It's time to start thinking seriously about speakers for Interesting 2025.
And this time, for a bunch of reasons, that means more than just asking people I know. And you lot. I need to start asking more people who've never heard of it, never been and who require some sort of explanation of what it's all about.
So I've got to write one.
I thought I'd put it here, then, if anyone has any edits, they can let me know.
The Interesting conference 2025
Interesting is a DIY conference of short presentations about things our speakers find interesting.
- It's not work, it's not professional, it's not networking
- Talks are 10 minutes
- You can use PPT or something else or nothing
- The speakers are paid. The audience is lovely. The venue is amazing
Would you like to speak? It can be about whatever you fancy. Something you're deeply into or something you'd just like to explore. The best topics are ones that give our speakers joy. Our audience is not looking for insights or life hacks or to be inspired. They want to see someone talk about something they're interested in. Perhaps with a couple of jokes. We cram a lot of talks into an evening so there's always something happening and there's not so much pressure on any individual speaker. Our unofficial motto is 'you're never more than 10 minutes away from something else'.
Previous topics have included:
- How to split a log with an axe
- What makes a sex film sexy, a feminist perspective
- Knots
- A geophysical survey of World of Warcraft'
- Why horses are scared of crisp packets'
- The race to be the first craft to sail faster than 50 knots
- Stan Laurel's Dad
- How to make cheese
- 5 minutes of paper
- Guerrilla gardening
- Abrief history of the piano
- How to do Morse Code
- What's interesting about certain sports if you hate the actual game play
- Ponies I Have Loved; Both Real and Imagined
- Everything You Know About Nuclear Power is Wrong
- How to conduct a symphony orchestra
- 1970s UK girls comics, particularly the hilarious role psychological violence played in the genre
- Molecular gastronomy, wine tasting with actual wine
- A close reading of Julianna Margulies' hair and make-up in The Good Wife
- Swedish Rules for Sex and the Supernatural
- Why flyknit is the most revolutionary thing since sliced bread
- The importance of watching TV'
- What it feels like to preserve memories and talk about dementia and death on social media, whilst still occasionally making people laugh
- Hippies, synthesisers, giant squid and the military industrial complex
- The Sierra Leone National Railway Museum
- Tampons and Tampon Club
- Collecting the complete short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Sugar highs
- Logbooks: Collecting the uncollectable
- A Series of Tubes
- Shopping Lists: Finding the story in the everyday
- Pensions and the end of the world
- Simón Bolívar
- You seem nice, but I might have to kill you: Brief Observations on Misophonia
- Elsie de Wolfe: Optimism and white paint
- A systemic approach to coolness 1974-2024
- The Vernacular of the Spectacular
- The zoetrope turntable
- Ibsen and The Muppets
I'm especially keen to hear from people who don't normally do this kind of thing. The crowd is really supportive so it's a great occasion to do your first public talk. Lots of our speakers have never spoken from a stage before. We can help with prep, rehearsal, calming words and warm beverages. And if a different format would help we can do that too. You can present on video. Or bring a friend or a gang with you. Or get someone to interview you. Whatever you fancy.
Diamond Geezer summed up the 2016 version like this.
Over the years we've definitely over represented white men. We've had a lot. Bless them for always volunteering. But if you're not one I'd especially like to hear from you.
An ask: if you've spoken and you'd be happy to give me a quote about your experience please drop me a line