Nerd Nite Edmonton #76: Happy Spooktoberween!

Please come in costume! We’ll have a costume contest in addition to a quiz this month. Bonus points for nerdiness. We will be releasing our speaker info during the month, but tickets are available right now.

When: Thursday October 26th, 2023, at 7:30 pm

(Doors & bar open at 7:00 pm with drinks available all night!)

Where: The Backstage Theatre at Fringe Theatre Adventures

Fringe Theatre Arts Barn, 10330 84 Ave NW, Edmonton

How much: $25

Zita Dube-Lockhart: Let’s Talk About Stress, Baby!

A crash course on how to get your body out of crisis and practice safe stress! Learn why “work/life balance” doesn’t really work, why yoga might cause you anxiety, and how a little play every day keeps the doctor away!

If there’s one thing Zita knows, it’s stress! As an award winning personal trainer, co-owner of Action Potential Fitness, one of Edmonton top fitness studios, Executive Director of the Centre For Trauma Informed Fitness, and a full time Master’s in Counselling Psychology student specializing in the science of motivation, she definitely has her hands full… and that is when she isn’t busy with her actual job of helping with homework, wiping off runny noses, and engaging in the very serious work of Sunday Morning Snuggles. She spends every free minute she has preaching about the power of social belonging, self-acceptance, and radical embodiment in healing the body, the mind, and society as a whole.

Action Potential Fitness – Facebook
@zita.dubelockhart – Instagram
@actionpotentialfitness – Instagram

Iain Gillis: Decoding Encoding: an introduction to the Text Encoding Initiative

You probably already encounter Google Maps, Microsoft Office documents, and Scalable Vector Graphics several times a day. Besides ubiquity, they have another thing in common: XML, or eXtensible Markup Language. You’re less likely to have worked with TEI, another XML “flavour” that’s used in mostly humanities projects and has been around for nearly 40 years! Get a quick history lesson and a crash course in tags, schemas; learn what it means to be well-formed and valid; and be introduced to some snazzy resources on the web that are powered by TEI markup, from Shakespeare to Banksy!

Iain Gillis is a Senior Open Data Analyst based in Edmonton whose expertise spans from data systems to humanities and musicology. Iain has been recognized by NorQuest College as an Inclusive Leader for his work as a mentor in the Autism CanTech! program and nominated for a Cultural Commitments Award in the Helpful category by his peers at the City of Edmonton. He has presented over the years on many topics, including reproducible pseudorandom sampling and complexity management for advanced text search in Tableau dashboards at the Edmonton Tableau Users Group, and presenting his musicological research in Canada and abroad, reflecting his past life as humanities scholar.

@opendataedm – The site formerly known as Twitter

Ilan Domnich: Amazing Ant Abilities

For such small creatures, ants are capable of some incredible things. We will dive into why ants are so diverse and some of their amazing behaviours and adaptations.

Ilan Domnich is an entomologist finishing his Master’s at the University of Alberta. When not outside looking at bugs, Ilan can be found at home working on his art and caring for his many plants and animals.
@crude_organism – Instagram

Nerd Nite Edmonton #75: What’s the Tea?

Welcome back! We’re kicking off the Fall Nerd Nite lineup with talks about sex-linked inheritance, photography, and Robert’s Rules.

When: Thursday September 28th, 2023, at 7:30 pm

(Doors & bar open at 7:00 pm with drinks and snacks available all night!)

Where: The Lobby at Fringe Theatre Adventures

Fringe Theatre Arts Barn, 10330 84 Ave NW, Edmonton

How much: $25

Adrien Veczan: Visual Arts: Painting & Photography

Adrien will explore how the invention of photography disrupted the art world; how photography tried but failed to render painting obsolete, and what each medium can learn from the other.

Adrien Veczan is a photographer best known for his large-scale productions and expert use of complex lighting.

His career started with an internship at the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia, after which he joined the Toronto Star and later the Canadian Press. Adrien has worked for Reuters, the Globe and Mail, USA Today. His photos have been published in the Guardian, the Washington Post and the New York Times. His job has given him access to countless icons including Robert De Niro, LeBron James and Queen Elizabeth II.

Adrien’s elegant, thoughtful advertising photography has reached millions of eyes on billboards and magazines ranging from Wired to Playboy and from People to The Economist. Advertising agencies turn to Adrien knowing even their most challenging projects will be executed smoothly.

Between campaigns, Adrien enjoys working on fine art projects that allow him to experiment and develop new techniques. His series Telephone took him to four continents and revealed the evolution of the device in a groundbreaking way. In 2017, his first solo exhibition in Alberta, Whyte Avenue, showcased the historic and eclectic Edmonton neighbourhood. In 2021 Intermission, an exhibition based on Edward Hopper composition, premiered at the Saddlery Gallery.

www.veczan.com – Web
@veczan – Instagram

Amanda Henry: Better Meetings: Or I How Learned How to Stop Worrying about Robert’s Rules of Order

We spend a lot of time in meetings, and almost as much time grumbling about what a painful experience it is. You’ve probably been in a meeting that used Robert’s Rules of Order, but…it probably wasn’t being used correctly. We’ll explore what Robert’s Rules of Order are, how to use them better, and an argument in favour of a better way to run modern meetings.

Amanda is a versatile strategic planner, researcher, writer, and facilitator, though she has a tough time in rooms that don’t get Star Trek references. She has facilitated dozens of workshops and meetings around Edmonton on topics in governance, strategic planning, and other tools and tactics that help non-profit boards get where they want to go. She was a governance nerd before it was cool.

@amjhenry – Instagram
@amjhenry – Threads

Dr. Kate St. Onge: Sex-Linked Inheritance

Dr. Kate St.Onge is currently a lecturer in the department of biology sciences at the University of Alberta. She teaches in the areas of genetics, evolution and botany. She completed her PhD at Uppsala University in Sweden but Edmonton is her home town. Outside of work, she is a big fan of true crime podcasts!

Nerd Nite #74: Pride Month and More

Happy Pride Month! Did you know that June is also Dysphagia Awareness Month? Do you know what dysphagia is? Sure, you could hop on Wikipedia to find out, but why not come hang out with us and hear about it in person.

When: Thursday June 29th, 2023, at 7:30 pm

(Doors & bar open at 7:00 pm and the Fringe Grounds Cafe is open until 8:00!)

Where: Studio Theatre at Fringe Theatre Adventures

Fringe Theatre Arts Barn, 10330 84 Ave NW, Edmonton

How much: $25

Rob Browatzke: History of Edmonton Pride

For over forty years, Edmonton’s LGBT2Q communities have come together to celebrate Pride, but they have been celebrations marked by their struggles. From the 1982 festival in response to the Pisces Spa raid through the struggle to get a proclamation from the City to the recent years of community division on how Pride should look, the story of the festival his reflective of the changing nature not only of how our community fits into broader society but also what Pride even means

Rob Browatzke has been professionally active within Edmonton’s queer community since the late 90s, with a resume filled with gay bars of days gone by. For the last decade, he has been one of the owners of Edmonton’s only gay bar, Evolution Wonderlounge. He is also a researcher for the Edmonton Queer History Project, a writer for Rainbow Story Hub, published author, volunteer, advocate, and really, professional homosexual.

@robbrowatzke – Bird App
@robbrowatzke – Instagram

Gabriela Constantinescu: Taking the “dys” out of dysphagia: How to drink beer and not choke on it

June is Dysphagia Awareness month. In this talk, we’ll cover what it means to not be able to swallow, who is affected, and what we can all do to help a little bit.

Gabi is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department at the University of Alberta and Chief Experience Officer for True Angle, a local startup. Gabi started off as a speech language pathologist working in the clinic where she amassed over a decade of experience assessing and treating speech, voice, resonance, and swallowing difficulties in patients with head and neck cancer. Gabi then went on to obtain her PhD, where her research directly influenced the design and development of a mobile system for swallowing exercise. Gabi continues to engage in educational activities such as this one to raise awareness for those living with swallowing difficulties.

@Gabi_SLP – Bird App
@gabi_Constantinescu – Instagram

Harry MacDonald: Producing Drum and Bass Music: What goes into making a song?

Have you ever wondered what goes into producing a song? In this chat I’ll be going over my approach to writing songs and where I get inspiration to start music. As well, I’ll show what kind of work goes into the fine details of processing the song to get it to the final result.

Harry MacDonald is a drum and bass producer from Edmonton, one of the co-owners of Umbral Sound System which has hosted underground dance music events all over the city featuring their custom built sound system. He has releases on record labels spanning from Alberta to the UK.

@heymacmusic – Bird App
@heymacmusic – Instagram