Ignite is coming to London. Since 2006, hundreds of 5 minute talks have been given around the world – now for the first time, Ignite is gracing London with its presence on Nov 18, 2009 at Ginglik in Shepherds Bush.

In a nutshell, Ignite “captures the best of tech and culture in a series of 5-minute speed presentations”, according Ignite Anchorage. Ignite is also explained as:

If you had five minutes on stage what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds? Around the world geeks have been putting together Ignite nights to show their answers.

Ignite was started in Seattle in 2006 by Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis. Since then 100s of 5 minute talks have been given across the world. There are thriving Ignite communities in Seattle, Portland, Paris, and NYC.

One of the speakers, Matt Edgar, outlines the other guest speakers on his blog. His talk will be:  “1794 – so much to answer for”.

“I shall tell the stories of as many of my personal 18th Century heroes as possible,” Matt says, “Based on the strange coincidence that all of them encountered life-changing (some life-ending) events in that single world-changing year.”

All 50 free vouchers for Ignite London have already been dished out. But not to fret, admission is available on the door (until reaching capacity) – and even if you can’t make it, clutching my voucher, I promise to bring back a full report of the night’s entertainment.

If you can’t wait to hear all about London’s event, here’s an example of an Ignite talk: