15 totally weird (in a good way) talks from Ignite Philly 12 [audio]

 Ignite Philly co-organizer Geoff DiMasi addressing the crowd at Johnny Brenda's. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Monko)

Ignite Philly co-organizer Geoff DiMasi addressing the crowd at Johnny Brenda's. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Monko)

Get up on stage and say something interesting. That’s Ignite Philly, in a nutshell.

Last night was the 12th local gathering of the semi-regular series of lightning talks. Speakers get five minutes and 20 PowerPoint slides to make it count. It’s like TED, but boozier (and therefore better. Duh.).

It was my first Ignite Philly and, I have to admit, I was impressed. Below are each of the 15 raw, rapid-fire, thought-provoking, wonderful ideas that took the stage at Fishtown staple Johnny Brenda’s. Listen here or download and podcast later.

As for Editor’s Picks, I’m a fan of Austin Seraphin‘s audio-rich exploration of being blind in Philly; Chris Wink‘s lifehacks for advanced city living (adapted from this post); and Heather Schmerman‘s tales of speaking without speaking.

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But really, you can’t go wrong. 

Be warned: There’s plenty of salty language.

1. What it’s like being blind

2. How to love Philly

3. Celebrating civic innovation

4. What the heck is parametric modeling?

5. A better education system — through robotics

6. Advice from Pop Pop: No = new opportunities

7. Your car is a gas-guzzling couch — and it doesn’t have to be

8. Philly lifehacks

9. How to raise amazing kids

10. The secret life of sign language

11. Having kids in the city

12. We need to talk about death and dying

13. Why taxidermy matters

14. Tech to make cities talk

15. Why Camden isn’t as bad as you think

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