Thanks to all of you for coming to the sold-out February and March shows! This April, we’ve got three more great speakers lined up. You’ll learn about violence prevention via video games, solar energy, and architecture. Check out our speakers and buy tickets below. See you soon!
When: Thursday, April 24th, at 7:30pm
(Doors & bar open at 7pm, with drinks available all night)
Where: Backstage Theatre at Fringe Theatre Adventures
Kenzie Gordon: Video games for gender-based violence prevention
Kenzie will give a brief overview of some of the research she has been doing in her graduate program on violence prevention in video games. This includes serious games about gender-based violence, but more excitingly, the patriarchy-undermining potential of commercial games like Horizon Zero Dawn (which is the focus of her dissertation).
Kenzie Gordon (she/her) is a social worker and PhD candidate in Media & Cultural Studies and the Digital Humanities at the University of Alberta. Her research examines the intersections of gender-based violence in games, as well as equity issues in the game industry, alternative game development studio structures, and community archiving practices of police violence. She has two kids, too many pets, and sometimes even plays video games for fun!
Dan Rose: Arch Madness: Edmonton’s Annual Architectural Bracket Tournament
Have you ever found yourself wishing you could share in the fever, drama and magic of March Madness but you can’t stand basketball? Good news. There’s Arch Madness: like March Madness but with fewer balls and more bricks where citizens choose the GOAT by vote.
Dan Rose was a born, raised and still in Edmonton. From 9-5 he works in Product Marketing for a local tech company, from 5-9 he advocates for the preservation of historic architecture and design in Edmonton. He was previously the Chair of the City of Edmonton Historical Board, a member of HeritageForward and the Old Strathcona Foundation, and has worked for a number of local heritage and cultural organizations.
Heather MacKenzie: A Sunlight Speed Intro to Solar in Alberta
In this presentation, Heather will briefly describe the growth of solar in Alberta. She will then review how rooftop solar installations typically work in Alberta, what the impacts of solar are on utility bills, how to find a solar installer, and how to finance a solar project. This presentation focuses on grid-tied solar projects on homes and businesses.
Heather MacKenzie is the Executive Director of Solar Alberta, where she and her team are working hard to accelerate Alberta’s transition to a just and sustainable energy future. She is a seasoned leader, community organizer, and green business advocate. Prior to becoming the Executive Director of Solar Alberta, she worked as a government relations professional, ran her own business, and served as an elected Trustee on the Edmonton Public School Board. She is in the final month of her Masters in Public Administration, has a Masters in International Development, and has undergraduate degrees in both Sociology and History. She believes that investing in solar is a very concrete way that everyday Albertans can take meaningful action on climate change.
After a sold-out February show, we’re happy to bring three more diverse topics for March. Do you have a lawn? Grow food instead! Speaking of food, we get all kinds of great stuff when it ferments; does that mean it’s so bad it’s good? Typography has a rich history: hear about it at the next Nerd Nite.
When: Thursday, March 27th, at 7:30pm
(Doors & bar open at 7pm, with drinks available all night)
Where: Backstage Theatre at Fringe Theatre Adventures
A nice, lush lawn may look nice, but apart from walk on it and cut it incessantly, what does it do for you? You could be growing actual food that humans can eat instead! This talk will invite you to join the “seedy” world of urban agriculture where Nerd Nite and/or its speakers are not responsible for any obsessions that may ensue. You have been warned!
Jocelyn Crocker (BSc, MEd, EdD) is a recovering academic who now works for the public service. After replacing her front lawn with a food forest 15 years ago, Jocelyn and her family’s pantry and freezers (yes, plural) have been filled with home grown eats ever since. Jocelyn’s nerdiest triumph was representing Nerd Nite Edmonton at the International Nerd Nite conference in Washington, DC in 2015 with a talk about urban beekeeping, which means she’s been droning on about this sweet topic for a decade.
Brooke Babyak: Rotting Food on Purpose aka. Fermentation
The joys of fermentation, yielding food that promotes healthy bacteria, dynamic flavours, and possibly inebriation… From sourdough to wine, many cultures culture.
Brooke has been cooking from the time she could reach the stove to turn on the oven, which evolved into a career. She did her culinary training at Vancouver Community College and was offered a position cooking for the American Olympic team in Turin in 2006. She moved back to Edmonton the same year and worked in many of Edmonton’s best restaurants, bringing bacterial cultures from one kitchen to another!
The history of Western typography (in contemporary times typically referring to reproduced materials) has its roots in early hand lettering, especially formal styles that existed long, long before Times New Roman and Comic Sans. But how did our current alphabet come to look the way it does? Why do we read the way we do? The answers go back further than you might think!
Jennifer is a graduate of Fine Arts, Visual Communication and Design, at the University of Alberta. She has taught visual communication and typography at the post secondary level. In 2016, Jennifer earned a design-based MA, Humanities Computing; her research focussed on storytelling with interactive information graphics. While in grad school she was a research assistant for academic projects that examine how we read in the past to inform new ways of interacting with text now and into the future. Her areas of expertise include editorial, interpretive and information design.
Join us for a night that moves from the “final” frontier to cutting-edge engineering and cultural rhythm. Kick things off with Gina Vliet as she unpacks the surprising intricacies of organ, tissue, and body donation in Alberta. Then, get an inside look at the magic behind Variable Frequency Drives with Rhonda Shand, whose electrifying insights reveal how these devices power light rail transit. Finally, tap into the dynamic world of Japanese drumming with Carley Okamura, as she explores the rich history and modern pulse of Taiko.
When: Thursday, February 27th, at 7:30pm
(Doors & bar open at 7pm, with drinks available all night)
Where: Studio Theatre at Fringe Theatre Adventures
Gina Vliet: How to Dispose of a Body in Alberta: the intersection of organ, tissue, and body donation
Learn how organ, tissue, and body donation intersect and impact each other. Discover what you, your loved ones, caregivers, and your executor need to know to ensure your wishes can be met.
Gina Vliet is your friendly neighbourhood death educator and a bit of a polymath. With her certification as an Executor Advisor, education in funeral services, and skills as an instructional designer and facilitator, Gina makes talking about mortality both practical and fun.
A graduate of the University of Alberta, Gina’s insights have been featured on CBC and in the U of A’s New Trail magazine. She’s also hosted over 60 Death Cafés, where people come together to chat openly about death and dying. She also contributed to the creation of Compassionate Alberta, a project dedicated to raising awareness about palliative care and advance care planning across the province.
Rhonda Shand: Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) in Light Rail Transit
Ever wondered how the hum of a light rail train transforms into the smooth acceleration that whisks you across the city? The secret lies in a technological marvel called the Variable Frequency Drive (VFD)—a device so versatile it’s not just revolutionizing Light Rail Transit, but also powering everything from industrial factories to your neighborhood HVAC systems. In her talk, Rhonda Shand will pull back the curtain on these unsung heroes of modern engineering, revealing how VFDs blend physics, innovation, and a dash of magic (or, well, electrical wizardry) to keep our world moving.
Rhonda Shand is an electrical engineering graduate from the University of Alberta and describes herself as a transgendered, Wiccan, moonshining electrical engineer. Her friends describe her as the “Enchantress of all things electron.” One of her specializations is power electronics having spent many years as a design, implementation, and field service engineer with that type of equipment (she often gets mistaken as an electrician which she considers a compliment). She has spent time on the Edmonton Valley Line South East presently in operation, and is involved as a Lead Systems and Integration Engineer with Parsons and is presently engaged with Edmonton Valley Line West presently being built.
Carley Okamura: Taiko and Why it’s Cool
Learn about the artform and history of Japanese drumming, and how it is practiced in current times. Learn why it is growing in popularity around the world and is one of the most intersectional places you may experience.
Carley Okamura is a mixed race, fourth-generation Japanese Canadian. She is the president of Kita no Taiko, Alberta’s oldest Japanese drumming group, and Chair of the Taiko Community Alliance, an American non-profit serving the larger taiko community. Carley formed her own company, Rabbits Three Cultural Connections, to create works through a socio-cultural lens.
