We’re hosting our fun, nerdy nights on the first Wednesday of EVERY MONTH
next event is 5 April at Little Andromeda.
5 April Speakers:
“Beyond Bricks – The Wild World of LEGO“
by Centuri Chan
Jump aboard the LEGO monorail for a journey of discovery! Centuri will give us insight into the colourful realm of the AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) community, share some anecdotes from his experience creating large-scale LEGO models, and remind us of the importance of being creative in our everyday lives.
Centuri grew up with LEGO, and never really grew out of it. He is an 80’s geek and is obsessed with toy robots, toy dinosaurs, and toy robotic dinosaurs.
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“An Electronic Penny for Your Thoughts – Money, banking, and why you hate your job”
by Paul Ferguson
We paywave, we swipe, we credit card. But we rarely give any thought to where electronic money comes from. Electric money’s origin, and eventual deletion, are taken for granted as a fact of economic life. Paul explains exactly how this process works – and how we could do better.
Paul has an engineering brain by trade but began investigating the subject of economics after the global financial crisis starting in 2009. He ran a monetary reform group for several years, presenting at various conferences, writing in national newspapers, and raising awareness amongst political groups. It’s sure to be a topic that will develop ‘interest’.
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“Who Are We and Why Does That Matter?”
by Ekant Veer
Understanding the importance of identity, meaning and belonging is particularly important for marketers essentially manipulate you to buy into their BS so you buy their stuff – and sometimes you may never even realise it’s happening. In this talk, Prof. Veer talks about the various tools marketers use to create a sense of community and build a connection to things, places, and spaces to bolster loyalty to a product, brand or even city. By understanding these tactics, we can hopefully be more aware and wary of these tactics to be more responsible and mindful consumers in society.
Ekant Veer is a multi-award-winning Professor of Marketing at the University of Canterbury. He has been named as one of the Top 40 under 40 Business School Professors worldwide; an Ako Aotearoa Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award winner, and five times winner of the UCSA’s lecturer of the year award. His work looks at the role that marketing can play in driving social change and community well-being to empower consumers to make conscious choices that benefit them and the society in which they live. He writes a bit, and sometimes people publish it; he talks a lot, and sometimes people listen; he is asked to consult for various organisations and occasionally they buy him a coffee for his time. However, he’s usually best known for stirring shit in the media and taking pretty pictures of the stars – neither of which are that relevant to this talk.