We couldn’t have made it without a lot of help, so we want to thank you all.

• Thank you to the great speakers who dared to share their passions for 5 minutes on stage; you’re the reason we put on and attend these events.
• Ignite Portland wouldn’t happen without amazing volunteers and we cannot thank them enough. They take care of everything from the securing sponsorship to making sure the beer line moves along in an orderly fashion.
• Speaking of Sponsors, with them this event wouldn’t be possible. Our sponsors let us keep this event free and provide the live streaming for folks who aren’t at the Bagdad.
• Our attendees – thanks for showing up, having a great time, and especially thank you for bringing enough food to fill nearly 3 barrels up with donations for the Oregon Food Bank.

The barrels for the Oregon Food Bank will be at the Bagdad through the weekend. If you’re in the neighborhood think about dropping off a donation to help fight hunger.

Want to help the Oregon Food Bank even more? Sign up for the Ignite Portland volunteer day on February 18th from 1-3pm. We’ll be filling boxes and kids over 6 are welcome to join with their parent or guardian.

Were you inspired by the talks and have a burning passion you want to share with Portland in the fall? You can submit your proposal now for Ignite Portland 11 here.

If this is your first IgnitePDX or even your tenth (whoo! double digits!), we’re sure you will still want some guidelines for how to make it a great night:

• Doors Open at 5:00 PM for those with OFB donations.  We are partnering this year with the Oregon Food Bank to get some donations out to those in need.  Bring a can or two and get in early!
• Doors Open at 5:45 PM for everyone else – as usual, No Ticket Needed. As of IP7, we’ve done away with the ticket system. Too complicated. Just come on down, and we’ll let people in until the Fire Marshall says we can’t anymore.
• Overflow next door at Back Stage. If you’d rather take in the proceedings in the Back Stage bar environment next door to the Bagdad, we’ll be showing the talks on the big projection screen there.
• Live Video Stream. As has become tradition, we’ll have a live video stream of the night’s proceedings. Come back here to IgnitePortland.com on the night of and you’ll see a stream where you can watch LIVE and hang out in the chat with the other cool kids who are watching. This is for our friends who couldn’t make it in person to the Bagdad, and for any Ignite PDX fans out of town.
• Please, No Seat Saving. We know you’re excited to watch the show with all your friends. And maybe they couldn’t make it down as early as you did. But it’s not fair for one person to squat on a whole bunch of seats with coats, etc. so their friends can saunter in late. Please don’t be a jerk about this. We’ll have ushers milling about to help you remember. We want everyone to have a fair chance at getting a good seat. It’s fine to hold a seat for yourself, so you can get up and order drinks/food, but if your friends come a little later, they’ll have to find their own seats. It’s only fair. Thanks for understanding.
• Keep the Beer/Food Lines Moving. One of the awesome things about the Badgad Theater is you can your favorite beverage with a slice of pizza, a burger, or some cajun tots in the lobby, and have ‘em bring it right to you inside the theater! Please do order as much food and drink as you’d like. Just try to keep the lines moving smoothly. Doors open at 5:00 PM, but the show doesn’t start until 7PM. The smart patrons will get themselves some food before the show at a nearby restaurant (hint hint).
• After Party at Back Stage. Everyone loves a good after party. And you’re all invited to Back Stage Bar, right next door to the Bagdad Theater to compare notes with your friends about your favorite IP10 talk, and start rustling up ideas for the killer talk idea you’re going to submit for IP11. Or, just come hang out and have a drink. Back Stage closes at 12AM.
• Follow @IgnitePortland and Tag Your Stuff “ip10″ and/or “igniteportland”. Make sure you’re following the@IgnitePortland account on Twitter – we’ll be using it for real time updates on things like how much seating is left, night-of event announcements, etc. And tag your tweets, pics, videos, and whatever else with ip10 and/or igniteportland to make it easier for everyone to follow the backchannel, and find the bits that you generate.
• Volunteer at the Oregon Food Bank. As part of our partnership with the Oregon Food Bank, Ignite Portland has signed up for a group volunteer shift Saturday, February 18. Come lend a hand and help give back to the community! For more information and to sign up, click here!

The time is almost upon us! The organizers are stoked, volunteers are ready, and the speakers are probably nervous. But we know it’s going to be great. So come join us at the Bagdad Thursday night, and let’s Ignite Portland for the tenth time!

At Ignite Portland 9, Bruce Irvin from the Evergreen Curling Club presented on what makes a curling stone curl. Since then, you’ve probably been asking yourself where you can learn to curl.

Your answer has arrived. We’re excited to announce that the Evergreen Curling Club will be holding an open session on Sunday, February 12th, at the Lloyd Center Ice Rink starting at 8:15 pm! All profits from registration fees will go towards the costs of putting on Ignite Portland 10.

You’ll learn everything you need to know about this fun and challenging sport including history, rules, and terminology. Then you’ll get up close and personal with some stones and some brooms out on the ice. After about 45 minutes of learning the basics, the group will play a real game! Spots for this class are limited, so sign up today. All ages are welcome. It’s only $20 per adult and $10 per minor under 21.

This is a great way to support Ignite, and it’s definitely the most fun you can have with a broom! (Note: fancy curling pants are not included. Please supply your own.)

Check out Evergreen Curling Club’s page for more information.

We’re hosting a meet-up tonight from 7-9 at the Green Dragon on SE 9th and Belmont. Come join us to learn more about what roles are available and learn how your time and passion can make Ignite Portland 10 the best yet!

Can’t make it tonight but want to help out? Check out our volunteer page and sign up now!

What if we told you we’d give you five minutes on stage and 20 slides to tell the whole world about your favorite hobby? You know, that time you tried raising chickens, the thing you geek out about all the time, the time you nearly crushed the neighbor’s dog with your dangerous Jenga set made of lumber… you get the idea.

Ignite Portland is an exciting, fast-paced, night of presentations where people can share their passions and burning ideas. The rules are fairly simple: 20 sides x 15 seconds per slide (auto-advancing) = 5 minutes of awesome. Presentations can be on nearly any topic, so long as they can teach, enlighten, or inspire us. (Some examples from past Ignites Portland can be found in our video archive.)

Talk proposals for Ignite Portland 10 are now open! We’re looking for speakers and we’d love to hear from you. The submission deadline is 11:59PM on December 30, 2011 (we didn’t want you stressing about your proposal on New Year’s Eve), so submit your burning idea today!

As always, Ignite wouldn’t be the great event it has come to be without a lot of help from all of you. Maybe you’ve got a great idea and want your 5 minutes on the stage, maybe you’d like to help out and make sure things run smoothly, or maybe you just want to kick back with your tots and beer — no problem, Ignite Portland 10 is the place for you!

To recap, we’re looking for:

• Talks (submit your proposal right over here)
• Volunteers (both for planning and the night of the event, join our planning list)
• Sponsors (we rely on generous Sponsor Love to keep this event free)
• A wonderful audience (save the date to attend Ignite Portland 10 on February 9th!)

Ignite Portland is another awesome Stumptown Syndicate project!

Join us tomorrow night (Wednesday, September 14th) at 7pm at the Lucky Lab Taproom as we start to put the pieces together. You can find the full event details on Calagator and RSVP on Plancast.

This announcement is totally at the last minute, and we understand if you can’t make it, but fear not!

• You can follow along with this etherpad from afar to see the meeting notes as they unfold.
• At this meeting, we’ll be setting the date for our next planning meeting. If you’re interested in attending future meetings and have days/times that would work best for you please let me know.
• To stay up to date with the planning process, you can join our announcement mailing list or follow @IgnitePortland on Twitter.

Here’s to many more Ignites in Portland!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Reid Beels or Sherri Konin Montgomery.

But this is no boring bus ride. There will be free beer. And free WiFi. And a chance to win free stuff (like an orange 16GB iPod nano – the new tiny one). Plus you get to see the great talks at Ignite Corvallis 3.

What is there to decide? Head on over to the post on WIN to get all the details, and make sure you register for the bus (so they know how many to plan for). This is a great opportunity – thanks to WIN and their sponsors for thinking of us Portlanders, and setting this up!