Aside a few minor bumps here and there we all were very happy with the show. The energy really took off during our rendition of The Beatles’ “I’m the Walrus.”

The presentations were great. I had a chance to sit down and watch a majority of them. My top favs were “Farming for Eggs,” “100 shows in a year,” “Vacationing Nebraskan Style,” and “My Life as a Musical.”

First, the event, Ignite Bend, is one of the coolest around. 10 people are selected to give powerpoint presentations after they submit their topic for an online voting round. (A lot of numbers here so hang with me) Each of the selected presenters are limited to 20 slides that automaticaly advance after 15 seconds. There is a 15 second slide that separates each presentation. So what the audience ends up  with is a very entertaining and random show of presentations that are flavored with any emotion you can think. Most of the presentors are locals and all of the subjects are pretty interesting.

My first experience with Ignite Bend was with its first one held at the Poet House at downtown Bend. I submitted a presentation called, “Dirty Wicked Town” and decided to perform a song while the slides rotated. I hand-drew each of the slides and timed out the song so it was exactly 5-minutes long. The second Ignite Bend I got a call asking if I could write a song that explains what Ignite Bend is. I invited my band mates in Kousefly to back me up while I performed a song called “Countdown to Ignite.” The third time Kousefly was invited to perform during the seating and break of Ignite Bend. That really worked out great. We helped energize the audience before each round of presentations. And now we are on our forth, where we will be doing the same thing but with a little more time on stage with a half-an-hour closing set. The band is excited to play and grateful the event has kept us in mind as we have grown with it. I’m excited to hear that they are opening the event to other performers after this one, so musicians be on the look out for a call for music for Ignite Bend 5.

EVENT INFO

We strongly recommend that you have a ticket (either printed or displayed on your mobile device) to enter the event. If you are a speaker, committee member, volunteer, supporter, or sponsor – check your email. Your ticket will be delivered to you electronically and you do NOT have to reserve a ticket through the reservation system.http://www.ignitebend.com) if you wish to use a credit card.

A suggested donation of $3 per person is requested, but not required, for admission. Donations help Ignite Bend offset expenses including venue rental. You can donate cash at the door or visit the Ignite Bend website (

Doors open at 6:30 PM. Presentations start at 7 PM. Get there early! Seating is general admission… and there will be announcements and networking opportunities ahead of time that you won’t want to miss!