It’s never been more important or more challenging to advocate for the change we want to see in the world. And that’s exactly why advocacy is necessary in this political moment. The tools have changed, but the game remains the same: successful advocacy is all about taking what you have and using it to get what we need.
Bradley (he/him) is the executive director of Public Interest Alberta, a position he has held since April 2021. He is passionate about labour organizing and politics and has worked on union drives and led social unionism campaigns for much of his working life. Bradley lives on Treaty 6 territory in Edmonton and is a dad to his brilliant daughter, Maven.
Ian Runkle: Zero to 100K: Getting a YouTube Play Button and What Happens Along the Way
Ian will be talking about the experience of building a YouTube channel from nothing to getting a silver play button (100k) and beyond. He’ll share tips, pitfalls, and random experiences.
Ian Runkle is a Canadian lawyer with a 200k subscriber YouTube channel called “Runkle of the Bailey.” When not lawyering or making YouTube content he does leatherwork, plays computer games, and gets far too little sleep.
Danny Hieber: Pumpkin Spice Linguistics: Language Change and Indigenous History
Pumpkin spice. Two simple words that instill mouthwatering excitement in many a basic white girl, gay, or they. Yet there’s more to these words than meets the ear. In this talk, linguist Danny Hieber takes you on an etymological tour of the histories of these two little words and shows how these words can teach us important lessons about linguistic discrimination and Indigenous perspectives on history.
Danny Hieber is a research linguist who works with Indigenous communities to help them revitalize their endangered languages. His research looks at the crosslinguistic patterns we see in the world’s languages and seeks to understand why those patterns occur. Danny is also an avid science communicator, working to teach the public about the language sciences by creating educational videos about language and linguistics on social media. He received his Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
We’re going to try Nerd Nite 66 again. This time, we’re hosting it at Arcadia. If that doesn’t explain the title then you need to have a chat with a Can Lit nerd.
When: June 30, 2022, show at 7:30, doors at 7:00
Where: Upstairs at Arcadia Brewing Co, 10712 120 Street NW
Sarah Polkinghorne: I have a body, therefore I think, therefore I am
Augustana Campus Life Photography
Swapping bodies, uploading minds, transferring identities … these sci-fi tropes show that we’re fascinated with the idea that your mind can be separated from your body. But these tropes are probably destined to remain in the realm of fiction. It turns out that our bodies make pretty fundamental contributions to how our minds work (e.g., our ways of thinking, learning, and remembering). Sarah will discuss how researchers are figuring this out, and why it matters.
Dr. Sarah Polkinghorne has always been intrigued by how people build connections and become informed. She’s travelled a unique path from theatre to librarianship to research, most recently studying how people from different walks of life come to feel informed about food. She works as a librarian at the University of Alberta, where she also teaches Human Information Interaction in the School of Library and Information Studies. She has given talks around the world.
Stephanie Chan: Hashtag NerdLife: From Kid Nerd to Professional Nerd
As a child, Stephanie loved comic books which her nerd-friendly home encouraged, evolved into a love of the arts, technology, and social justice. Stephanie will discuss how her childhood nerd core values have come to touch on every aspect of her professional life: from her beginnings as a simple assistant comic book colourist to becoming an inventor and entrepreneur! Free samples of EVA foam chainmail and scalemail will be handed out and demonstrated during this talk.
Stephanie Chan started as a comic colouring assistant at Marvel Comics which lead to gigs with DC Comics, Dark Horse, Broadsword Comics, and Renegade Arts. She began blogging with the comic news site Newsarama and then was on the Harvey Award-winning team of Robot Six Comics Blog at CBR. Somewhere along the lines, she also became a photographer, an online safety and communications consultant, an arts and tech educator, and a 3D Printing/laser cutting operator. She has since started her own blog, Smash Pages Comics Blog, which will be growing this summer to include a video channel. Meanwhile, Stephanie, along with her movie maker-pal Ben Eadie, developed a revolutionary way to make realistic chainmail and scalemail from EVA foam. After the products went viral from being featured on Adam Savage’s Tested and the Evil Ted Channel, they started a company! Stephanie is now the CEO of Foam Armory but still dabbles constantly in all of the above ventures (and starting a couple more).
The talk will be about magic and its performance, deception, subtleties, and the lengths magicians go to pull off the tricks that they do. And maybe a demo or two.
Chris Gowen has been studying the art of magic since 2002. He was a 2019 Edmonton Journal Fringe Favourite. In the announcement, The Edmonton Journal called Chris Gowen “a master of sleight of hand that will trick you, fool you, charm you, and leave you wanting more.” He is Pacific Coast Associations of Magicians Gold Medalist, he has been seen on Global News Edmonton and City TV, and performs regularly at private parties and for some of the biggest corporations in Alberta such as Epcor, ATB, and Pacesetter. He regularly sells out shows at venues such as The Rec Room and Pure Casino’s Pearl Room.
It is with heavy lungs that we must announce we have cancelled our May Nerd Nite due to Covid. We take the health and safety of our speakers, our guests, and our team very seriously. We will post information on our June event in the coming days.
You thought I’d start this post with a Star Wars pun. Wookiee mistake! You’re going to have to Luke elsewhere for that sort of thing and I politely ask you to Leia off.
When: May 26, 2022, show at 7:30, doors at 7:00
Where: Westbury Theatre at ATB Financial Arts Barns building, 10330 84 Ave NW, Edmonton
Fraser will take you through his hobby journey exploring some of his early models, explain some common terms and phrases, show examples of modelling and painting techniques and then showcase some of his favourite miniatures!
Dr. Fraser Olsen is a family physician living in Edmonton with an interest in Dungeons and Dragons and the hobby of building and painting models and miniatures to play fantasy tabletop games with!
Chris Gowan: Magic, Deception, and Trickery
The talk will be about magic and the performance of it, deception, subtleties, the lengths magicians go to pull off the tricks that they do.
Chris Gowen has been studying the art of magic since 2002. He was a 2019 Edmonton Journal Fringe Favourite. In the announcement, The Edmonton Journal called Chris Gowen “a master of sleight of hand that will trick you, fool you, charm you, and leave you wanting more.” He is Pacific Coast Associations of Magicians Gold Medalist, he has been seen on Global News Edmonton and City TV, and performs regularly at private parties and for some of the biggest corporations in Alberta such as Epcor, ATB, and Pacesetter. He regularly sells out shows at venues such as The Rec Room and Pure Casino’s Pearl Room.
Trevor Wiebe: One Big Push: A New Filmmaker’s Journey
Trevor will outline his journey through the Edmonton film industry, how he’s gotten to where he is, and the characters he has met along the way.
Trevor is an up and coming filmmaker in the Edmonton scene. A current student at the Online Toronto Film School in their Video Production Diploma course, Trevor has his sights set high as he looks to help turn Edmonton into the new Hollywood.
