Slide and Deliver

It’s okay if you’re confused. “What,” you’re probably wondering, “is the difference between Ignite Denver and Pecha Kucha Night?” The answer is: a little and a lot. Rotate slide.

Pecha Kucha began in Tokyo circa 2003 as a way for designers to showcase their work; it limits presenters to twenty slides that auto-rotate every twenty seconds. Ignite, born in Seattle in 2006, allows alpha geeks (nerds!) to school audiences in obscure knowledge or make a point using twenty slides that rotate every fifteen seconds.

That’s the “a little.” Rotate slide. Here’s the “a lot”: According to local starter-upper John Wilker (who says he has never attended Denver’s version of Pecha Kucha, held every few months at Buntport Theater), Ignite Denver differs from PK in that it’s just a whole lot rowdier. “Mine are in bars, and I don’t do seating,” he says. “So while it gets quiet enough so that no one is having to shush anyone, definitely there’s more of a dull roar in the background.” Rotate slide.

Other differences: Potential presenters must be voted in ahead of time online. Audience members can RSVP ahead of time online, and the so-far-sporadic event is about to hit an every-other-month stride -- exactly what you’d expect with a bunch of nerds running the show. “I never wanted Ignite Denver to be too techie,” Wilker admits. “I just figured, why put that kind of limit on it when there’s so many different types of people in Denver?” Rotate slide.

Now do you understand? Ignite Denver 3 is free, though RSVPing is recommended – and it goes down today at 6 p.m. at the Irish Snug (Under the Snug), 1201 East Colfax Avenue. Get more information at http://ignitedenver.blogspot.com.
Wed., May 13, 6 p.m., 2009