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Tag: Charlotte

What is Ignite Charlotte All About?

You may have heard of Ignite Charlotte.

Hopefully you searched us out, trying to figure out what the heck its about. Well we’re here to tell you.

Ignite Charlotte is a series of 5-minute talks, each speaker uses 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. Speakers talk about pretty much anything, as long as they are passionate about it.

Ignite Charlotte is not a conference. There’s no keynote speaker here. There won’t be any vendor registrations. There are no “breakout sessions”.

The speakers you will hear are not professionally trained. Not all of them, anyway.

Why? Ignite Charlotte is about community. So we attract business leaders, thinkers, innovators, techies, geeks, anyone who is willing to get up in front of their community peers and share what’s on their mind.

We want to showcase the bright minds who want to make Charlotte and the world around it a better place.

Our mantra is “Enlighten us, but make it quick!”, and we abide by it. Our volunteer organizing team does a great job of providing the best experience for speakers, attendees, and sponsors, while maintaining the philosophy of Ignite Charlotte.

Take a look at our gallery to see videos of previous talks and join us on Tuesday, March 20 at the Neighborhood Theatre in NODA for Ignite Charlotte 4.

Where Are They Now: Jim Van Fleet, Ignite Charlotte 1 & 2

Jim Van Fleet has been a first for Ignite Charlotte: he is one of the only ones who has spoken at more than one Ignite Charlotte series! His first talk was about “Startup Culture in Charlotte“, and his second lap involved the talk, “What is the Cloud“.

After his second Ignite Charlotte talk, Jim jumped onboard with OtherScreen, a mobile startup in Charlotte, and a company that won an NC IDEA grant. He is part of the operating team as its chief technology officer.

Also, he has started a newsletter, one that he said has doubled in size in only six months. Feel free to sign up for his newsletter here.

Ignite Charlotte has helped him branch out of his network of developers and programmers. He also has had the opportunity to represent his tech community around Charlotte, including the Charlotte Chamber.

And, get this – at Ignite Charlotte 1 he met fellow speaker Andrew Gertig, who spoke about mobile phones and technology. Now they are co-workers at OtherScreen. Cool stuff.

Thanks Jim for not only standing in front of your peers once, but twice! Good luck on your ventures!