Category: Videos

What Kat Thinks …Talking Smoothies and Ignite Submissions

In my latest attempt to kick my day off in a semi-healthy manner, I’ve recommitted myself to making breakfast smoothies. It’s been a frustrating process. Sadly, I’m not one of those folks who traipses into the kitchen, nary a recipe to be found, only to toss in a pinch of this and a cup of that and maybe add a little more this to create the most incredible dish on the planet (or smoothie, in this case).

99.999% of the time, I have to follow recipes verbatim. Even when I’ve made the same smoothie everyday of the week, the one time I attempt to do it from memory inevitably winds up tasting like pizzle.

Side note: No idea why the word “pizzle” popped into my head. However, it did remind me of Arsenio Hall in Coming to America during the brilliant, groundbreaking scene with Samuel L. Jackson, as seen here:

Anyway, back to my smoothies. If I do everything like I’m supposed to, according to the directions, usually, it tastes pretty good. If I don’t use a recipe and try to wing it, I’m pretty much assured it’s going to be disgusting.

EXCEPT FOR THAT ONE TIME.

It happened last week, and it was nothing short of magical. I had frozen cherries, and I’d even found a cherry smoothie recipe online. However, I didn’t have all the ingredients it called for. So, I threw caution to the wind and went for it. Cherries, almond extract, vanilla yogurt, maple syrup…oh yeah. It was definitely a “go big or go home” kind of experiment. Also, I think I’d actually had my coffee prior to making breakfast, so I felt I had superpowers.

It was so delicious. It was like angels descended from the heavens, leapt into the blender, and sacrificed themselves for the sake of my tasty breakfast.

Are you sitting down? Because here comes the metaphor that ties all this back to Ignite Denver: My miracle cherry almond smoothie is your submission idea. It goes against logic. There’s no reason to talk about your topic of choice other than the fact that you feel you must. It seems utterly ridiculous, but you submit the idea anyway, because you have to.

Be the cherry almond smoothie, friend. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Eh, not entirely true. You could wind up with another crap smoothie, but you could surprise yourself.

OK, so trying this again: Be willing to be the crap smoothie, friend. Do it, because you know there’s a chance you might wind up being a not crap smoothie.

Crap and smoothie are two words that shouldn’t incorporate the same sentence. I’m spiraling here.

Try something new. Despite feeling like you’re limited in scope, and presenting at Ignite Denver feels totally scary and unfamiliar, risk it anyway.

You have until 9/1/2016 to submit an idea. Go for it.

Tuesday Two! Two more reasons to attend Ignite Denver 21.

As if you needed two more reasons than 14 engaging speakers, right? (If you don’t have your tickets yet, get them here: https://ignitedenver.org/tickets/

Reason #1: Biker Jim’s Dogs is back to serve up pre-Ignite Denver food in front of the Oriental Theater! Gotta get you some. They even have a vegan dog in addition to the standard reindeer, elk, or beef. Tasty.

bikerjim

Dogs & caramelized onions
Dogs & caramelized onions

Reason #2: Afterparty music by Dandu! Pretty chill, will be perfect for a Thursday night.

Bonus reason #3! Our MC is the brilliant and funny Kat Atwell. (No pressure, Kat.)

Here’s her opening Spark from Ignite Denver #20 for a little preview of what you can expect on Thursday night!

Friday Five! 5 blasts from Ignite Denver’s past

In the run-up to Ignite Denver #19 on February 26th, we are highlighting some Sparks from years gone by, each Friday a different theme. This week’s topic is:

Profanity!

Ignite Denver isn’t about censoring your talk, especially when it gets the point across. Here are five videos with *clutches pearls* profanity right up front in the Spark title:

Kat Atwell – How To Raise A Fucking Lady

Rick Ramos: How to Dig Yourself Out of a Shithole With a Shovel

Erik Wolf: Is My Web Guy F#cking Me?

Erika Napoletano – How the F-Bomb Promotes Green Living

Jun Heider: Recycling Practices are a Crock of Shit

If you want to submit a f*cking Spark for Ignite Denver #19, you can do so until January 26th!

Ignite Denver 13 Videos

[youtubegallery] Jared Ewy: How to Ignite and its Importance to Humankind|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahs87wti6UM
Chris Hinds: Looking From a Different Perspective|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJXKOYyqdK8
Helene Kwong: Spell Check Ain’t Your Friend|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ueYFuz1n1k
Aaron Nunez: How To Talk Your Way Into Anything|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kt2EquMwW4
Crystal Preston-Watson: Bathroom Cubbies and Chopstick Training Wheels: UX of Daily Life|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxFB8tt6IT4
Danielle A Edmonds: Two Things You Have to Do|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5Tpi_6ygXM
Mel Torguson: Could you be in a common law marriage without knowing it?|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mPj8lOTtK8
Ian Harwick: 10 ways to encourage entrepreneurship|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihu3Fmw81s8
Joey Nelson: 5 Fails When Moving into a New Office|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udwkMRToTQU
Katie Schmatz: What if Being Miserable Was the Best Thing that Ever Happened to You?|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt5NfbkCH_M
Elizabeth Becker: So you want to be a foreign correspondent?|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvoFLfeSP44
Reid Fenlaw: How to Make Your Life Better and Piss People Off|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZT3PWCrhUE
Monica Reitmeyer: Doing What Needs to be Done|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWkAc-mmktY
Jeff Gamut: Perfume is My Kryptonite: Why My Super Power is Killing Me|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQBxiYlXG90
Speed Round 1|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HmOhCreNkU
Speed Round 2|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xquWSBgFsXo
Speed Round 3|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EzkzuTVo40
[/youtubegallery]

Ignite Denver 12 Videos

[youtubegallery] Joseph Labrecque|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrV1q6DvCpQ
Tim Davids|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GXfGKM_uf8
Eric Rosenberg|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUlkVZnl10g
Art Pennington|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMLhzh_MtBA
Eli Fehler|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM7YfoQVTuQ
Ryan Estes|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcjeEGfbYDM
Mollie Rusher|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlGK9a_fPK0
Bart Windrum|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnGM5P7OGIw
Ben Deda|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK1G56Cqfpc
Kelly Tidd|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fy_91fSnQs
Arif Gangji|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzoUCMKwoG8
Eric Fickes|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RmFkQMZKD0
Audrey Klammer|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUhgEzxh5N8
Tim Nicklas|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM6UZe319DM
Erik Wolf|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI2Xa0Wgrtc
[/youtubegallery]

Ignite Denver 11 Videos

Finally! The videos from Ignite Denver 11 are in!

I want to thank the gang at ZeroSun Pictures who volunteered nearly all of their video production company to get these done. There were snags and obstacles but these guys went above and beyond the call of duty to provide us with the videos of our amazing Ignite Denver 11 presenters. Now you may have noticed that one presentation is missing. The always delightful Kia Ruiz is still in the limbo stage. We are doing our best to dig it out of the mire, but until then please enjoy…

[youtubegallery] Colin Thomas-Arnold|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHQVRzsxe6w
Eric Rosenberg|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eROxfVuUXVI
Erika Napoletano|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp1DaXzpaLA
Helene Kwong|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM4IG0DheF4
Jillian Hart|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STqAecxDdWM
Kelly Tidd|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAXFTslGF00
Kia Ruiz|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKe8th2evcs
Tali Koziol|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtuzk6jIL2Q
Tim Nicklas|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBUSsWTUwvE
Zach Olsen|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg-ss8JIY0c
[/youtubegallery]

If You Had 5 Minutes To Talk About Anything…

If you had 5 minutes on stage to talk about anything you wanted, what would it be?

That’s the question that Ignite Denver is here to ask. Geeks, nerds, business people, foodies and even a whole bunch of craft beer brewers have joined us 10 times in the past just to show their answers.

Ignite Denver 11 is happening tonight! We couldn’t be more excited about the presentations that you will be seeing. Please get your ticket from Eventbrite and join us to find out what this group has done.

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