Ignite Lincoln sparks interest in local voices

For some it can be difficult to get up in front of hundreds of people to give a talk about inspirational ideas, especially when the maximum time allotted is only five minutes.

The speakers at Ignite Lincoln 3 are challenged to inform, engage and inspire their audience, all within the short time frame. The founder and organizer of Ignite Lincoln, Justin McDowell, set up the third annual incarnation of this event at the Bourbon Theatre to take place Thursday evening.

"Ignite Lincoln is for showcasing Lincoln's greatest minds and to shine light on some of the local talent we have," McDowell said.

Previous Ignite Lincoln events were very fast paced and exciting, according to McDowell. The first two events brought in more than 300 people and the third is expected to draw even more.

"It should be a full room and a good networking experience," McDowell said.

A couple months before the events, McDowell and other members of the planning team go through a process of selecting speakers. People in Lincoln submit their ideas to the Ignite Lincoln website. The planning team then goes through them and decides which topics will be the most interesting and exciting for the audience.

"We curate half of the speakers on our own and the other half are chosen from the website," McDowell said. "We choose from the website to give people we don't know a chance to talk about their ideas."

This event will have about 16 speakers who will talk about their passions and beliefs.

"We've had police chiefs, local artists and entrepreneurs talk about community building," McDowell said. "It's entertaining as well as informative."

This time Ignite Lincoln will have entrepreneurs, librarians, expressionists and people who simply want to entertain the crowd. Some of the speakers include Shane Farritor (a professor of engineering at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln) talking about creativity, Brenda Ealey (a Southeast Library System Administrator) discussing intellectual freedom and Lincoln's Colonel Mustard theatre troupe talking about modern representations of expressionism.

"It's a celebration of our local culture and a great way to showcase what we have here," McDowell said.

Beckie Albee, a member of the Ignite Lincoln's planning team, helps to choose speakers, set up and run Ignite Lincoln events.

"(Ignite Lincoln) brings Lincolnites together to share and hear inspiring and interesting stories and ideas," Albee said. "It's a chance to hear about a new topic that you might not otherwise know."

Albee enjoyed hearing new stories from new people at the previous events, and she looks forward to Ignite Lincoln 3 for the same reason.

"I've had great laughs, gained appreciation for several topics I previously knew nothing about and met some brilliant Lincoln minds," Albee said. McDowell, Albee and all in charge of planning and sponsoring Ignite Lincoln 3 hope that it will exceed the previous two shows by being more engaging, more entertaining and bringing in a bigger audience.

"It's an entertaining way to spend an evening and maybe learn something new," Albee said.

if you go:

Ignite Lincoln 3

when: Thursday, 7 p.m.

where: The Bourbon Theatre

how much: Free