Ignite @ ASU brought students, staff, faculty and community members together Wednesday for an evening of rapid-fire presentations.
With the evolution of community as the the theme of the night, 11 presenters took the stage to share their thoughts and concerns regarding their community’s issues.
More than 50 creative thinkers, entrepreneurs, community activists and volunteers gathered in the First Amendment Forum to join in the conversation.
Each presenter was allotted five minutes and took the audience through their personal standpoints on rising problems that influence the surrounding areas, as well as potential solutions.
A wide range of topics were covered, from parenting techniques to the importance of art in education, even ice cream. One-by-one the presenters offered facts, tips and solutions to solving the problems communities face.
The first presenter of the night, downtown Phoenix community advocate Sean Sweat, talked about the growth of suburbia and its affect on people’s sense of community.
According to Sweat, cities are better for serendipitous discoveries and a mix of perspectives.
“You see the homeless,” he said. “You see different professions and cultures all in the same area.”
Katie Sieg, an event-goer and area resident, said she connected with Sweat’s thoughts on using other modes of transportation in city environments to integrate more with people and the city itself. Having attended an Ignite event in the past with a friend, she heard about Ignite @ ASU through Facebook and felt compelled to attend.
“I moved downtown to have a better sense of community,” Sieg said.
Another speaker, Joshua Valdez-Elizetxe, engaged the audience with his presentation on online consumer intelligence.
Americans are reliant on technology and social media, like Facebook, Valdez-Elizetxe said. Online users are unaware that their information is sold to advertisements, and that’s how Facebook makes money, he added.
Valdez-Elizetxe left the audience with valuable tips on how to stay safe online. He recommends thinking twice before posting and using 12 character passwords.
“I think events like these (Ignite) create more awareness,” freshman Lauren Brown said. “We sign onto Facebook everyday unaware that we’re being monitored. You don’t think about it on a daily basis.”
After intermission, downtown resident Jesse Robinson started off the second half of the evening sharing his success story.
The idea of a late-night ice cream shop — The Sweetness — came to Robinson, and he gradually assembled a team of family, friends and peers he met along the way to bring his vision to fruition.
Robinson said he believes that dreams become tangible through the help and support of the community.
“Everyone has that network of people they can go to,” Robinson said.
Robinson’s father, Steve Robinson, stood in the crowd and was amazed by the whole event.
“This is bigger than just the ASU community,” he said. “Young entrepreneurs and people who have been down in the trenches, can present and influence the larger community.”
Marcus Jones, change agent and programming chair for Changemaker@ASU, finished the night by encouraging the audience to speak up and share their ideas.
“We seek to develop and nurture students by providing them opportunities and resources to inspire and sustain student driven social change,” Jones said. “We want to create a movement of solution seekers.”
Contact the reporter at hmparker@asu.edu
