Ignite Talks Community Event & Chapter Guidelines

Events

  • Ignite events are always open to the general public.

  • The event consists of a series of 5 minute presentations on a variety of topics.

  • All talks must follow the Ignite format: 5 minutes, 20 slides, 15 seconds per slide. This is not a framework that can be modified. It is the basis of what an Ignite Talk is.

  • There is no audience Q&A or panel discussion at an Ignite event. However, community building is foundational to the vision of Ignite Talks. So, we strongly encourage you to include audience activities and icebreakers before the show and during intermission (if you have one). 

  • Events should be single-day events (usually 2-3 hours max). Multi-day events must be specifically approved by Ignite HQ.

  • Your event can be as big or as small as you like. You can host it in any type of venue that makes sense in your community. We have Ignite events as small as 25 people in the audience and as big as 1300+.

Licensing

  • There is no fee to host an Ignite Talks community event.

  • You do not need to have a license to hold an Ignite Talks community event or to create or run an Ignite Talks community chapter.

Finances

  • Each Ignite chapter is financially autonomous. Ignite Talks is not responsible for any expenses you incur to host an Ignite event. We recommend that you think through expenses and revenue to ensure that your chapter remains financially healthy.

  • You may use your events to raise money for registered charities. 

  • You may not pay speakers or charge speakers. 

  • While most teams are comprised of volunteers, you may choose to pay your organizing team.

  • You may choose to make your event free to audience members or charge them a fee. You should make the decision on whether or how much to charge your audience based on your own costs and the market dynamics in your area.

  • You may use any ticketing site that is available in your area. You are responsible for all ticketing and event fees.

Sponsorship

  • You may work with sponsors to bring in revenue and offset costs. 

  • You may not work with any sponsors that are in the tobacco or weapons/ammunition industries. 

  • Sponsors cannot have any editorial control or influence over the content of your event. Sponsors cannot give a talk that in any way pitches their business.

  • A sponsor may give a talk about a topic that is unrelated to their business or the sponsorship.

  • Sponsorship may include setting up an information table or booth, selling merch, or showing an audio or video commercial during the event, but may not form the basis for any of the talks. Be careful with commercials. Keep them short (15 seconds is good) and relevant specifically to Ignite Talks audiences. Otherwise you may erode trust.

  • Other than a short commercial, sponsor logos may not be displayed on your stage. You may thank sponsors in a short slide, but it should not remain on display for more than a few seconds.

News & Media

  • Members of the press are not allowed to record any part of your event.

  • If you are interviewed by the media, state clearly that you are an Ignite Talks Chapter Leader and state the name of your chapter.

Talk Content

  • The spirit of Ignite is to amuse, educate, enlighten, and inspire the audience. Keep this in mind when choosing talks. 

  • Aim as much as possible for a diversity of speakers and subject matter expertise.

  • Talks should be on a variety of topics–and the more variety the better. Themed Ignite events are permissible if the theme is significantly broad to attract a diversity of speakers and attendees.

  • Talks should be thoughtful and inclusive. Do not host talks with inflammatory religious or political agendas or polarizing “us versus them” language.

  • Harassment, bigotry, racism, sexism, and other forms of violence will not be tolerated at any Ignite event.

  • All talks must be in compliance with copyright law. The event leader is responsible for ensuring that copyright law is followed.

Digital & Video Assets

  • Ignite chapters have the option of having a page to represent their chapter on the www.ignitetalks.io website. You may not build your own website on your own domain name for your chapter. If you are a university or school-based Ignite, you may include a page on your school website for your chapter.

  • You may set up social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for your chapter. You must submit the login details for these accounts to HQ and keep them updated so that we can access them in case of dissolution of a chapter or discontinuation of a license. Ignite Talks is not responsible for any expenses incurred to establish an online presence.

  • All photos of your events must be released under a Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0 license) license so they can be freely shared. Flickr is a good platform for this. You can create a free account and upload up to 1000 photos. You must inform Ignite Talks HQ when you have new photos to share and provide us with a link to the photos. Add attribution data when uploading photos. Do not add a watermark or a logo to your photos.

  • We strongly encourage you to record your events. Videos should be uploaded through our Media Uploader to be uploaded to the main Ignite Talks YouTube account. We will review your videos for quality, content and copyright issues before they are uploaded. This process usually takes a few business days. We will inform you by email once they have been uploaded, and create a playlist for your chapter that you can embed in your social links and on your ignitetalks.io chapter webpage. Do not share your videos on any other online platforms or channels.

  • If you are taking photos or recording video of your event, all of your speakers, performers, and other stage presenters must sign our media release form. Please keep all speaker media releases for your own records. We will request them if we need them.

  • Before you upload any video, you must confirm that all the images, music and video clips used in your speakers' presentations are cleared for distribution on YouTube. Ensuring talks are free of copyrighted materials is entirely the responsibility of the chapter leader.

  • If you would like to live stream your event on YouTube, please contact us.

Branding

  • Ignite events and marketing must follow the branding guidelines in the Brand Playbook.

  • Because Ignite events serve to build community, they are named after a geography–a city, region, or neighborhood. They are not named after a country or a company (company Ignite chapters do exist but they are under a corporate license). University and school-based Ignites may be named after their school. 

Merchandise

  • You may give away or sell Ignite Talks merchandise at your events.

  • Your sponsors may give away or sell their own merchandise at your events.

Ignite Talks events are hosted by inspired people like you from all over the world. It’s a fantastic and magical thing. Events build community and they build leaders. As we build the Ignite Talks brand throughout the world, it’s important that we agree on certain things. This is key to maintaining the integrity of the Ignite Talks spirit so that it may continue to service communities for many decades to come.

You do not need to apply to host Ignite Talks events in your community. Anyone is eligible to host community events and use the Ignite Talks logo and name at their events. But when you use our brand, you must agree to the following guidelines.

Last updated on 11/11/24.