Top Ignite Seattle Talks of 2018

2018 was a fantastic year for Ignite Seattle! Thanks to our 37 speakers who took to our stage and shared their story with us. And thank you to the folks who submitted a talk that was not accepted this year. We read and consider every submission and even if you’re not chosen you do influence how we think about each event. So please do keep submitting – and we’ll keep our minds open.

The Top Talks have been selected by the Ignite Seattle organizers. Ignite Seattle is not a competition, there are no formal judging criteria, but we wanted to honor some of our favorites this year and we thoughtfully put this together for the first time.

So without further ado here are the Top Ignite Seattle Talks of 2018, in no particular order:

• How to Mouse with Your Toes – Elizabeth Nelson. We all know sitting at desks all day staring at screens isn’t great for our bodies, and we were delighted by this entertaining and unusual concept for a better way to interact with your computer.
• How to Not be the Least Secure Gazelle – Zachary Cohn. Everyone worries about their security online, but there’s so much confusion over what to do about it. Ignite Seattle alumni and organizer Zachary Cohn brings us to the animal kingdom for a killer (literally) metaphor to use for understanding security and what specific actions you should take.
• So, You’re Black in Tech – Rovina Broomfield. Diversity in the working world, specifically in the tech sector, still has so many challenges, and Rovina eloquently takes them all on, including a glorious riff on the abuse of the term ‘unicorn’.
• Pooing in Public – Jason Preston. The design of everyday things matters, and perhaps there is no better example of this than the locking mechanisms of public bathrooms. Ignite Seattle alumni Preston deftly examines the user experience problems found in bar and restaurant restrooms, with advice for owners and customers on how to avoid getting yourself into embarrassing kinds of trouble.
• Getting Naked for Feminism – Katrina Hamilton. How brave are you about taking risks? What ideas do you believe in enough to act on them in public? Katrina explains, with a flair for the serious and the comical, takes her feminist ideals out into the world through the costumes she makes that challenge our culture’s fundamental assumptions about power, control, and gender roles.
• Mystery Ignite (improvised Ignite talk on Bitcoin) – Kinzie Shaw. All of our speakers are brave, but we love when someone pushes the limits. Kinzie agreed to take our stage to present to an Ignite slide deck she had never seen before (on the topic of bitcoin). It’s hysterical, it’s amazing and it puts into relief any fears of public speaking you might have, as what she did is so much braver and harder than what most of us do.
• The Seattle Superman – Jonathan Belle. Photographer and artist Jonathan Belle shares his unusual and surprisingly moving story of why he regularly wears a Superman costume. We can all learn something from his honest intensity and the challenge he’s taken on to define how he treats others in the world.

Did we miss the one you loved the most this year? Leave a comment and give that talk the love it deserves.

And if you can’t remember them all, or the name of your favorite, these links will help you:

Ignite #35 Talks
Ignite #36 Talks
Ignite #37 Talks