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Ignite Conference Energizes Crowd

From the Free Times

When guests walked into the Ignite Columbia conference Nov. 16, they were encouraged to select sticker tags that best described their creative aura, stickers with words like achiever, futuristic, ideation and maximizer.

These words are perhaps the simplest way to explain the aim of the eighth Ignite event, thrown by EngenuitySC, a public-private partnership aimed at growing the Midlands’ knowledge-based economy by, according to its mission, “fostering an environment where entrepreneurship, innovation and the creation of knowledge are fundamental elements of the region’s culture and economic development.”

The Nov. 16 event was the largest and the loudest Ignite yet, said Neil McLean, the executive director of EngenuitySC, with 500 attendees packing in The Zone at Williams-Brice Stadium.

“Entrepreneurship — we knew this was important when we started Engenuity. You can have all the great ideas in the world, but if you don’t have entrepreneurs to do something with those ideas, you’re never going to get anywhere,” McLean said in his opening remarks.

The unofficial show-stealer was speaker Philippe Herndon, founder and chief product designer of Caroline Guitar Company.

Herndon praised the Columbia region as a strong environment for creative businesses, but said it’s time the rest of state and county to recognize that fact.

“We need to change the perception of this city, and every one of us can do it one step at a time,” Herndon told the audience.

Each of Herndon’s guitar effect pedals is marked with the phrase “Dreamed, designed and created in Columbia, South Carolina,” a nod to the city Herndon is proud to call home... Read on online at Free-Times.com.