Ignite Charlotte 4 Press Corp – Part 1 Recap
Ignite Charlotte took over the Neighborhood Theatre for a 4th round of talks ranging from understanding the Geek language to the awesome Justin Bieber. Each of the speakers had great topics and connectors into spectrums that either we have pondered or yet never thought of. Here’s a quick rundown of Part 1 from an amazing night at Ignite Charlotte 4!
First up, we had Phillip (PhillyMac) Zannini who wanted everyone to know “How to Speak to Your Geek” We’re all Geeks. Yes, even you. But with the push and pull of our everyday lives we often forget about our inner geek. With everyone being a geek within their own right, there are different levels and types of Geeks.
PhillyMac unlocked the Geek language with three key points; how to identify what type of geek you’re speaking with, the best ways to speak to the different geeks and how the geek language applies in both business and the rest of your life. He also gave insight into the types of geeks there are: Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic, and Melancholy. At the end of the talk, the heart of the matter is to focus on who they are rather than what type of geek they are!
Next, we had an interesting talk simply titled “Fat, Lazy and Awkward”. Colby Foster connected how motivation is a two-way street and is crafted by how parents develop work ethic within children. Mentally, we are becoming fatter due to taking in so much information, yet becoming very lazy. One of the main points that Foster emphasized was “Challenge Us!” He went on to say, “throw away the video games and get in touch with your children. Give them more information than Xbox!” The line “Stop making life easy. Trust us with projects you think are too big for us…we will get them done” echoed among this talk.
The third speaker, Addy Kapur, encouraged us to “Follow your Dream, But Have a Plan”. “It’s perfectly OK to dream about starting a company while holding a corporate job (a lot of people do). It’s all about balance! Having a plan on how to bring your dream from a mental state to reality will give it a greater chance of manifestation. The road has many ups and downs. The undertone of Kapur’s talk was, “It requires a lot of hard work with no guaranteed payoff. Brace yourself for a long ride.” Then motivated the audience to “Quit Your Job” and put that dream to action!
“Ways to Live Like a King, on the Budget of a Peasant” talk came from one of the greatest resources – a college student! Who else would know about living large on a small budget, effortlessly?! The fourth speaker, Kaitlyn Tokay, gave tips on how to be resourceful and have fun with it! “Money does grow on trees, but it actually doesn’t. So it comes from a job! You don’t have money and more than likely will be eating McDoubles for the rest of your life.” Being her own greatest resource helped her build this excellent and insightful talk.
Have ambitions to run or get back into shape?
The fifth speaker, P.J. Smith, transformed from IT Engineer to Running Coach during his talk: “Couch to 13.1: How an Out-of-Shape Nerd Completed a Half Marathon”. Keys to his success included choosing proper running shoes, training for 19 weeks and using a vision board with images of his goal to motivate himself to cross the finish line with a time of 2:52:38. P.J. felt that if he could finish a half-marathon ANYONE can.
“If You Hate Justin Bieber, Patriarchy Wins”, the title alone made the crowd more interested in what was yet to come. Dr. Robin James, the sixth speaker in Part 1, gave a unique spin on patriarchy and how it is more threatened by pop music than actual people. “One primary way patriarchy subordinates women: Men ”exchange” women, using women as the means to establish relationships among men. Teen idol fan cultures reverse this exchange: women use men as the means to establish relationships among themselves as women. This reverses patriarchy’s main way of subordinating women. Thus, patriarchy is severely threatened by teen idol music. It only allows teen pop to exist on the condition that it, and its female fans, are thoroughly devalued. If we don’t want to devalue women, we need to reflect on our distaste for teen idol music.”
The audience enjoyed Part 1 and headed to the lobby to meet and greet the speakers during intermission. Part 2 of Ignite Charlotte 4 is up next. Stay tuned!
Contibutor: Nadia Vanderhall (NcVanderhall) Ignite Charlotte 4 Volunteer