Interesting Vancouver is a multi-disciplinary conference with no theme. There will be a degree of spontaneity, unexpected moments, and learnings. This is what makes it exciting.
This year’s event will be a little different. We will be offering prizes to attendees. I don’t think we have ever offered our attendees anything, except clothes pins. We have always been generous with our clothes pins.
This year we will be offering four lucky people the chance to each win one of four prizes:
Truly amazing! You are probably asking yourselves what you have to do to win such artifacts of glory. The answer is very simple – during intermission all the attendees will be sent on a scavenger hunt that uses objects in the Museum of Vancouver. At the end of intermission all of the all of the correctly answered entry forms will be put into a hat/bag for a drawing. We will draw four people at the end of the night to determine our winners.
Pretty cool, right? We certainly think so. Thanks sponsors!
After months of behind the scenes planning we can finally make some announcements about this year’s Interesting Vancouver.
First off, we are very fortunate to have the Museum of Vancouver as our event and venue partner this year. Therefore, we will be moving the event from the Rowing Club in Stanley Park to MOV in Kitsilano. We are very excited about this new venue and we hope that you are too.
We are also thrilled to announce that this year’s sponsor is Driftwood Beer of Victoria, BC. They make several great beers, some of which you will be able to try at the event.
If you haven’t heard already, Interesting Vancouver will be on Friday October 14th and doors will open at 6pm. We sell out every year, so get your tickets as soon as you can and don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Amanda Fenton has found her place in this world connecting people with ideas and hosting conversations that matter. She’s a facilitator and host who believes that the wisdom we need to change our world is right here in the room. Something powerful happens when a conversation container is created and a diverse group of people who care about a topic turn towards each other, listening and thinking together.
Amanda will share stories of how we can meet differently and co-create the solutions we seek in this complex world.
Twenty radiation sessions. Eight surgeries. Six rods, 15 screws and a whole bunch of other things holding his back together. You know what’s priceless? Your life. Steve Ewan found that out after going head-to-head with cancer, two operations to rebuild his back, another six to whisk away infection and a six months in hospital.
Born in Vancouver and raised in Richmond, Steve Ewen went is a graduate of both McNair Secondary and Kwantlen College. He’s been a sports reporter at the The Province since 1994, his beats have included Vancouver Canucks, B.C. Lions, Vancouver Whitecaps, high school/university and his current one, the Vancouver Giants. He started in newspapers in 1989, with the Coquitlam NOW, at the age of 19.
Before his short career in international drug trafficking terminated with a 10 month stint in an American federal prison, Chris Neary was a convincing figure in the advertising world in the UK and Canada. Chris cut his teeth in London at Omnicom owned AGENCY.COM where he trained as a Creative Director on brands like Intel, FOX TV, British Airways, Colgate, and Compaq.
Chris was later headhunted to Vancouver by TELUS to be a Marketing Strategist in their digital division. Chris managed key accounts including the Canucks, GlaxoSmithKline, Tourism Vancouver, BC lotteries, BC Government and Best Buy. Chris subsequently became the youngest person in TELUS’s history to hold a Directorship when he became their Director of Marketing Communications.
Chris loves adventure and enjoys storytelling; last year he trekked across India and Nepal and hiked to the base camp of Mt Everest. Chris has travelled the world and got himself into volatile predicaments on most continents by being an impulsive risk taker. He is happiest in crisis.
Chris studied Design and Contemporary Art at graduate level. He plays the guitar badly and is worse at singing.
Dave Shea is a beer aficionado and beer correspondent for foodists.ca. He’s the kind of guy who knows what’s pouring at the local pubs before the servers do, and will happily max out his duty exemptions to bring back boxes of stuff we can’t find in Canada. He can tell you how to fill a suitcase with bottles that can survive even the roughest airport baggage handler. If you give him a starting point, he’s pretty sure he could put a beer in front of you that you’d love even if you don’t like beer. He also now makes the stuff himself, thanks to an ever-patient wife who gives him rather more leeway than she likely should. (Dave works as a freelance UI designer to pay for all this hoppy goodness.)
In case it’s not obvious, Dave will be talking about this fascinating grain-based beverage.
Aviator, Motion Picture Costume Designer, Theatre Producer, Mother - Glenne subscribes to making every day interesting. Aviation in the last century allowed a freedom for the travellor, unheard of today.
With the mindset of the group of aviators for whom simply flying in an aircraft was not enough, Glenne joined the adventurers who had to build their own aircraft as well. Along with her partner, Ron Ross, together they built an all composite aircraft which won awards all over North America, gained them the freedom to see the continent from above and meet many interesting folks as they barnstormed their way west east north south.
Glenne will be speaking and sharing videos about this unique experience.
Todd Sieling was born, raised in and fled Ontario for Vancouver where he now lives. In the software industry for some 15 years, he’s spent the past 8 as an experience designer for digital technologies, working independently under Corvus Consulting and in a new partnership, Denim & Steel Interactive. More recently he launched Menuito, web software on a mission to rescue diners from bad experiences with restaurant websites on mobile devices. He’s also currently serving a second term on the board of Public Dreams, producers of the Illuminares and Parade of Lost Souls events.
His interests include long-term thinking, interactive game design, and the strange social phenomenon of shoes hung from powerlines. For over a decade he’s been photographing and thinking about hanging shoes. Some of his 600+ photographs and conversations documenting the hanging shoes were extensively featured in the 2010 Australian short film High Flung Soles: The Why of Shoes on Powerlines. His talk will share some favourite photos of hanging shoes from different cities, discuss popular theories and present his own take on the one eternal question the shoes pose: why.
Johnathon Vaughn Strebly brings a diverse range of experience and knowledge from the disciplines of photography, design and education. As head of the Electronic Media Design, Digital Media, and Communication Arts Programs at Langara College, Johnathon is deeply involved in the rich visual media available today. As principal and creative director of his own studio, Johnathon extends his experience in professional business practices and industry awareness to the academic environment. Having served two terms as President of CAPIC Vancouver and VP of Business Practices, CAPIC National, Johnathon is proud to continue his association with professional organizations as VP of Education for the vibrant GDC/BC Executive Board.
Johnathon will be talking about and showing his recent personal work on the art of tattooing and photography. The Tattoo Project is a film and book project that opened many doors to reveal the intricate connections of memories, pain and how a seemingly simple process involving needle and ink, can leave an indelible impression on both the mind and the skin.
Stephen Abbott is a brand strategist—a type of corporate storyteller. Working with organizations all over the world, from start-ups to international charities, he helps bridge their business strategy with the creative opportunity, bringing the story of the brand to life throughout the organization.
Stephen is also a dad. And if you ask him, he’ll say a really cool dad. For his talk, Stephen will offer lighthearted and refreshing insight into the thrills and challenges of being a modern dad. After obliterating expectations held in the traditional role of ‘father’, this generation of modern dads are stepping up and redefining their parenting responsibilities with unique skills, fearless adventures and a healthy dose of humour. Dad’s make a difference, and being a Modern Dad is they coolest job any guy could want.
