Join us as we shape your stories to mythic proportions, open your mind to open source brain technology, and enter into an epic nerd battle where winner takes all!
Nerd Nite Orlando is an evening of entertaining yet thought-provoking talks across many disciplines – all while the audience drinks along in a casual bar atmosphere. Speakers present for 20-25 minutes each on a fascinating subject of their choice, often in an uncanny and unconventional way.
It’s like the Discovery Channel – with beer! Come meet up, drink, and learn something new!
EVENT INFO:
Thursday, May 8th
Talks 7:00 – 9:00pm
Stardust Video and Coffee, 1842 E. Winter Park Rd. Winter Park, FL 32803.
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/620257691397564
PRESENTATIONS – FREE!:
———–
“Remarkable Narratives: Shaping Your Stories to Mythic Proportions” by Robin Canfield
Many things about humanity have been “mapped out” – from migrations and language shifts to brain function and the Human Genome. Even the framework for a compelling story has been deciphered! In 1949,Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces identified the core myths common to all ages and cultures. This narrative path was also followed by Luke, Neo, every Disney hero – but it isn’t relegated to fiction. Even nonfiction forms like documentary can benefit from intentionally following this storytelling form that we now know has been with us since antiquity, serving to better engage audiences and call them to action.
Robin Canfield is a writer by nature, a journalist by education and an educator by trade. He has been fascinated by a good story for most of his life, and has spent the last several years passing that passion on to others. Robin is a co-founder of Actuality Media, a documentary study abroad organization that takes students and young professionals to developing communities around the globe to tell documentary stories about changemakers.
———–
“Open Minds and Open Brains: The Open Source Brain Technology Movement” by Max Jackson
Technology is approaching the point of taking human nature itself as its substrate. This is possible due to the intimate interrelation of our minds, however we describe them, and the physical structure of our brains. This interrelation enables the creation of tools which directly respond to our mental states, tools which are rapidly transforming the way we engage with our world, with our selves, and with each other. If such a transformative technological power is to be available it should be accessible to as many people as possible. In this talk Max will be giving an overview of brain technology, its challenges and its promises, and how open-sourcing it is the best thing for us to do.
Max Jackson is a graduate student in Bioinformatics at the University of Central Florida. He helps to develop ‘Brains-on-a-chip’, focusing on analyzing their neurotransmission on both the network and the nano level. Through the Orlando Hackerspace FamiLAB he works with OpenBCI, an open-source Brain-Computer Interface group out of New York City.
———–
Epic Nerd Battle!
For the first time ever, we’ll be hosting a nerd-off at the end of the evening. Contestants will be challenged to give 3-minute talks based on a random set of PowerPoint charts they have NEVER SEEN BEFORE! It is the ultimate test of knowledge…or rather the ability to quickly make things up and sound like you know what you are talking about! The winner will receive prizes including a bar tab, a pre-ordered Nerd Nite Orlando shirt (coming soon!), and of course bragging rights of being the gnarliest nerd in all of Orlando!
You will have the chance to sign-up to compete at the beginning of the evening…which should give you plenty of time to build up your liquid courage!