I've had some wonderful conversations about my community before and after our local Twestival event... And it makes a number of us think that we have something growing in town. There's a level of understanding that social media is a key to improving our town and our relationships inside and outside of our town. The success of Twestival is just proof that we have a diverse group of people who care about doing good and care about taking our conversations online and putting them offline and in person. So that had me talking to my Twestival partner Scott Wendling about what we can do next. During my time in Austin for SXSW, a number of people were encouraging me to bring Ignite to my town. The idea is to let people pitch their favorite topics five minutes at a time. The premise is sharing the thing that gets you motivated and out of bed each day... What lights your spark? What ignites you? You have 20 slides and five minutes to run through it. The more I read about it, the more I really want to do this in Columbia. I met a bunch of folks from Arizona who take part in Ignite Phoenix. They had an event last week. Check out their site to see the fun topics presented. Their events are HUGE. I'm thinking a little less produced for my town... But if it grows, and I think it could grow, it could get as big as Phoenix.

I'd love to hear from folks who put together Ignite in their towns... And what people in mid-Missouri think. This could be fun!

Speaking of fun. I forgot to share a fun conversation I had during the last night I was in town for SXSW. It's on the RenMen Show about the "Cool Kids" of SXSW. I had a blast chatting with everyone that night and I recommend checking out the RenMen - Very cool ideas on cutting down your work load so you can spend more time with your family.

Enjoy the conversation: