seconds. Speakers range from the eclectic to entrepreneurial, and the results are amusing, informative and sometimes perplexing. Olmstead Williams Communications’ Vice President Trent Freeman attended his first event Thursday night and learned about “The Gentle Art of Karaoke” (Andrew Woods), “Searching for Adam Savage” or the dangers of GPS data in photos and how funny it can be if you’re a celebrity (Nate Beck), why “Your Moral Panic Over Triceratops is Wrong” (Jeremy Bingham), “How to Lose A Political Campaign” (Bradford Stephens) and much more … all in just five minutes each. Is it brilliant PR or some weird form of standup comedy? Trent isn’t so sure yet, but he feels rapidly enlightened.