IgniteBaltimore #4 provided yet another entertaining, energizing Ignite success. I’ve already shared how much I love the Ignite events, so I’ll cut right to the recap. And this time, I even created a little YouTube video to go with it… (Go, me).

Click here to view my Ignite Baltimore #4 video on YouTube.

To begin, the Walters Art Museum proved a great venue for this event. True, the high ceilings and marble surroundings made for a literal echo chamber in ironic contrast to the virtual one often cited on Twitter, but I think it added to the grandeur of the evening and the overall ebullience of the atmosphere. (Besides, “grandeur” can be hard to come by in Baltimore, so when you come across it, you embrace it.)

First up was Betsy Gordon, a rogue museum pro who turned a question about a skateboard graphic into an art show on a world tour. Then Braddock “The Haddock” Spear chatted with us about sustainable seafood. Not sure which fish has too much mercury or whether farm-raised beats wild? Mr. Spear provided a few resources to help out:

• The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Guide
• The Blue Ocean Institute FishPhone (Text 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish in question. They’ll text you back with their assessment and better alternatives, if needed.)
• The Sustainable Ocean Project blog

We learned about green mapmaking from Janet Felsten and were inspired to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off by Jennifer Cohen. When Cheryl Taragin got to her slide showing the Baltimore Colts sneaking out of town in the middle of the night in her review of Baltimore’s historical moments, I heard a crowd hiss for the very first time. (I don’t get out much.)

Ryan Boddy gets an extra hat tip here because when he talked about the highly creative process of making beer — the mysterious and enchanting blend of art and science — I swear I saw a glimmer in his eye and a smile on his face that is the kind of glimmer and smile born only of a true, deep and abiding love. It may have been the spotlight in his eyes, but I’m telling you I’ve never seen a man express a deeper love for beer than this man. Don’t believe me? Go talk to Ryan for yourself. He’s over at BaltiBrew.org spreading the hops/love.

Jason Slanga, a Latin teacher in Baltimore County, killed with his lessons on how not to be a zombie. And then Shodekeh and friends Kate Porter and Ian Hesford brought down the house…er, museum…with some very cool “conversations without words” set against slides of various pieces of art.  You can give a listen to his unique hip-hop, beatbox stylings over on his MySpace page.

Adam Borden begged us to “unshackle the grapes” as he explained Maryland’s convoluted laws which prevent Marylanders from purchasing wines online or by phone from any vineyard outside of Maryland. While Maryland wines are getting better every year, Maryland houses only 38 out of the 6,500 wineries in the U.S. Just think of what our palates are missing or, better yet, take action at Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws.

Mary Spiro enlightened us on nanobiotechnology and Randy Sovich of RM Sovich Architecture looked back to 1984 to recap his look ahead to 2010. Helen Glazer, who’s looking at clouds from both sides now (borrowed that joke), shared her artist’s viewpoint of the clouds, which may further enhance our perspectives on what we see when we look up.

Kale in hand, Steven Mandzik walked us through a few simple steps for living a cleaner life and healthier eating:

• Eat quality food
• Eat 1/3 less
• Eat “real” food (the more packaging there is, the less “real” it is)
• Eat seasonal foods

Adam Meister stepped up in his tuxedo to warn us against hyper-consumerism. Consensus is he issued the quote of the night:

You don’t have to be cool. This is Baltimore.

No truer words…

To bring it all home, Tracy Gosson, @SagesseInc on Twitter, reminded us all that the fear of fear can — and should — be overcome. She asked, “What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?” And she reminded us all how vital facing our fears is to learning, growing and experiencing all that life has to offer.

It was a great night and I look forward to Ignite Baltimore #5, to be held on March 4, 2010. Want to read more about number 4? Click here to see what was said about #IB4 on Twitter.

Also might want to keep your eyes on:

• Ignite DC
• Ignite Annapolis
• Ignite Wilmington
• Ignite Philly

Or look for the Ignite event near you!