This just in: I’m not geeky enough for @igniteboulder

I was going to wait for the video from my “Be Your Own Guitar Hero” presentation at Ignite Boulder 11 to be posted before I blogged about it. But I think it will take a few posts to get my full thoughts out. Overall, I think the evening went incredibly smoothly – the all-volunteer organizers are amazing people and are to be commended for their hard work. I also really enjoyed getting to know the presenters beforehand, which is also a whole post in itself.

First up: Geekiness

A lot of the feedback from Ignite Boulder 11 apparently said that our presentations weren’t geeky enough. I for one am relieved that my content wasn’t deemed “mega geekalicious” – I’ve always worried that I was too geeky for most people, but happy to know that apparently I’m not geeky enough. I would imagine my “less than geeky” status would qualify me to have a plethora of dates with “the ladies” – but I’m just geeky enough to not get most of those. But I digress.

My concerns with the “up the geek factor at Ignite Boulder” feedback are as follows:

• I think that the geekiest people would be the ones sending feedback the most. So these stats about having to “Geekify” Ignite are skewed. I have no stats on the number of feedback submissions, and the IQ of each submitter. But as they say, the squeaky geek gets all the grease.
• Isn’t geekiness a factor of how passionate you are about the topic you’re presenting about? I am geeky about music and about bad video games that make you press meaningless buttons on a shiny plastic guitar (read: Guitar Hero). But if you’re not that geeky about music/bad video games, then you won’t see this topic as being geeky enough. But then again I’m an art major.
• Didn’t people get to vote on half the topics to be presented? I think more people should have voted on the lower end of the scale when they were voting for these sparks. You get what you vote for. Well, half of what you vote for.
• I also had jokes about Futurama and Burger Time. How much geekier do you need to be?

I have plenty more to talk about, and most everything is positive. I just thought this needed to be posted before everything else. My speaking experience at Ignite Boulder 11 was nothing short of phenomenal, and I really loved hearing the audience laugh at my jokes, and also the “FREE BIRD!” calls as I went to pick up my guitar.

I was happy as shit about the geek-factor of Ignite Boulder 11. But rest assured I’ll be talking about something geekier than anyone can come up with in the future. Like Star Wars galaxy cantina music theory contrasted with Klingon Opera tonality.

Ultimately I’m every bit as geeky as I want to be, and I think it’s a nice balance if I can make 1400 people laugh at my jokes and clap for my music.