Andrew Hyde and company have done it again. Ignite Boulder 6 went off without a hitch, and everyone I talked to had a great time.
Pros
It was extremely well organized. Everyone who helped out did a great job. I sent over the slides the day before (including a custom font which had to be installed) and was sent back a PDF proof, just to make sure everything looked right. Then another set of proofs, showing all the slides for the entire evening back to back to back. It left me 100% sure that there wouldn't be any problems.
The 40 minute break. I was surprised when Andrew announced that Mountain Standard Time would be playing for 40 minutes. At the time it seemed like an eternity - I just wanted to see the rest of the presentations! However, it fit in perfectly with a complaint I've had in past years: I never seem to have enough time to socialize with everyone. The 40 minutes whizzed by and I wasn't even ready to go back to the presentations! I'd be curious to hear what newbies (who may have had less people around to talk with) thought?
The deck designs. This was the most well designed set of slides at an Ignite yet. The presenters clearly spent a lot of time making them look nice, and there were less total words than in any previous Ignite. This lets you focus on the speaker, not dividing your attention between listening and reading.
Less F-bombs. Ignite 5 got a little carried away, but it was intentionally reigned back in this time.
Cons
Stuck behind the podium. I definitely prefer to be able to wander onstage while presenting, but it wasn't possible with the setup. For me, it's harder to project energy when I can't move around. Another thing I'd love to see in the future, is to have another monitor facing the presenters, so they don't have to turn around to look for slide changes.
Drunk Driving not taken seriously. Vanessa Schneider's talk The Things They Don't Tell You about a DUI teetered nicely on the edge of being a full blown condemnation of drunk driving. It was a whole deck about everything she's had to endure since being arrested. She had to have friends come over to take out her trash while under house arrest. She'll still be blowing into a breathalizer while driving into the year 2011.
There were a few elements of humor (done appropriately), but in the end, she concluded with something along the lines of: it was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me - I started my own business because of it. I was really hoping for a strong conclusion along the lines of: I learned something. I would never EVER do it again, and after hearing my story, you'd have to be insane to even consider it. Drinking and driving were later referenced by two or three other people at the mic and sadly the audience seemed more amused than sobered. Poor form (again, not picking on you Vanessa).
The line outside. This was probably only a minor problem, but I'd guess that people who arrived at 6:05 probably spent 25 minutes in line waiting to get in - getting only half of the socializing time they had expected.
Ignite needs a better elevator pitch. Ignite is very hard to explain to people who haven't been before. How can you get your newbie friends excited if you can't even describe it?
Summary
In closing, Ignite Boulder 6 was another great, great night. Everyone was so supportive and grateful to the organizers and presenters. I truly appreciated the opportunity to present (again), and want to thank everyone who voted for my topic in addition to all the hardworking organizers. Even having presented 3 times myself, I'm still not sure what Ignite Boulder is supposed to be - other than an amazingly entertaining night in the Boulder community.