Ignite Bainbridge 1

The idea for Ignite Bainbridge was freshly hatched in late December 2011, and offered by Elisabeth Robson during a brainstorm meeting at OfficeXpats. Elizabeth had been a speaker at one of the Ignite Seattle performances the year before, but most everyone else at the meeting was hearing about the Ignite format for the first time. The original team for planning the first Ignite Bainbridge came together in early 2012 and included Elisabeth Robson, Alex Sanso, and OfficeXpats founders Jason Omens and Leslie Schneider. Many other volunteers signed on as well.

One invention by the newly formed Ignite Bainbridge organization was to host monthly speakers workshops to mentor and encourage people with big ideas or a passion they wanted to share but who did not have much speaking experience – especially with a tight format such as Ignite. These workshops turned out to be key in developing the teamwork necessary to  pull off the event.

The first Ignite Bainbridge held on May 16, 2012 went beyond the wildest dreams of those early organizers. The event was held at the Bainbridge Pavilion Cinema. Fourteen speakers and more than 150 attendees celebrated stories, inspiration, and big ideas from our lives on Bainbridge Island or a bit beyond. Many of those 150 showed up early for the pre-party and came again for the post-party, both upstairs at the OfficeXpats coworking space. Attendees got a chance to connect with the speakers, and we guess there were many from the audience who wondered if they might be the ones on stage “next time.”

Thanks to one of our valuable sponsors, Steve Stolee videotaped and produced individual recordings of each performance, then uploaded them to YouTube so that we can revisit Ignite Bainbridge 1 any time we want to!

Ignite Bainbridge 1 (May 2012) Speakers’ videos

Alex Sanso –  Karaoke: Hooked on a Feeling

Tom Leurquin – Clean Out Your Garage

Michael Cyger –  Information Obesity and How to Live a Healthier Life

Stephen Brady – We have a choice: The Future of Education

Denise Dumouchel – Paying Attention

Gregory Moncada – STEM Jobs Are the Future

Ann Whitmore – Just 10%

Leslie Schneider – Bones in the Desert

Klaas Hesselink – The Science Introduction to Cannabis

Stephani Jackson – 18 Inches to Happiness

Todd Hanson – The ‘Impossible’ Catalytic Converter

Tobias Eigen – Africa is not a country

Steve Ramsey – RelyLocal

Christine Castigliano – In Praise of Spontaneous Spark

Ignite Bainbridge – Intermission Interviews