Former Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor to Emcee Ignite Tampa Bay 2015

Tampa, Florida – July 24,2015 – Ignite Tampa Bay always sparks a firestorm of ideas fueled by the passions of an eclectic mix of speakers from all over Tampa Bay. This year's emcee, Jane Castor who recently retired as Tampa's Chief of Police after 31 years of service is a shining example of leadership in our community.

Ms. Castor was elected the first female president of a police academy class and 26 years later, she became the first woman to lead the Tampa Police Department. Moving forward she will remain an active part of our community as she leads the efforts of Rise Tampa. Rise Tampa is a non-profit organization that starts work where the city budget stops to ensure officers are receiving the latest training, safety equipment and using cutting edge technology to keep our citizens safe while providing growth opportunities to our most underprivileged children.

"We are very excited to have Chief Castor as our emcee. She is a pioneer in her field, community leader, and an advocate for equality and diversity", said Joy Randels, Co-Chair of the event. "We are honored to have her host Ignite 2015." Chief Castor has an impressive track record of commanding large scale, national and international events, from Bollywood's first ever IIFA Awards hosted in the United States to Super Bowl XLIII. "Jane is a great speaker with a terrific sense of humor, we can't wait to hear her commentary as she emcees an evening of great presentations by members of our community", added Randels.

Ignite presentations are given by community members are meant to "ignite" the audience on a subject and stimulate thought and action on the topics presented. With only five minutes to share their ideas for economic development, new ways of doing business, or their personal philosophies and approaches to life, the presentations resemble "mini Ted talks" and are definitely ideas worth spreading. These talks can be serious, humorous, inspiring and downright rude at times, but they are always entertaining.

The Cuban Club in Ybor City will serve as our venue for Ignite Tampa bay on August 27th at 7:00 pm. Ignite Tampa Bay Tickets are available here and going fast. We sold out last year and are on track to do the same again this year, so act fast! Be sure to join the Meetup group and follow the event's Twitter account @Ignite_TampaBay for updates on the event and let everyone know you're going!

About Ignite Tampa Bay: Ignite Tampa Bay is produced by Technova Florida, Inc. a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to growing the Tampa Bay's Regional technology community from the ground up. Ignite is a 100% volunteer-run event supported by the community. Technova produces events throughout the year for the startup and technology communities including Barcamp Tampa Bay, Ignite, and others as well as sponsorship of grassroots tech organizations including Startup Weekend, CodeCamp, Startup Bus, Tampa Hackerspace, FIRST Robotics, Hackathons, "Day of" events to name a few.