Corvallis may be smallest city to host hot high-tech trend

By Matt Neznanski

Gazette-Times reporter

Pick a topic you feel strongly about: your work, your hobby, a new technology perhaps.

Put together a five-minute talk about it featuring 20 slides automatically advancing every 15 seconds. Go.

This year's High Tech After Hours event, the sixth sponsored by the Corvallis chapter of the Software Association of Oregon, featured Ignite Corvallis, a rapid-fire series of presentations by 13 businesses and individuals to highlight what's going on in their world and offer insight into new and interesting developments.

"Basically, they are just a quick way to talk about something and share ideas," said Jason Prothero, who organized the session. "It's a deliberate attempt to avoid what sucks about presentations. They're boring."

And one of the main rules of ignite-style presentation is to not be boring.

Similar presentations are regular occurrences in Portland and Seattle. Prothero said Corvallis may be the smallest city with such an event. In Corvallis style, topics ranged from success in marketing campaigns overseas to natural building techniques to solar energy.

The high-energy delivery and can-do spirit matched the event, designed to highlight local innovative ideas and perhaps generate a few new companies for the mid-valley, even in tough economic times.

"The whole goal is to inspire people," said Brian Weldon, president of the software association's Corvallis chapter. "Even though you hear daily about how the economy is bad, there's just a lot of exciting things happening in innovation in the area."

High Tech After Hours partners include the Corvallis Benton Chamber Coalition, The Business Enterprise Center and OSU's Colleges of Business and Engineering.

Sponsors include Alphagraphics, Hewlett-Packard, Citizens Bank, Linn-Benton Community College, ONAMI, Fulcrum Drive, ImTech, Mega Tech of Oregon, the Business Enterprise Center, Tripod Data Systems and ViewPlus Technologies.

An open session with dozens of businesses staffing booths and making pitches followed the program in the main hall of the Alumni Center.

"I hope people can go away with an idea for a new business," Weldon said.

The event's keynote speaker was Peter Adkison, CEO of Hidden City Games. Adkison is perhaps best known for developing the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering and bringing Pokemon to U.S. shores. His company, Wizards of the Coast, sold in 1999 for $500 million.

Matt Neznanski can be reached at 758-9518 or matt.neznanski@lee.net.