By Ali McNally, LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER — Even the most long-winded attorneys can be brief—just so long as the rules force them to—as proven in a recent Colorado Bar Association program that required eight participating attorneys to provide flash presentations in just five minutes.
The bar paired with “global geek-a-thon” Seattle-based company Ignite to provide the program.
Ignite speed-presentation events are like speed-dating for new ideas. The rules are simple but strict: Presentations are limited to five minutes of 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds. O’Reilly Media organized the first event in 2006 in Seattle. The event is open to all types and all topics, from new technology ideas to fun vacations, and they are popular among young tech-types (one of the largest events to date was held in Boulder). One of the more popular presentations on the Ignite YouTube channel is from Kyle MacDonald, who has a famous blog on how he traded a paper clip for a house.
Could the bar make legal topics as interesting as MacDonald’s famous bartering journey? Event organizer Alli Gerkman was nervous at first, but she was delighted by the enthusiasm after the event.
Editor’s Note: Read the full story in the July 11 print edition of Law Week Colorado.
