Phillypreneurs

Ignite Philadelphia: September 23, 2008. Doors open 6PM. Talks start 7PM. FREE (be early)

Yes, ‘atwitter’ is a word and yes, I know what it means and yes, it is the inspiration for the naming of Twitter.

For you non-wordies, ‘atwitter’ means ‘Being in a state of nervous excitement’, but you don’t have to take my word for it, skeptics can verify for themselves here, here, and here.

Why am I all atwitter?

If you didn’t have a conference in San Francisco and you were able to make it to the last Ignite Philly in July, then you know exactly why there’s a buzz; Ignite Philly is a vein thumping dose of ‘change-your-city, change-your-world’ inspiration! Let me be more specific: “Ignite is a series of speakers talking about inspiring projects for 5 minutes. The presentations can be serious, funny, or somewhere in between.” As its name alludes, Ignite Philly has become the touch-point for an explosion of innovative and cutting edge projects, and companies and social experiments in Philly, if not the country. But again, you don’t have to take my word for it: Ignite Philly Recap (by Kevein Lee), Ignite Philly Recap (by Philebrity), Ignite Philly Recap (by Orielly) .

The equation for combustion is simple: Rub a bunch of smart/creative/motivated people together in a jam packed bar (heat), add alcohol (fuel) and the synergy of a social network (oxygen) and WHAM! you’ve got a fire that can turn a city upside down. I’m just kidding about the alcohol, the real fuel is passion (but the alcohol certainly doesn’t hurt).

Why you should be atwitter:

The better question is ‘how can you not be?’. With Josh Kopelman from First Round Capital introducing an all new crew of presenters sharing everything from grass root art initiatives, to University experiments, to innovative corporate projects, it’s going to be another amazing (and probably sold out) night.

Here’s a taste of the line up for IP 2.0:

Don Miller (NO CARRIER) Beth Van Why (Design Philadelphia) Jameson Detweiler (Drexel’s Smart House) Stu Hankin and Will Robinson (IdeaBlob) Kristin Groenveld (ArtSphere) Stan Pokras (Nonprofit Technology Resources) Whit MacLaughlin (New Paradise Laboratories) Jen Yuan (jenlists [at] gmail.com) Pamela H. Zimmerman and Kiki Bolender (Parking Day Philly) Howard Blumenthal (MiND TV) Geoff DiMasi & Paul Wright (Open Source Philadelphia) Jason Allum (RipIt) Mark Yim (University of Pennsylvania GRASP Lab) Jim Stogdill (Accenture) Adam Turkelson (Neat Receipts) Harris Romanoff and Dana Schloss (MakePhilly) Steve Welch (DreamIt Ventures)

Whether you’re atwitter or not atwitter (I’m so done with this word) you should defenitely plan to be at Johnny Brenda’s next Tuesday, just so you can say you were there 50 yrs from now. See you there!

Dave Speers is an online marketing consultant and start-up junky that has worked with a wide variety of Philadelphia businesses. Dave spends most his time annoying really smart people at Indy Hall co-working collaborative.