An Ignite-style presentation is a 5 minute slide-assisted presentation consisting of 20 slides that are timed to change every 15 seconds. It's a challenging format that is meant to expose ideas, concepts and experiences quickly and in a provocative way that spurs ideas and discussion. The Ignite concept also goes by other names and similar implementations including lightning talks and pecha kucha.
Thousands of Ignite style presentations are available on YouTube and otehr websites and there are even Ignite presentation social functions being put on in major cities (including Salt Lake).
One of the challenges that GIS professionals and the GIS field as a whole face is communicating the complexity of GIS technologies (in general and specifically), effectively to non GIS audiences. Ignite style-presentations forces us to refine our messages and get them across efficiently. After all, if it takes more than 5 minutes and 20 slides to get a point across, just who are you going to be able to sell it too?
Here are a slides that will be used for an Ignite presentation at the November ('09) meeting of the Utah GIS Advisory Committee (GISAC). They were also used in a longer format at a Utah Valley University lecture to computer science and related technolohy majors.
