Word spreads fast in Chatham-Kent. At the first annual Ignite Chatham-Kent on Thursday, October 13th, a large crowd gathered inside the Retro Suites Hotel to hear speeches on several topics ranging from the war of 1812 to Financial Literacy. Locally planned and flawlessly executed by the Thames St. Clair Cultural Action Team, Ignite is a worldwide social networking event featuring speakers presenting ideas in the form of five-minute, rapid-fire PowerPoint presentations. The Ignite format features 20 slides displayed for 20 seconds each. The presentations are meant to "ignite" the audience on a subject, i.e. to generate awareness and to stimulate thought and action on the subjects presented.
Hosted by Chatham’s vibrant Cary “South Paw” Templeton, I could tell as soon as I arrived at the venue that this wasn’t going to be your typical yawn-inducing lecture series. Anyone familiar with Power Point knows that there are many ostentatious tricks available: music, animations, and transitions that presenters use to keep audiences interested—often at the expense of substance itself. Without these flashy cues, 12 brave locals stepped up to the microphone and gave inspiring presentations in front of the hometown crowd. David LaPierre, Jeff Moco, Don Shropshire, Maureen Geddes, Charlene Houle, Kit Moore, Lance Meredith, Brian French, Wanda Bell, Ken Dickinson, Bryce Giroux, and Terence Johnson all deserve recognition for courageously accepting the Ignite challenge. Each presenter spoke with passion about their respective subjects and managed to keep up with the tricky pace required of them. Did I mention Mark Reinhart’s vacuum cleaner homage to the vaudeville cliché of “hooking” bad acts off the stage? Not only did the speakers have to keep pace with their slides, they also had to worry about potentially being swept off stage if they went over the allotted time!
By intermission it was already obvious that the event was a success. The Retro Suites buzzed with chatter as myself and other members of the audience attempted to catch the speakers and exchange words of encouragement and enthusiasm. We were engaged, connections were made, and of course, laughs were had. Ignite was proof that Chatham-Kent is a community full of bright, passionate people and I can’t wait to see which familiar faces will enlighten, inform, excite, and entertain at the next Ignite Chatham-Kent event!
For more information, check out Ignite Chatham-Kent’s Facebook page.
Allison Sulman is a right-brained Gen-Y “redhead with soul” who currently resides in Chatham after majoring in History at the University of Western Ontario and completing Humber College's Public Relations
