Get there early for the StickerGiant Social Hour from 6pm to 7pm in the banquet room next to the theater. StickerGiant is generously providing beer and pizza Ignite Anchorage 4! There will also be sodas and other non-alcoholic drinks for the non-drinkers, and wine for the non-beer-drinking-drinkers. The speakers will start at 7pm.

Fundraiser

100% of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Anchorage Schools Foundation. We’re going to have some great door prizes too, and every attendee will receive one entry for the door prize drawing*. You can increase your chances in the drawing by donating even more to the Anchorage Schools Foundation – for each additional $1 donation you make at the event you will receive one additional entry for the drawing. Door prizes will include:

• Anchorage International Film Festival All Films Pass donated by SplatDot.com
• Kaladi Gift Cards donated by Kaladi Brothers
• Orso Gift Cards donated by Ranna & Associates
• Beart Tooth Gift Card donated by Apex Logic
• Ignite Anchorage Coffee Mugs donated by @jdfrankl

*You must be present to win.

Speakers

We have some great speakers lined up and Karl LeRay [ @hogbiker ] is going to be our emcee for the evening.

PowerPoint Karaoke

Back by popular demand is the PowerPoint Karaoke challenge, or as Ryan Lawton [ @redrummy ], our emcee for the challenge, prefers to call it – the Suicide PowerPoint Karaoke challenge. PowerPoint Karaoke is an impromptu presentation based on a random selection of images, a sort of Improv for the Ignite scene. For Ignite Anchorage 4 our competitors are:

Sponsors

Great Britain continues to astound the world with its relentless prejudice against the much maligned class they call “Gingers” Will America follow suit? Find out how the blogosphere is responding and whether redheads will fight back or just get really pissed off.

About Cindy Franklin
Cindy Franklin was born afflicted with the ginge. Despite her debilitating condition, she currently maintains a family, a job, and a small red car. On Twitter she is @CAFrankl.

Independent film festivals celebrate an art form that integrates everything from music and cinematography to set-building, writing, acting, costuming, special effects, creative financing, and more. Putting on a festival integrates its own assortment of disciplines with the end-goal of showing films that local audiences might not otherwise see. But don’t be fooled. A film festival isn’t about kicking back and chilling out with celebrities. It’s about illusion and story-telling, magic and investigation, imagination and community.

About Dawnell Smith
Dawnell Smith mostly runs errands, and sometimes writes, makes art, watches kids’ soccer, and retreats to the mountains with her dogs. She is also one of the key members of the Anchorage International Film Festival team and can be contacted at dawnell (at) anchoragefilmfestival.org or sometimes @ANCFF on Twitter.

There were over 1200 North American artisan cheese entries at the American Cheese Society competition this year.   Succulent triple crèmes, tangy blues, marvelous aged cheddars, and delectable stinky cheese.  The United States has developed its own robust artisan cheese movement and the new American  Cheese is a far cry from Velveeta.  Helen presents an overview of her American favorites.

About Helen Howarth
Helen has been on a yearlong odyssey of cheese and is opening Fromagio’s Artisan Cheese, Anchorage’s first-ever cheese shop specializing in small-batch, artisan cheeses on October 23rd.

She is a life-long Alaskan with an extensive background in the arts both as an administrator and performing cellist. Her interest in cheese began with one taste of a divine French Blue cheese “smuggled” in a friends’ luggage from Paris. She has been tasting her way through cheese cases across America ever since. She can be contacted at helen (at) fromagioscheese.com.

The simple answer is…whatever is comfortable for you.

Part of the charm & terror of Ignite is that you’re up on stage for five minutes as the ENTIRE audience is hanging on your every word while you speak on your topic! You are, for five minutes, the expert presenting something you are passionate about and you need to be comfortable as you do this.

One of the things about Ignite is that this is a venue to have fun so there is no pressure except for yourself.

For many, it becomes a liberating experience as they learn for the first time they can do this OR the topic they are speaking passionately about is not only accepted, but inspires others (e.g. Kokayi Nosakhere’s inspiring “End Child Hunger by 2015″ presentation).

In essence, being comfortable allows you to be in complete control during your five minutes.

There are, of course, other ways to make yourself comfortable such as practicing your presentation prior to the event (read my previous post on practicing here: http://igniteanchorage.com/2009/12/30/practice-practice-practice-or-how-to-annoy-friends-rock-ignite/).

Regardless, the more relaxed you are the easier it is to recover and the audience will enjoy the presentation as part of it includes you!

At my first presentation, I wore a suit more to show motorcyclists are professionals than to impress the audience so you can even wear attire that enhances your presentation (such as Lederhosen when you talk about the beers of Germany)! The sky is the limit!

However I must state for the record that we ask you to please use tasteful attire so as not to frighten small children or animals…we appreciate dignity in all it’s forms.

So with that, comfortable attire will assist you in being more relaxed in front of the audience and in the end allow you to be relaxed as you present your topic.

Good luck and we look forward to your presentation!