While I was in Portland Oregon last month I kept meeting people who raved about Ignite. "What's Ignite?" I'd ask. "Kind of like Pecha Kucha, but different," they'd say. Ignite asks the questions: What if you only had five minutes on stage to make your point? And what if you could use only 20 slides that automatically advanced every 15 seconds? The Ignite communities are interesting indeed and have developed quite a buzz. I was reminded of Ignite today back here in Japan from this post on Boing Boing (thanks Oliver!) that links to a very nice short talk by Rob Gruhl presenting "How to Buy a New Car" at Ignite in Seattle last year. Except for the recap bit at the end,* this was a fantastic talk. And as one who has purchased a new car in the States many years ago, I completely agree with his ideas (and wish I had this knowledge years ago - d'oh!). Watch the video below -- good stuff.

* In a real-world business or educational setting, I would not try to rush through a summary slide of bullet points at the end. Instead, finish strong and with a single powerful image and give a handout of the key points covered in the 5-minute talk for discussion and elaboration in a follow-up Q&A. If it took you 4:45 to tell your story, how can you review it in 15 seconds and with bullets? In this case, perhaps a high-quality image of a sexy new car or a salesman handing the keys to a proud new owner would've been a better visual with a verbal restatement of the most salient point of the talk. But all-n-all, a great little presentation.

(And speaking of Oregon, here are a few snaps from the beach last week — best beach running I've ever experienced.)

Learn more about Ignite
• Ignite info on O’reilly's site
• Ignite Portland
• Ignite Seattle