Posted by Mike Orren on Contests

No, I'm not calling for some sort of mass pyromania -- Ignite Dallas is part of a growing international collection of events where people gather to share ideas in bite-sized 5-minute talks . My kneejerk impression was that it's like a somewhat less highbrow and more homegrown TED , but with more booze. (In other words, right up my alley.)

On Wednesday, there are going to be Ignite events all over the world, including Dallas' first-ever Ignite . It was put together in about three weeks by an intrepid team of volunteers, most of whom you'll recognize if you follow local social media at all. The topics are all centered around the speakers' passions -- not sales pitches -- and follow the Ignite motto: “Enlighten us, but make it quick.â€

I happen to be one of the sixteen speakers for Wednesday's event at the Granada -- I'll be continuing the thread of I started with the recent story on my improv class , looking at how to bring the lessons of improv into business communication.

Since we had rehearsals at CoHabitat on Saturday, I can tell you that you're in for a thought-provoking, eclectic and entertaining group of talks. Some are trying to save the world; some are just trying to improve one corner of the world; and some are just plain funny. You can see the list of speakers and topics here .

Tickets are going fast. Come join us and sample some interesting ideas, or at least have a cocktail with a lot of smart people.