No this isn’t a hazing ritual for speakers–it’s Ignite, the latest presentation that is a worldwide phenomenon. Ignite is an innovative way to enlighten an audience on a particular topic. This fast-paced event began in 2006 in Seattle as the brain child of Brady Forrest, Technology Evangelist for O’Reilly Media and Bre Pettis of Makerbot.com, formerly of MAKE Magazine. Ignite is coming to WREF in just a few days. This year’s conference will feature more than 20 Ignite-style events throughout WREF.  Here are a few Ignites you may want to check out:

• Tuesday 10:30am - A Do-It-Yourself Manual for Solar Swimming Pool Heating and its Heater, After 39 Years of Operation by Francis de Winter

• Tuesday 2:45pm - Low Initial Capital and Operating Costs Industrial Air Conditioning System Design by Anwar El Hadi Abdel-Rahman

• Wednesday 10:30am - Applying Renewable Energy to Historic Properties by Thomas Keohan

• Thursday 1:15pm – Where are the Eco-Innovators? An Analysis of the KNowledge Flows Between Successive Generations of Green Technology Innovations by Daniel Johnson

You can see all the Ignites as well as all full conference details on the WREF 2012 site or by grabbing the WREF 2012 mobile app. We look forward to being enlightened Ignite style during the conference. Hope to see you there!