Since I was a kid, like mostly everyone else, I loved stories. I would relish the visits my family took to my grandma’s house because she would always tell us stories in her bedroom before we went to bed. My siblings and I would lie there listening intently, and as soon as she would finish we would all plead, “Just one more Grandma.” This would go on until finally she would remind us that she had already taken her medication and had to go to sleep, which would result in a reluctant sigh from all of us. I never really outgrew this love for storytelling. Whether it be sitting around a campfire with my family or hanging out with friends I always loved hearing and telling stories. I think that this passion of stories is illustrated by the fact that I chose to start off this very review with a story…
On Friday night I went to the 10th edition of Ignite Ann Arbor, a story telling event where the speakers get exactly five minutes to talk, with twenty slides cycling through automatically behind them. There were fourteen stories in all. The topics spread from reforming the justice system to how to design your city to optimize the party scene. I have been a long time listener of The Moth, a podcast that features stories told at Moth events that are very similar to this; so I had high expectations. Ignite did not disappoint at all. I found myself engaged and learning new things about space as astronomer Keren Sharon showed us the huge activity in a seemingly empty part of space. I found myself laughing as Ry4an Brase (the 4 is silent) showed the flaws of the typical map by placing the faces of the Brady Bunch on the globe and showing how distorted they came out on the map. I also found myself close to tears as Michelle Massey Barnes told a story about her experience photographing a woman who had cancer and her daughter. She talked about the mom trying to help the daughter deal with her hair falling out when they would wrestle, and in the end the mom allowed her daughter to shave her head, empowering her. My favorite story told was by Lucy Tobier, an eleven-year-old girl who is the editor of The Murray Ave Times. This is a hyper-local newspaper she started for her street as a way to make money. Her first interview was with her neighbors’ dog and she has now scaled to interviewing people as well. She talked about how she believed every street should have its own newspaper and described some of her experiences with owning the newspaper and interviewing people.
All the stories were clearly well-rehearsed and fit the time constraints and slide transitions perfectly. The program was put on very well and all the stories were not only interesting but thought-provoking. I would recommend anyone who loves stories to go to the next installation of Ignite. I will definitely be there.
Picture taken at a previous Ignite Ann Arbor event
For more on Ignite and the speakers, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ignite-ann-arbor-10-tickets-18971794147 or https://www.facebook.com/ignitea2/?fref=ts
