Ignite Raleigh 2: I survived

So one of the drawbacks of winning the Ignite Raleigh 2 voting is that you actually have to present, in front of people that you don't know (turns out there were 700 of them)! Now most of my job involves pushing faculty and students outside of their comfort zone, but it has been a long time since I felt like such an outsider. Now don't get me wrong I teach and present for a living, but my audience members are normally either 1) Captive, i.e. students or 2) Educators that want to hear what I have to say. Last Wednesday I felt like a Freshman on The Debate team, geeky, but not geeky enough.

Now don't get me wrong, I am extremely grateful to have been apart of Ignite Raleigh 2, and my fellow speakers were fantastic, but they all seemed to know each other. It was more like crashing a reunion of social media experts, and to top that off they made me go first! However, the advantage of going first is that 1) I got it over with quickly and 2) I got to enjoy all the other presentations - which were almost all extraordinary.

Some of my favorites included:

NerdGirls Unite! Fact: Women Don’t Have to Be Lame by Charlotte Moore

I was completely impressed with Charlotte's confidence as much as her subject matter. As a "Nerd Girl" myself, I was excited to hear what she had to say and thought she did an excellent job.

Mayberry Modernism – Why the Triangle is America’s Hotspot for Way Cool Houses by George Smart

Did you know that Raleigh has the third largest concentration of Modernist houses? I didn't and now I totally want to buy one! George did an excellent job of telling a story about our area that was both interesting a compelling.

13 Reasons Women Should Take Up Boxing by Lisa Creech Bledsoe
Lisa aka (@glowbird) was one of the first people I followed on Twitter that was from Raleigh and not in education. I have always enjoyed her tweets and was interested to meet her in person. She was really nice to me back stage and a genuinely kind person - that is not afraid to beat you up in the ring. I may just have to take up boxing!

Overall, I really did enjoy my experience, but I'm not sure I would do it again. I'm appreciative of everyone that gave me their support and to the group of friends that showed up in person. We had a small edutweetup prior to the show where I got a chance to meet and talk with @PCSTech, @kellyhines, @msstewart , @cliffims, @ericcole, @keithledford among others. I am very appreciate to them for taking my mind off of the rest of the evening.

I hope to post the video soon. Right now the Ustream channel doesn't have the first two presenters. But you can watch it here just the same. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5167957