wendyhoo's pre-posterous

My space for random thoughts

Ignite Waterloo 2: building our community one Lego brick at a time

I have been remiss in publishing this blog. Life seems to happen like that: when there's one thing to do there are often half a dozen more. 

Nonetheless, Ignite Waterloo 2 was fantastic and I wouldn't miss it for anything!  From the 16 speakers, to the Lego challenge, and the tasty nibblies, it was perfect.  For a full run-down of speakers, visit the Ignite blog: Ignite Waterloo 2 has come and gone with a bang

On my part, I want to say: I'm amazed at the creative energy that runs through this community. The Lego building competition proves that there are many inventive folks in this community.  The geek factor is high and proud!  The prize for best, most creative Lego creation, was the Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0. Our winner?  Well, let's just say, he made the world's smallest, playable foosball table. Can't wait to see what he makes using the Mindstorms robot.  The mind boggles!

Be sure to attend the next Ignite Waterloo on July 7 and connect with Ignite Waterloo on Twitter at @ignitewaterloo.

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Ignite Waterloo was a sweet affair

Where to start?  Last night was a blast from start to finish. Every single speaker went above and beyond: they were obviously passionate and knowledgeable about their topics. Everyone looked confident and even comfortable on the stage. From talking with a few speakers afterward, I understand they didn't feel as confident as they looked but they sure pulled it off ... with flying colours.  Listening to the speakers, I had many a moment where I learned something new.  

Ignite Waterloo was a solid event. The venue was perfect: the Children's Museum has a cool, modern vibe that's both spacious and perfectly laid out. The museum staff were incredibly helpful and responsive to requests and they set-up a great bar.  Having the GPS exhibit upstairs was a nice touch, too.  And then there was the food, crafted by the Exhibit Cafe.  It was divine: an honest #nomnomnom is definitely in order here.   

A serious highlight of the evening included cupcakes.  Yes, cupcakes. And, as you can tell from my pictures, I was enthralled; we live in a land of hidden, artistic talents. 

Being part of the elite, judging team, I can confirm that we deliberated and considered and weighed the options.  This was a serious decision.  We finally decided on a quite reasonable facsimile of a hamburger made from cupcakes.  Kevin, the cupcake artist who won, walked away with a new laptop, complements of Communitech.  Well done!

Of course there are several honourable cupcake-artistry mentions including a piranha-like Nemo, a volcano which was a natural disaster in more ways than one (it started off as something else entirely), a globe that included the equator, tilted axis, and reasonable representations of the continents in green on blue icing ~it coulda been a contendah!~ and a seriously disturbing rendition of gummy bears bitten in half.  It was all good. 

Anyway, I'll let my photos speak for themselves. All I can say is, Ignite Waterloo is one hot event. Watch for it next spring. Personally, I can't wait!

Oh, if you want to learn more about the general vibe of the event, you can do two things: first check out the blog at www.ignitewaterloo.ca, and second, check out the twitter feed using the hashtag #ignitewaterloo. 

Cheers!

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