Ricardo Williams is currently the host of Nerd Nite Orlando and works as a designer, filmmaker, and musician. He also writes about culture, history, and US politics.
“After spending a year living in Washington DC, working with the United States Senate Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Josh Manning has returned to Orlando, Florida. Although Josh wasn’t here physically, he never really left the team. Every idea and decision all still went through him, maybe not with his approval but certainly with his input. He’s a great friend and the reason why Nerd Nite exists in Orlando and its great to have him back.”
“One of Orlando’s most famous artist and bloggers, Thomas Thorspecken has once again immortalized a Nerd Nite event with his in-famous watercolor sketches. I think this is his fifth or sixth one in 3 years. This is such an honor– and I’m not sure if its intentional but I like that he makes me look like a Vulcan.”
-Ricardo Williams
Nerd Nite Orlando
(Click through to see the full image and read his review of the evening.)
Auburndale City Con is an annual comic book convention hosted by the City of Auburndale, Florida. The event includes entertainment, panel discussions, photo opportunities, cosplay contest, gaming, expo, double-creature feature and a Superhero’s Ball.
Nerd Nite is a global event series that happens every month in over 90 different cities around the world. Ricardo Williams, of Nerd Nite Orlando, will be returning to the annual event to host a very special Nerd Nite at Brew Pop Brewery on Saturday, January 23rd as part of Auburndale City Con, with presentations by Josh Manning, Beth Phillips, & Felix Sosa.
With over 20 events, 3 dozen plus presentations, and plenty of pints consumed, 2015 has been an incredible year for Nerd Nite in Orlando. Check out some of our highlights from this past year with these new Nerd Nite Orlando posters.
On January 14th, Nerd Nite Orlando returns! We’ll be hosting a very special event in downtown Orlando featuring presentations from our friends of the Buehler Planetarium and the Central Florida Astronomical Society. We’ll explore astronomy, discuss space travel, and get you excited for the 2016 Winter Sky Festival which will happen 2 days after on Saturday, January 16th.
When: Thursday, January 14, 2016. Doors open at 6:30pm. Program begins at 7pm
Where: 189 S Orange Ave #2020, Orlando, FL 32801. (In the Purple Rock Scissors office. 20th Floor of the Plaza, South Tower building)
Speaker List:
Derek Demeter
Michael McConville
Bob Vogel
Presentation List: “Opening Up New Horizons: Pluto at Six Months” by Michael McConville
In the six months that have followed the closest approach of the New Horizons spacecraft to Pluto, our understanding of the Solar System’s largest dwarf planet continues to expand with each passing day. Join Michael McConville of the Emil Buehler Planetarium as we explore the incredible discoveries radioed back on a daily basis from New Horizons. From ice mountains to nitrogen plains, from blue skies to canyons that dwarf ones on Earth, this spacecraft is helping to rewrite the history of our Solar System – and solar systems throughout the Universe.
“Naked Astronomy: A Nudist’s View of the Winter Night Sky” by Bob Vogel
Naked Astronomy brings the science of astronomy and the beauty of artistic lore to the general public. Bob Vogel, the Vice President of the Central Florida Astronomical Society, will lead us as we explore the winter constellations and the art they have inspired.
“Space Travel 101: Those Who Want to Get the Hell Off This Planet” by Derek Demeter
Need to jump 20 parsecs out to the Dagobah System? Wondering whether that wormhole in “Sector ENO” is up and working? Having issues with your plasma ion engine? Join Seminole State College Planetarium Director Derek Demeter in an investigation on the latest findings in space travel as well as the reason it may only be a matter of time until such technologies become science fact instead of science fiction.
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Live Nerd Nite presentations in Orlando are always the second Thursday of every month.
If you have any questions or would like to present at a future Nerd Nite, please email Ricardo at
A few friends and I watched the original Star Wars yesterday (aka non-Special-Edition-Star-Wars, Han-Shot-First-Star-Wars) and I imagined what it would be like to sit in the theater in 1977 and see it for the first time. And OMG, what a fucking achievement- from sound effects editing to costume design to John Williams’ score to Alec Guinness’ performance to the love between C-3P0 and R2D2 and so much more.
When George Lucas was pitching the idea of Star Wars to studios in the 70s, he was consistently turned because it was “a little strange”– now everyone is a believer.
We celebrated incredible women in science, entertainment, and business; plus we heard incredible presentations from an all-female line-up. The second edition of Ladies Nite was a complete success.
Join us for Episode 34 of Nerd Nite in Orlando. We’ll be celebrating the greatest and nerdiest franchise of all time… STAR WARS! We’ll begin the evening by testing your knowledge of Star Wars trivia followed by 2 presentations that bring some fact to the fantasy.
Nerd Nite is an evening of entertaining yet thought-provoking presentations– all while the audience drinks along in a casual bar atmosphere. Speakers present for 15-20 minutes each on a fascinating subject of their choice, often in an uncanny and unconventional way. Following each presentation is a brief Q&A with the audience.
Come meet up, drink, and learn something new!
EVENT IS FREE!
EVENT INFO:
When: Thursday, December 10, 2015, 7:00pm
Where: The Geek Easy (inside “A Comic Shop”)
114 S Semoran Blvd #6
Winter Park, FL 32792
PRESENTATION TITLE: “Do You Even Know What Artificial Intelligence Is? Killing The Pop Sensation of A.I. and Machine Learning Through Star Wars” by Felix Sosa
Artificial Intelligence. Machine Learning. It’s hard existing in 2015 without hearing these terms and it’s even harder actually understanding what they really are. So, why are you so sure of what they are and how they’re going to affect our lives? Popular understanding of what AI is and what ML does is so skewed it’s unlikely to talk about it in public without the looming idea of global destruction via Terminator in the midst. We’re going to stop this and analyzing the relationships between people and AI systems in Star Wars is going to help us.
Felix is an artificial intelligence researcher at the University of Central Florida’s Evolutionary Complexity lab. There he does extensive research at the intersection of Evolutionary Computation and Machine Learning to help build some of the most complex, deep artificial neural networks (he’ll explain it better at the speech). Outside of the lab he constantly ponders theories of intelligence and the brain and hopes to one day be a leader in the field of AI. But for now he’s living his life, giving talks, making electronics, and pursuing research in the academic heart of Orlando.
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PRESENTATION TITLE: “The Star Wars Futurist Report Card: What They Got Right, and What’s Even Cooler Than We Expected.” by Colin Forward
Colin Forward takes us through the prescient, daring, and sometimes not-so-accurate predictions about gadgets and tech made in the original Star Wars Trilogy. We’ll some of the most exciting new developments in emerging fields like wearables, the cloud, and the Internet of Things, and take a look at where Star Wars got it right. Forward will share insights from the Mixed Emerging Technology Integration Lab at UCF’s Institute for Simulation and Training where he conducts research on next-generation mobile software for education, healthcare, and governance.
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PRESENTATION TITLE: “Why The Force Will Truly Awaken in the Hands of JJ Abrams”
There’s no question that Star Wars is the premiere franchise in the history of cinema. No set of films has inspired so much fandom and thus spawned an endless amount of animated series, novels, comics, toys, fake languages, etc… But just under 20 years ago George Lucas launched a second set of Star Wars films and though they made butt loads of money, the Geek world was hugely disappointed in the prequel films in comparison to the original trilogy. So with the Force Awakens on its way and George Lucas officially taking a backseat (well, more like being left behind), is there a new hope for a trilogy that can truly stand amongst the original….
The 2015 City of Orlando Elections are here and Prismatic and the Downtown Orlando Partnership are throwing a non-partisan party designed to inspire Orlandoans to get up, get out, and vote on Election Day. RSVP here: http://lovelocalvotelocal.com/
When: Tues., Nov 3rd, 2015 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm
Where: Kasa Restaurant & Bar (183 S Orange Ave, Orlando, FL 32801)
Why: Young professionals are commonly the most underrepresented voters in municipal elections. This is to activate and encourage those to participate and share their voice with the Orlando community by casting their votes on November 3rd.
Who: Organizing the event are Prismatic and the Downtown Orlando Partnership
What:
* Non-partisan event to encourage and incentivize Orlando locals, mostly young professionals and millennials, to vote in the 2015 City of Orlando Elections called “#LoveLocalVoteLocal”
* Those that come to the event with their “I Voted” stickers or proof of voting (by selfie on social media) will receive perks such as a free drink or a chance to win a prize.
* Confirmed prizes that will be raffled off at the event will be from organizations such as the Orlando Magic, Orlando Solar Bears, Orlando City Soccer Fan Pack, Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center tickets, Electric Daisy Carnival Tickets, annual membership for Juice Bikes, and Downtown Orlando Food Tours.
* LIVE MUSIC!!! Local band, The Smoking Jackets, will be performing live.
