Ignite Ubelly speaker line-up announced!

We’re a few days away from Ubelly’s Social Media Week London event, Ignite Ubelly, where ten speakers will take to the stage to talk about everything from design to call centres to punk rock to coffee. Since announcing the initial line-up of Bruce, Martin, Ewan and Andrew, we’ve had a flurry of submissions for talks. First off, all the submitted talks could have very easily made it onto the stage! The overall standard of all the submissions was ridiculously high, and in the end it came down to having as varied a programme as possible to keep it interesting! There’s still space to sign up to the event, so if you haven’t then register here!

So, without further ado here are our awesome speakers…

Martin Beeby – The Perfect Watch

The best present I’ve ever received was undoubtedly a watch, given to me by my wife Michelle. I don’t remember receiving it or opening it, but I remember loving it. It had everything: it was Swiss, had an automatic movement, a sweeping hand and a dark pearlescent face that reeked of stylish understatement… but I lost it… on a coach… like an idiot.

Ever since I’ve worn a Casio F-91W quartz digital watch, designed not by the Swiss but by the Japanese (Not exactly a powerhouse in watch Manufacturing). Over the past 4 years I’ve grown to love this £12, mass produced timepiece. The more I learn about it the deeper I fall for it. Give me 5 minutes of your time and I will explain how this isn’t just a watch, but a symbol of all that is great about human ingenuity.

Linda Sandvik – Stepping out of your comfort zone

Linda recently graduated from Hyper Island, where she learnt a very valuable lesson… Step out of your comfort zone, embrace frustration and study yourself failing. In her talk she’ll take us through some exercises she learnt at Hyper, some of the psychology around comfort and stretch zones, how successful people study themselves failing and how you should do the same.

Sam Brookes – Why you should be a coffee snob!

Sam is particular about when and how he drinks his coffee. If he goes to a new coffee shop, he stands and watches them make it before he decides if he’s going to order anything. And above all, he judges people for their choice of coffee! To put it bluntly, he’s a massive coffee snob, but apparently that’s not a bad thing! At Ignite, Sam will explain to the world (the audience) why it’s ok.

Chris Wharton – Mentoring

Chris isn’t green or fuzzy. He doesn’t wear a cloak and he doesn’t speak in dyslexic clichés. However, he does like sharing his experience with others. In his talk, Chris will take us through the ins and outs of mentoring, from joining a mentor scheme to becoming a mentor yourself. Introduce yourself, help someone, make a difference.

Bruce Lawson – Why Web Standards are even better than punk rock

Bruce has been doing the rounds of the conference circuit for a few years, becoming a bit of a rock star of the web standards world. As an evangelist at Opera, Bruce is ideally situated to tell us all why web standards are even better than punk rock. Rock.

Andrew Spooner – The old shiny shiny

Mobile Phones are nothing new. In fact, mobile phones break down into many technologies that we’ve all been developing and using for hundreds of years. In his talk, Andrew is going to take us through the Old Shiny Shiny

Jon Gold – The metaphors breaking the future

Jon has been running with the anti-skeumorphic theme for a while now, pushing it out through blog posts and pub rants. In a nutshell, Jon’s talk will be about interface design, emotional connections to UIs, Why Steve Jobs Was Wrong, the connection between iOS and tacky car interiors, and how poorly-used metaphors are ruining the future.

Terence Eden – Covering Museums With QR Codes

QRpedia is vandalising* museums by covering them with QR codes. Hear how Andy and his team are opening up museums to the age of Wikipedia.
*With their permission. Mostly.

Keir Moffatt – Mystery Train Girl

Two years ago Keir met a girl on a train. After not asking her out, he was persuaded by a friend to set up a Facebook group to find the Mystery Train Girl. One week, 14,000 members, various national newspaper articles, £1000 raised for Marie Curie, a dodgy CG reconstruction for a Hong Kong news channel and one mention on Loose Women later, Keir found that a few people had paid attention. But, did he get the girl?

Ewan Spence – A new digital Olympic Sport for London 2012

With the Olympics heading to London over the summer, it’s time to lift the lid on one of the best “hidden” sports of the Internet age – how long can you keep the Scam Support Desks from India tied up on the phone? Ewan Spence reveals his strategies and techniques in what could be the greatest IT game of all time and how to reach that elusive 60 minute mark.

Remember, there are still places available! Register here for yours!