subtitled ‘The Ignite vs. BackFence PDX Epic Clash This Thursday Night’…

Once upon a time, we used to huddle around fires at night to keep warm. In order to fool ourselves into thinking we were safe from the wilding hordes, we told stories. Lots and lots of stories.

Some people grew into master storytellers. Others drew comfort from the tales themselves. And to this day, storytellers — and those who listen to them — continue to flourish in modern day society.

Here in Portland, we flock in droves to hear stories told by strangers. Why? Perhaps we delight in the uncomfortable-ness of others. Get to escape our own mundane realities. Feel safer for a minute or two from those wilding hipster hordes roaming SE Hawthorne or NW 21st. Who knows…?

But those of us who like our stories had our worlds rocked to the core a few weeks ago. And now? We must CHOOSE.

English or Irish? Greeks or Romans? David vs. Goliath? Superman vs. Lex Luthor? Road Runner vs. Coyote? Tom vs. Jerry? Emacs vs. VI? Jobs vs. Gates? Heaven help us, Pirates vs. Ninjas? Godzilla vs. Mothra?

No, it’s worse than that, people. It’s the ULTIMATE choice. Do you choose between Mommy…or Daddy? That’s right, kid – it’s the MOMMY vs. DADDY choice. And you MUST PICK ONE. (Or else no stories for you…!)

Sadly, that’s the dilemma many are facing tomorrow evening.

Ignite Portland 7

In this corner: Do they choose to attend Ignite Portland?

BackFencePDX

In the Other Corner: Or do they purchase tickets for BackFence PDX?

How can you choose? (Thankfully, I don’t have to — so I’m not going to decide for YOU. See, I can’t make either, thanks to the wonder that is Parent-Teacher Conference at middle school. Yes, kids trump all…)

But here’s my own handy-dandy cheat sheet to make it easier for you to scan the facts.

Oh, and if you want to see the other epic battler suggestions I got from my Twitter followers, do click the —more— link right —–>here, won’t you?
Arthur vs Mordred
Beowulf vs Grendel
Ninjas vs Pirates
Maverick vs Ice Man.
Burt vs. Loni
Could Care Less vs. Couldn’t Care Less
Dr. Horrible vs. Captain Hammer
Pine vs. Mail.app
Normans vs. Anglo-Saxons
Spy vs. Spy
Beowulf vs. Grendel
Cowboys vs. Indians
Church vs. State
Inigo Montoya vs. The Six-fingered Man
Batman vs. Joker
Order vs. Chaos
Olympians vs. Titans
Love vs. Reason
Popeye vs. Brutus
Keith Olbermann vs. Bill O’Reilly
Harvard vs. Yale
Smurfs vs. Gargamoyle
Ernest Hemingway vs. the adjective
Pacman vs. the Ghosts
User vs. SysAdmin
@camikaos vs. @turoczy (I’d have made a different choice myself…)
Yankees vs. Red Sox
Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader

Related Posts

• September 22, 2009 -- Get Temporarily Insane for Only 10 Bucks at Back Fence PDX (1)
• May 6, 2009 -- Time is Running Out: Submit your Ignite Portland 6 Proposal! (2)
• February 19, 2009 -- Light It Up (2)
• November 16, 2008 -- SLL: Bancroft, Josh Bancroft (0)
• October 21, 2008 -- Two Cool Mid-Week Events I Won’t Be At… (1)

So, you went to Ignite Portland 5, saw the presentations and thought, “Wow, those were great, I need to submit something for IP6!” When you realized the next Ignite wouldn’t occur until July, you thought, “Eh, I’ve got plenty of time to submit something. Time for more beer!”

Well, guess what? The deadline for submitting a proposal for IP6 is Sunday, May 17. Consider this a friendly reminder that you have just over a week to think up something you’d like to present to a crowd on July 16 at the Bagdad Theatre through 20 auto-forwarded slides.

Also, there will be a public town hall meeting held Monday, May 18 to discuss the proposals submitted and allow the community to voice their opinions on who should be part of IP6. The details on the town hall meeting are still TBD, but be sure to check out Upcoming as more information is made available.

Who knows, you may be selected and join the select crowd of past IP presenters. Shockingly, I belong to that club as do a few other Our PDX authors, including Aaron, Abraham, Betsy, and Cami.

What are you waiting for? Get those thinking caps on and submit your topic!

Related Posts

• November 18, 2009 -- When Storytellers Go Wild (5)
• April 28, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for April 28th (1)
• April 23, 2009 -- Give Some Love to BarCamp Portland (1)
• February 19, 2009 -- Light It Up (2)
• November 16, 2008 -- SLL: Bancroft, Josh Bancroft (0)

If you had five minutes on stage what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds? Around the world geeks have been putting together Ignite nights to show their answers.

That’s the line.  That’s the short answer I try to give when someone who has never heard of Ignite asks me what it is.  That’s what it says on the Ignite Portland about page.  And people?  Usually glaze over a bit.  Is it wonder or is it a lack of understanding?  Do you know just how awesome it can be to experience Ignite Portland?

I’m not just saying that because two of the bloggers from OurPDX presented last time.  I’m not saying it because of my tendency to get swept up in the moment.  I may, however, be saying it because 2 more of the OurPDX contributors you know and love are giving their all on the Ignite stage tonight.  It’s also possible that I’m excited because my podcast Strange Love Live is one of the many sponsors and I’m a little excited to see our sponsor video up on the big screen.

No, it isn’t that last one, forget I said anything.  I’m excited because our very own Aaron Hockley and A.L. Venable will be giving what promise to be fantastic talks.  They’re not the only ones though.  There were a record number of submissions for #IP5 so the competition was stiff.  I really can’t wait to see what everyone has to say, I can’t wait to see their slides and yes… I can’t wait to see all those 30 second sponsor videos.

That’s not all though.  As if we didn’t have enough flaming fun packed into all the Ignites past this time they’ve added a new layer with the 15 Seconds of Flame videos. And did I forget to mention that Brady Forrest, Ignite’s founder will be giving the What’s Ignite talk?  It must have slipped my mind.

Ignite Portland 5 is happening tonight at the Bagdad Theater.  Technically the show runs from 7-10 PM but I’d suggest getting there a little early.  Ticket holders can head in at 5:15, but at 6:15 that ticket becomes worthless and they start letting in the General Admission line.  Don’t have a ticket?  Don’t fret, admission is free and the organizers have been careful to point out that last time everyone was able to get in.  Want to know anything else?  Check out the Ignite Portland site and if you plan to attend it’s a good idea to read the Dos and Don’ts.

Now I’ve got to get off this computer and start getting ready to go, there’s so much to do and so little time and I need to find the perfect lipstick to go with my outfit.  While I’m at it I might want to figure out whatthat outfit will be.  See you tonight?

Related Posts

• November 18, 2009 -- When Storytellers Go Wild (5)
• June 3, 2009 -- Pie Champ 2.0: It’s So ON! (16)
• May 6, 2009 -- Time is Running Out: Submit your Ignite Portland 6 Proposal! (2)
• May 4, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for May 4th: The ‘future of journalism’ edition (0)
• May 1, 2009 -- Merging ‘old’ media & ‘new’ media, right here in PDX (0)

It was a long week here in the house of Strange Love Live as Cami fretted about her presentation at Ignite Portland 4 and Dr Normal Stage Mothered her within an inch of her life. When it was all said and done, when the house lights were down, every last attendee was finally home and in bed and the Bagdad was back to it’s regularly scheduled happenings we thought it would be a good idea to shoot for a little recap of the good time that was Ignite Portland 4. Josh Bancroft seemed like the go to guy for that recap since he was not only one of the organizers, but also took the stage for a talk. Take a listen:

Strange Love Live Episode 55 – Ignite Portland with Josh Bancroft

But we couldn’t stop there… I had to ask, I had to know… Why Josh, why bright orange Crocs everywhere you go? The answer to that pressing question and so much more on the most recent episode of NSFW Strange Love Afterhours!

Strange Love Live Episode 56 – Afterhours with Josh Bancroft

or to get the full visual impact of our Croc intervention check out the ustream:

Online video chat by Ustream

As always you can listen to the shows here, download them, subscribe or pick us up on iTunes so you can always be the first to know when we’ve released a new episode…

***

Join us Friday November 21st at 10 PM with guest Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb. Have no doubt that I’ll ask him several remedial questions on various topics and then ask him to repeat himself as I take notes and try to learn some very important things…

Related Posts

• November 18, 2009 -- When Storytellers Go Wild (5)
• November 10, 2009 -- Food Carts Portland on NBC Nightly News (3)
• November 9, 2009 -- SLL: Locketman (0)
• September 14, 2009 -- SLL: The Miracle in July… In September (0)
• September 7, 2009 -- SLL: There’s TV On The Internets? (0)

Here’s what we’ve found as we’ve traveled the local PDX web (complete with our comments) for July 12th:

• Eat. Drink. Think.: Three of my new favorite things…or: Why I love living in Portland! – I really have to start following Bruce Bauer's lead more often – he finds the best food deals around.
• Ignite Portland 4 » Calagator: Portland’s Tech Calendar – Thursday, November 13th – save the date!
• June sales up at Costco, down at Nordstrom – Portland Business Journal: – Sometimes, you only need to scan the headline…

Note: you can share bookmarks back to our site if you have a Mag.nolia account – just join our group and then send relevant links to that group when you mark a site, article, or post!

Related Posts

• November 18, 2009 -- When Storytellers Go Wild (5)
• June 23, 2009 -- What’s Your $$$ Situation? (4)
• May 6, 2009 -- Time is Running Out: Submit your Ignite Portland 6 Proposal! (2)
• February 19, 2009 -- Light It Up (2)
• November 16, 2008 -- SLL: Bancroft, Josh Bancroft (0)