Could there be a greater day in history? On October 15th, 1520  King Henry VIII of England ordered for there to be bowling lanes at Whitehall! Let them have bowling! And, let them have Nerd Nite! A glimpse of our upcoming event is below!

Where: Café Deux Soleils (2096 Commercial Drive)

When: Wednesday, October 15th 2014 @ 8pm (Doors @ 7:30pm)

Tickets: $5 dollars at the door

#1. The Vancouver Boardgame Community 

Marcel Perro

Every day, technology finds new ways to get us to “plug in”, bringing an ease to our lives and “connecting” us to people across the globe. Despite this, we are becoming less and less connected to each other socially. The reemergence of board games is changing this. Across the globe, people are logging off and challenging one another face-to-face. With this, Vancouver has seen a surge in game shops opening, restaurants catering to gamers and social clubs popping up. With the increase in global demand comes a new wave of designers and many are emerging locally. We’ll talk about Vancouver’s history in the board game realm. Come get a sneak peak behind the scenes of how board games are being developed in your backyard.
Bio: Marcel Perro has been playing board games his whole life.He discovered modern boardgaming within the last decade after jumping into the design aspect of the hobby. He is an aspiring board game designer, currently working on three designs. When not working on game design or playing games, he can be found on Vancouver stages improvising with Instant Theatre Company or performing sketch comedy with Idle Minds.

#2. Bizarre Behaviour: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Spiders

Catherine Hoffman

Spiders: you either hate them or you…nope, you probably hate them. But hundreds of scientists study these eight-legged “freaks” because they have some crazy cool behaviors. From sexual cannibalism to communication, spiders offer a unique glimpse into the world of animal behavior. We will venture into various behaviors including why some spiders live together with thousands of other spiders. (No, I did not make that up). Come learn about the bizarre behaviours of spiders!

Bio: Catherine Hoffman is finishing her Masters in Zoology at the University of British Columbia. She started studying spiders during her undergraduate in Ohio, but isn’t some crazy spider freak…promise. Catherine then ventured across the continent to study social evolution in spiders at UBC. This research has taken her to Ecuador for the past three summers where she trampled around the rainforest and experienced the joys of the Amazon basin. More than anything, Catherine loves telling scientific stories to the public.

#3. Slow Technology – – Rise of the Nerds

Bruce McKinlay

‘Slow technology’ is about being a better user, primarily by making better choices when we purchase & use our devices. As technology gets better and more pervasive, our behaviors become subservient to the lowest common denominators. We’re increasingly and blindly accepting what befalls us in the marketplace, resulting in products with more novelty than quality, choices more based on marketing slogans than tangible facts, and desires for things that prioritize aesthetics over durability. The solution is to focus on making ourselves better, not just the technology. At the same time, nerds have risen to become a sought-after source of knowledge so have the opportunity to take the reigns of this donkey cart and guide us (and our behaviors) towards the light. Unless you serve the dark side of the Force, in which case you’re screwed.

Bio: Bruce has been rummaging around inside the IT industry for over 20 years helping people make sense of technology. He has designed, built, programmed, repaired, upgraded, taught, explained, coerced, and crisis  counselled people in classrooms, on television & radio, throughout the netherworld of the internet, but most of all in person. These experiences have built a first-hand understanding of all that is wonderful and transformative about technology in our every-day lives. It has also however uncovered the darker side of our unbridled consumer behaviors, especially when flavored with the irresistible spices of today’s gadget-driven marketplace – – “I have met the enemy and he is us”. Bruce believes there’s a fantastic world of potential and benefit before us, that centers on the merits of technology. All that stands in our way is ourselves, our indiscriminate desire for novelty over quality, our disinterest in learning how things work, and worst of all how our apathy encourages a dehumanized view of those who produce and dispose of our techno waste for us. After having spent so long working and building a career in technology, he has become more interested in ensuring our worst behaviors as end-users don’t lay its potential to waste.