Ignite Anchorage 4 will be held at the Alaska Experience Theatre on Thursday, October 21st, 2010. [Google map] There is ample parking on the north side of the building off of W. 3rd Ave. Admission is $10 and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Anchorage Schools Foundation. Seating will be limited in the theatre so buy your tickets now!

Get there early for the StickerGiant Social Hour from 6pm to 7pm in the banquet room next to the theater. StickerGiant is generously providing beer and pizza Ignite Anchorage 4! There will also be sodas and other non-alcoholic drinks for the non-drinkers, and wine for the non-beer-drinking-drinkers. The speakers will start at 7pm.

Fundraiser

100% of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Anchorage Schools Foundation. We’re going to have some great door prizes too, and every attendee will receive one entry for the door prize drawing*. You can increase your chances in the drawing by donating even more to the Anchorage Schools Foundation – for each additional $1 donation you make at the event you will receive one additional entry for the drawing. Door prizes will include:

• Anchorage International Film Festival All Films Pass donated by SplatDot.com
• Kaladi Gift Cards donated by Kaladi Brothers
• Orso Gift Cards donated by Ranna & Associates
• Beart Tooth Gift Card donated by Apex Logic
• Ignite Anchorage Coffee Mugs donated by @jdfrankl

*You must be present to win.

Speakers

We have some great speakers lined up and Karl LeRay [ @hogbiker ] is going to be our emcee for the evening.

PowerPoint Karaoke

Back by popular demand is the PowerPoint Karaoke challenge, or as Ryan Lawton [ @redrummy ], our emcee for the challenge, prefers to call it – the Suicide PowerPoint Karaoke challenge. PowerPoint Karaoke is an impromptu presentation based on a random selection of images, a sort of Improv for the Ignite scene. For Ignite Anchorage 4 our competitors are:

Sponsors

“Frame by Frame: The Life and Times of an Independent Film Festival”

Independent film festivals celebrate an art form that integrates everything from music and cinematography to set-building, writing, acting, costuming, special effects, creative financing, and more. Putting on a festival integrates its own assortment of disciplines with the end-goal of showing films that local audiences might not otherwise see. But don’t be fooled. A film festival isn’t about kicking back and chilling out with celebrities. It’s about illusion and story-telling, magic and investigation, imagination and community.

About Dawnell Smith
Dawnell Smith mostly runs errands, and sometimes writes, makes art, watches kids’ soccer, and retreats to the mountains with her dogs. She is also one of the key members of the Anchorage International Film Festival team and can be contacted at dawnell (at) anchoragefilmfestival.org or sometimes @ANCFF on Twitter.

“The New American Cheese”

There were over 1200 North American artisan cheese entries at the American Cheese Society competition this year.   Succulent triple crèmes, tangy blues, marvelous aged cheddars, and delectable stinky cheese.  The United States has developed its own robust artisan cheese movement and the new American  Cheese is a far cry from Velveeta.  Helen presents an overview of her American favorites.

About Helen Howarth
Helen has been on a yearlong odyssey of cheese and is opening Fromagio’s Artisan Cheese, Anchorage’s first-ever cheese shop specializing in small-batch, artisan cheeses on October 23rd.

She is a life-long Alaskan with an extensive background in the arts both as an administrator and performing cellist. Her interest in cheese began with one taste of a divine French Blue cheese “smuggled” in a friends’ luggage from Paris. She has been tasting her way through cheese cases across America ever since. She can be contacted at helen (at) fromagioscheese.com.

As a “veteran” of several ignite events, many people have come to me and asked the question “What do I wear for Ignite?”

The simple answer is…whatever is comfortable for you.

Part of the charm & terror of Ignite is that you’re up on stage for five minutes as the ENTIRE audience is hanging on your every word while you speak on your topic! You are, for five minutes, the expert presenting something you are passionate about and you need to be comfortable as you do this.

One of the things about Ignite is that this is a venue to have fun so there is no pressure except for yourself.

For many, it becomes a liberating experience as they learn for the first time they can do this OR the topic they are speaking passionately about is not only accepted, but inspires others (e.g. Kokayi Nosakhere’s inspiring “End Child Hunger by 2015″ presentation).

In essence, being comfortable allows you to be in complete control during your five minutes.

There are, of course, other ways to make yourself comfortable such as practicing your presentation prior to the event (read my previous post on practicing here: http://igniteanchorage.com/2009/12/30/practice-practice-practice-or-how-to-annoy-friends-rock-ignite/).

Regardless, the more relaxed you are the easier it is to recover and the audience will enjoy the presentation as part of it includes you!

At my first presentation, I wore a suit more to show motorcyclists are professionals than to impress the audience so you can even wear attire that enhances your presentation (such as Lederhosen when you talk about the beers of Germany)! The sky is the limit!

However I must state for the record that we ask you to please use tasteful attire so as not to frighten small children or animals…we appreciate dignity in all it’s forms.

So with that, comfortable attire will assist you in being more relaxed in front of the audience and in the end allow you to be relaxed as you present your topic.

Good luck and we look forward to your presentation!

“PowerPoint Karaoke”

PowerPoint Karaoke is an impromptu presentation based on a random selection of images, a sort of Improv for the Ignite scene. Rachel will be competing against Karl LeRay in the PowerPoint Karaoke challenge.

About Rachel Weaver
Rachel was born in the south and lived half of her life in Tennessee and Georgia. Her parents decided one day to move her and her younger brother to Alaska because they wanted to live in The Last Frontier. Teen angst ordered her to hate it, but it grew on her and she now calls it home (with the occasional trip south to maintain sanity).

She once tried to remove her freckles with lemon juice (just like Jan from the Brady Bunch). She has since grown to love them. Her first job was at IHOP as a hostess. She always hated school, but has never stopped learning. She kept her married name after her divorce because she was tired of people asking her if she was related to Sarah Palin (Heath).

Rachel signed up for PowerPoint Karaoke originally because it had karaoke in the title, little did she know. Luckily she fancies herself a professional bullshitter. On Twitter she is @Mayor_of_Twtr.

“The Day My Dog Taught Me to Skijor”

Born and raised in Alaska, Keith has had the opportunity to participate in many of the spectacular outdoor adventures available to those of us lucky enough to live here.  One of those adventures was learning how to Skijor.  Skijoring (‘skē-jȯr-iŋ) is a winter sport where a person on skis is pulled by a dog (or dogs, horses, vehicle).  The term is derived from the Norwegian word skikjøring meaning ski driving.  Keith thought he was going to teach his yellow lab Rocky how to skijor – it ended up being the other way around!

About Keith Baldwin
Keith was born in Alaska and has witnessed vast changes taking place in this once small state.  Rarely content with the status-quo, he’s been involved in learning most of his adult life.

A few years ago, while completing his Masters in Adult Education, Keith became fascinated with understanding motivation and also understanding how we can develop conditions that support motivation in others.  This led to studies in mentoring and the development of a mentor training program which he presents to groups upon request.

After completing over 60 formal presentations, as well as completion of a variety of leadership roles, Keith was awarded the highest educational achievement offered by Toastmasters International – Distinguished Toastmaster.  Keith is the immediate past Governor of the Yukon Alaska Council of Toastmasters.  He was responsible for quality educational programming and leadership development for 30 Toastmasters clubs and over 550 members.

Keith is a skilled facilitator who has presented training on topics such as mentoring, leadership, public speaking, effective training techniques for adult learners, effective listening, ethics, as well as a variety of training related to the insurance industry. He can be contacted at kbaldwin (at) gci.net.