I went to Ignite Ann Arbor last night.  Ignite is like a cross between a poetry slam and a geek knowledge dump.  Each speaker comes with 20 slides, which advance automatically after 15 seconds, and has 5 minutes to speak.

The topics ranged from “Keeping Things in Balance: Classic Visual Ratios” (an excellent talk which taught me about Fibonacci ratios in web design) to “Real-time NOAA weather satellite imagery reception from home” (which was mind bottling – with a scanner, an antenna and some free software you can grab data from a satellite).

I highly recommend going to an Ignite event, if you have one in your town. Unfortunately the next one in Ann Arbor isn’t for another 4 months, but they’re everywhere. Check out the Ignite website for more details.

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I emceed the TechNow09 conference last night.  The panel presentation was outstanding and I was glad to be able to host that.  It was also pretty impressive that they landed both Congressman Gary Peters and Oakland Country Treasurer-Elect, and the man behind the Michigan Movie incentives, Andy Meisner.

Apparently my duties were well received, I was even a notable quotable at a few points.

Here are some Tweets (boy I hate that word):

@rsmudge: @DanIzzo good job tonight. You had good stage presence.

@RyanMeray: Had a great time at #technow09! Got to meet @damnredhead, got coffee at Bean & Leah afterwards with @hcwlau, and dug @danizzo’s emceeing.

@RyanMeray: Dan Izzo – “Did they check you for the secret Apple tattoo?” #technow09

@RyanMeray: Dan izzo is awesome. #technow09

@RyanMeray: Dan Izzo drops the #tweetoprahcalypse awesome. #technow09

@RyanMeray: Dan Izzo – “What we have here is a glimmer of light.” #technow09

And my personal favorite:

@Rebeccakim11: I’m the guy with the microphone, stop me bitches! #technow09

Thanks to everyone for coming out.  Remember your assignment: in the next week promote living in Michigan on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, email, wherever you can.

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