Big Numbers - The video from Ignite Phoenix #4

If you missed the event or didn't get the full picture from the Sideshare presentation, I'm delighted to say that the video of my talk on Big Numbers from Ignite Phoenix #4 is online!



Ignite Phoenix continues to be the very best event in the Valley. And I'm not making that up. It. Is. The. Best. If you don't have one in your community, start one.

I was a lot happier with my presentation this time than last. Why? Because this time, I pushed my arrogance aside (try and picture that) and actually rehearsed. I was prepped. I knew the material. I know what I was going to say and when I was going to say it. I could do the whole 5 minutes without the slides. Yet I left enough breathing room for the crowed to react. And they did, in all the right spots.

Could I improve? Sure. I need to stop moving around so much. Maybe I should only move during the transition. Or maybe it's fine. But if I'm going to do more talks professionally -- no, I wasn't paid to speak at Ignite Phoenix -- then I need to get my body motion as prepped as my ability to nail the slides and the words. Not that I'm not happy. I'm friggin' thrilled with how I did!

Wanna do this? Go ahead. Ignite Phoenix is taking submissions for their 5th event coming up in November. And yes, you know I'm submitting again. What? Not sure... I have time.

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Ignite Phoenix - Big Numbers dry run

I had a fabulous idea recently. Since timing and rehearsal are more important at Ignite Phoenix than other presentations (your 20 slides auto-rotate every 15 seconds without any input from you), I thought I'd do my night-before run in front of the microphone.

And thanks again to the magic o SlideCast by SlideShare, here is the dry-run of my Ignite Phoenix presentation, Big Numbers.

Big Numbers - Ignite Phoenix

View more Microsoft Word documents from Evo Terra.

The actual video of the event will be posted in the coming days. I'm really hoping that turned out well, and that it captured the audiences reaction to my presentation. Which went really, really well. More on that when I can see the video and get it posted.

Oh, and if you live in the Phoenix metro area and are inspired by what you see here, submissions for Ignite Phoenix #5 are open. And yes, I'll be submitting again. How can I not!

Big Distance - My talk from Ignite Phoenix 3

Here are the slides and the audio track from my Big Distance presentation, originally given at Ignite Phoenix 3 on February 25, 2009. The slides have been corrected. The audio was recorded right here in my office. So is it the exact same talk as happened live last week? Nope. It's better.

Props to Phil Plait for much of the math. And checking the rest. Of the math. Go buy Death from the Skies!. It's where I got much of the info.

Big Distance - Talk from Ignite Phoenix 3

View more presentations from Evo Terra. (tags: scale astronomy)

If you're not familiar with the Ignite format, here's all you need to know. 20 slides. 5 minutes. Go. The most fun you'll have presenting anything you want.

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My next Ignite Phoenix presentation will be better

Image via Wikipedia

Ignite Phoenix the Third was last night. And by all accounts, it was far and above the best event so far. The Tempe Center for the Arts was a great venue. A packed venue that quickly setup video screens outside the room for those who couldn't get in. 300+ extremely appreciative people. Wait, don't forget the beer and wine. That tends to help!

And yet, I walked away disappointed. Not in any of the things I mentioned above. Not in the organizers who did a fabulous job as usual. And not at my fellow presenters, some of which knocked it out of the park.

No, my disappointment comes as I reflect upon my own presentation. I screwed up. In three ways:

• Overconfidence: I spoke on a topic I'm well-versed in. I spent at least four hours assembling my 20 slides. I rehearsed it several times until I had the timing pat. I did all of that over a week ago. And then I didn't look at the presentation again until it started showing on the big screen.
  
  I've heard it said that airline pilots work the hardest at takeoff and landing -- the plane pretty much flies itself in between those points. Turns out it's the same for me and presenting. Once I got rolling, it went pretty well. Even the ending was OK (since the Ignite format doesn't leave a lot of room for long "In conclusion..." slides). But I totally boffed the opening. Which threw me off for the rest of the presentation.
  
  Had I spent 60 seconds flipping through the slides an hour before I went on, I would have nailed it. But I didn't. Cocksure doesn't go far enough to describe me at times.
  
  
• No outside editor: Simple mistakes get made. It's easy for our eyes to overlook them, especially when they are the same eyes that are connected to the brain that made the mistake in the first place. In my case, I had a unit of measurement wrong. The number that came from the calculations was right, but a transposing error threw the whole thing off. Sometimes these tiny mistakes crash presentations. Sometimes satellites. In hindsight, I should have sent the whole presentation -- a whopping five minutes -- to Phil Plait for vetting. He helped me with some of the math anyhow, and I'm sure he would have caught my gaff in an instant.
  
  
• No notes: I'm not much of a note-taking person. I craft my slides in such a way that they contain clues about what I want to say. And since I'm good at memorizing my points, it hasn't been much of an issue in the past. But the two prior errors caused me to be a bit flustered as I progressed, compounding errors. I forgot words. I transposed names. I started shooting from the hip. Granted, I've got decent aim from there. But it would have been better to have an anchor to draw me back in.

But don't get the impression that I bombed. I doubt I'll be banned from future talks. Everyone in the audience seemed to appreciate what I had to say. And all in all, the intent of my talk was successfully conveyed to the audience. Though I'm sure at least one person caught an error and wrote me off on principle. I say this because I do this.

The good news: I can fix it in post. I'll get some time to record myself giving the talk here in my own domain. Where I won't screw up. And that's the one I'll post for you.

Prepping for Big Distance at Ignite 3

Image by tysoncrosbie via Flickr

My talk on Big Distance has been selected by the fine folks at Ignite Phoenix 3! So now I know what I'm doing the evening of February 25th. Oh, and the weekends leading up to that, as I still need to finish the talk. It's called "Big Distance", and it's in a similar style as my Big Time talk from the first Ignite Phoenix.

If you can't make the event (live or on uStream), I'll post the slides when I'm done.

But if you want a preview, the scarily-talented George Hrab has just released a video of a new song, FAR. Both his song and my talk are in the same spirit. My talk will go into more details. But his has a snappy beat. And uses the phrase "uber-far".

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Video from my "Big Time" talk from Ignite Phoenix now aviailable

Last night we pulled off the first Ignite Phoenix series of presentations. My honest opinion? Outstanding. Your city needs an event like this, and Phoenix needs to do another one.Kudos to Jeff and Roger for pulling it together. And for twisting my arm to talk.

My presentation on "Big Time" won't be terribly new for those of you who've been listening to my CultCast for years. It was the second and third topic I covered. But this time, I got to do it with slides and had to compress it down to five minutes exactly.

I did it, and you can now see that video on line. (I start around 11:00 in.) I screwed up when talking about humanity's time on the planet (50K, not 50MM years as I said) 'cuz I didn't put a cue on my final preso (Note to self: Double check next time), and halfway screwed up the century slide (started out talking about decade -- duh). Oh, and I walked around WAY too much, driving Clintus batshit crazy on the camera and making it tough to fit me and my slides in at the same time.

I may go back and record myself doing the talk "live" to create a screen cast. Quite a few people in the crowd said that they enjoyed the talk and would like a copy. So for now, suffice with the link above. When I get back from the NME, I'll see if I can find the time to do the other.

And as I told the folks who asked, I have two other "Big" talks I can give -- one on big numbers (like the real difference between a million and a billion) and one on big distances (think astronomically) that also might be fun to develop. I'll start working on those (eventually) and then see if I can figure out how to do small next. Could be fun. Here's to hoping there's another Ignite Phoenix where I might present those next!

I'm speaking at Ignite Phoenix August 12th

If you're interested in some fun and eclectic talk, join me at Jobing.com at 6:00 PM on August the 12th. I'm kicking off the presenters at the first ever Ignite Phoenix event that evening. Speakers only have 5 minutes on stage, so even if something sounds terribly boring to you -- relax! Or take a potty break.

Here's the line-up of speakers for Tuesday evening:

First Act

1. Big Time Evo Terra
   
2. Peanut Butter Jelly Time! April Holle
   
3. RadiatePhx: Why having a vital downtown matters Claudia Bullmore
   
4. Running A Successful Coffee Establishment Austin Baker
   
5. O.B.G.I.T.R. Steven Shaffer
   
6. Do Social Networks merely help us build bigger silos? Steve Swedler
   
7. Get in Shape David Koontz
   
8. Storycasting Jeff Reid
   
9. Play with yourself (musically) and break through to the next level Sean Tierney
   

Second Act

1. Circ Jerk: Fear and Loathing in the Stacks Daniel Messer
   
2. 10 Green Biz Ideas For PHX Entrepreneurs! Tomas J Carrillo
   
3. Firewalking - Myth or Mastery? Vincent Kellsey
   
4. LIT 140: the public side of sharing a personal passion Ms. Heather Lynne Herr
   
5. Commerce: assistance for success Tiffany Frechette
   
6. Is living outside the United States right for you? Kevin Patterson
   
7. OCD: We Put the "Order" in Disorder M. Bahle
   
8. Pinhole Portrait Photography Sheila Bocchine

Be sure and RSVP to the event if you are going to come. It'll be a hoot!