Last year, we hosted the first MozCon Ignite, and it was a blast. We had so much fun listening to 5-minute stories on everything, from how to cook a hot dog to running a coffee charity from your kitchen, that we're bringing the event back for a second year. We can't wait to hear your story. MozCon Ignite takes place Tuesday, September 13, during MozCon as one of our evening networking events. In order to attend, you gotta:
Wait, what is an Ignite-style talk?
Ignite-style talks are five minutes in length, with auto-advancing slides. They tell short stories to spark ideas and conversations. If you're still scratching your head, check out Ignite Seattle's Scott Berkun giving an Ignite-style talk explaining Ignite talks:
How does Ignite work at MozCon?
Each evening at MozCon, we provide fun, networking, and relaxing after a day of learning. MozCon Ignite specifically focuses on networking and kicking back to be entertained with stories from your fellow attendees.
We want you to share your stories, passions, and experiences. There are 16 — yes, 16 — speaking slots.
Our one topic rule: these stories cannot be about online marketing or career advice. We've heard all about that during the day. To get your ideas flowing, these were the topics from last year:
- Regales of an Accidental Nightcrawler Stunt Double with Jay Neill
- Sled Dogs, Northern Lights, and Mushing Tails! with Anna Anderson
- Performing a Canine C-Section with Marie Haynes
- Bulltown Strutters: The Band That Married Its City with Mark Traphagen
- Okay, I Have a Confession: I Was Homeschooled with Garrett Mehrguth
- Conquering the 100 Best Books of All Time with Kristen Craft
- Tales of Coffee from a Kitchen Window with Scott Callender
- Go Frost Yourself: 7 Basic Frostings & Their Uses with Annette Promes
- A Creative Endeavor Inspires & Lengthens a Life with Ralph Legnini
- Finding and Embracing Healthy Eating Habits with Carrie Hill
- I Was Told There Would Be Hoverboards. with Dan Petrovic
- The Day I Disremembered with Chris Hanson
- What Did You Expect in an Opera, a Happy Ending? with Chrissi Reimer
- The Best Practices in Cooking Hot Dogs with Josh Couper
- Raising My Parents with Jen Lopez
- Stoned Nerd versus the Four-Legged Home Invaders with Ian Lurie
The ever-fabulous Geraldine DeRuiter, aka the Everywhereist, will be back as emcee.
Annette talks about yummy ganaches at MozCon Ignite 2015.
The basic details to pitch
- To submit, just fill out the form below.
- Please only submit one talk! We want the one you're most excited about.
- Talks cannot be about online marketing or career-focused.
- They are only 5 minutes in length, so plan accordingly.
- If you are already speaking on the MozCon stage, you cannot pitch for this event. You also cannot pitch if you spoke at MozCon Ignite previously.
- Submissions close on Thursday, July 21 at 5pm PDT.
- Selection decisions are final and will be made in late July/early August.
- All presentations must adhere to the MozCon Code of Conduct.
- You must attend MozCon, September 12–14, and the Tuesday night event in person, in Seattle.
If selected, you will get the following:
- 5 minutes on the Tuesday night stage to share with our audience. The event lasts from 7–10pm and will be at McCaw Hall (where the Seattle Opera is).
- $300 off a regular priced ticket to MozCon. (If you already purchased yours, we'll issue a $300 refund for a regular-priced ticket or $100 for an early-bird ticket. Discount not available for super early-bird special.)
- We will work with you to hone your talk!
- Stage tour of event space between 5–7pm Tuesday night so you can get familiar with the venue and being on stage before the crowd shows up.
Unfortunately, we cannot provide travel coverage for MozCon Ignite speaking slots.
What makes a great pitch?
- Focus on the five minute length.
- Be passionate about what you're speaking about. Tell us what's great about it.
- For extra credit, include links to videos of you doing public speaking.
- Follow the guidelines. Yes, the word counts are limited on purpose. Do not submit links to Google Docs, etc. for more information. Tricky and multiple submissions will be disqualified.
We cannot wait to see what you want to share with us! Like other MozCon speaker selections, we'll have a small committee of Mozzers reviewing your pitches. If you're interested to see more Ignite talks and get inspired, check out the videos from Ignite Seattle 30 — you may see yours truly in one of them. ;-)
As always, best of luck pitching! And we'll let you know either way with regards to our decision. May the odds ever be in your favor.
I look forward to seeing what people come up with, do you know if we will see any of the successful pitches afterwards?
Since this is more casual, I likely will not have a post going into what worked about the pitches themselves. Plus, being a 5-minute story, I want there to be surprises. But here are a few pitches that were accepted from last year:
Being a stunt double
In 2002, I was hired as the stunt double for Nightcrawler in X-Men 2’s opening scene inside the Whitehouse.
The casting directors called me which was odd because I didn't audition nor did I know that they were filming in my city. It was the result of them watching me jump on the trampoline at a gymnastics club I was coaching at. Apparently they were going to the clubs in the city to scout for the part. When they arrived at the club I was coaching at, I was jumping on the trampoline onto a wall and then pushing off the wall back onto the tramp. I would always do this trick to entertain the kids. And it was at that moment, they had found their Nightcrawler.
After a few weeks of training, we were ready for the 1st take and my heart was pounding with excitement.
I heard “Action!” and whoosh! I was flipping away. Once the take was done, I looked behind me and on the floor was my tail. It had ripped off while I was tumbling! I then looked under my trench coat and there was my butt exposed. The entire crew burst out laughing! This happened 3 times and finally ended up duct taping it to me & placing a wire from the tail to my chest so I wasn't flipping with my tail between my legs.
Raising My Parents
Several times in my life I’ve had to move back home with my parents, as many young people do. During each of these times, I’ve struggled with having my own life, living by my own rules, but being in their house, and proving that I didn’t need their help (even though I obviously did). Now, the tables have turned. My parents live with me and my family, and I find myself walking in their shoes.
I will talk through highlights (as well as low lights) of my experiences with raising my parents. In five minutes, I’ll have you in tears from the ridiculous idea of trying to be a parent to your parent, and the sad realization that somewhere along the way, I’ve actually become my mother.
A few of the topics:
Performing a Canine C-SectionI used to be a small animal veterinarian. One of my favorite things to do as a vet was a C-Section. They are so absolutely amazing. I am betting that most of the audience has never seen a C-Section and would love to know how they're done. I'll take the audience step by step through the procedure with photos and describe things like the following:
-You have to know exactly where to cut.
-The uterus is mind blowing. I'll show a pregnant vs a non-pregnant uterus and you will marvel at the difference.
-Puppies all sit in their own sack. It'll be a little bit gross, but I'll show the puppies in the sack and then coming out of the sack.
-Once the puppies are out we sometimes need to do some crazy things to help them breath like swinging them wildly. Seriously. It takes great skill to swing a soaking wet puppy and not fling it across the room.
-Then we'll stitch everything up again.
This will be an entertaining talk and I'm pretty sure it will be unique. :)
Thank you for sharing, they are deffenitaly through proviking and spark some good conversation ill bet!
What a great idea! Can't wait to see some of our fellow SEO peeps come out of their shell! =)
First of all great post.
It looks I missed the MozCon of this year, but will definitely come to next one. Being newbie in SEO, I would love to join the MozCon.
Scott Berkum described the Ignite style talk very well. And all other Ignite talk are awe-inspiring.
Thanks
Regards
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A well written post!
Great article, Thanks for sharing your detailed analysis
Sounds like a good idea for those who have the time or means to get there. I'll contemplate going to future events.
I learned this article how to Ignite-style talk and great a make pitch. I get more knowledge and basic details to pitch.This article is very informative.