Nerd Nite Lawrence is tapping into our imaginations! Join us June 16th at 8pm CST for our free event: Nerd Nite 94: “Here Be Dragons”! Free flights of fantasy only at #NNLFK
Our Presentation:
Spencer Brown: Kids at the Table: Giving kids agency through D&D Children do not have an opportunity to make many decisions or understand the consequences of the choices they make. What they do, how they do it, and when they can do it is almost entirely decided by the adults in their lives. Dungeons and Dragons can provide a safe environment where children can practice their agency, make different decisions, experiment with different types of personalities, and socialize with friends. Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) provides a structured environment with rules regardless of who runs the game.
Our Presenter:
Spencer Brown: Hello! My name is Spencer Brown and I formerly taught fourth grade. I grew up in Las Vegas, NV where I got a black belt in Shaolin Kempo, a martial art originally from China. I love cooking, playing video games, and watching animation. I’ve been playing various versions of D&D for 9 years. I love playing D&D because it allows me to experience playing different characters, improv hilarious or dangerous situations, and play a fun game with friends!
And our ever present: “Elliot’s Diabolical Trivia!”
Nerd Nite Lawrence is on FIRE and we are INVESTED in giving you a great evening of online presentations! Join us April 14 at 8pm for our free event: Nerd Nite 93: “Making a Kiln-ing”! Get stoked!
Our Presentations:
Larry M. Brow: “Wood Fire Kilns: Methods and Mindsets”
David Hollond: “A Discussion of Stock Investing using Price Momentum and Acceleration”
Our Presenters: Larry M. Brow has presented a few times before at Nerd Nite on subjects as wide-ranging as “Heraldic Design Principles for Better Protest Signs,” and why “Grading Art Students is Different than Science or Humanities Students.” A Lawrence resident, off and on, since 1975, he has run PLEASE TOUCH POTTERY since 1989. A YouTube channel by that name has just recently started in which he offers daily short videos on a wide variety of topics relevant to Art and the life of artists. His blog, "> offers similar insights in essay form, four of which have been published in the international magazine, Ceramics Monthly.
David Hollond is an institutional investor with nearly 30 years of investing experience. He worked for nearly 20 years for a large money manager in Kansas City where he managed over $9 billion in assets as the portfolio manager for a mid cap growth strategy and an all cap growth strategy. He currently runs a small investment company here in Lawrence with two partners. He really got hooked on stock investing after reading Peter Lynch’s book “One Up On Wall Street” in the early 1990s and after hitting it big after buying Yahoo! shortly after it went public. David’s investment philosophy focuses on investing in companies whose stocks are exhibiting strong price momentum and whose businesses are experiencing fundamental acceleration. In addition to investing, David loves to travel and to explore nature. He also founded and sometimes hosts the Free State Story Slam at the Lawrence Arts Center. David lives with his family on a century old 40 acre farmstead east of Lawrence.
After a pandemic-related hiatus WE’RE BACK! We have two very interesting speakers discussing the themes important to Black History Month
Presentations start at 8:00 on our Facebook page (you’ll see a streaming link). https://www.facebook.com/nerdnitelawrence
Ask us questions in the Zoom Chat!
The Presentations:
Dana Snipes feels Now more than ever, America and maybe the world sits at a crossroads created by individualism, separatism, and racism. It is easy to see the things that divide us; including gender, political views, and racial identification to name a few.February is Black History Month. It is the annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. The focus and discussions over this month often lean toward serious and formally structured academic and political discussions. Don’t get me wrong, these are important…But tonight I ask you to open your ears and heart to a new approach around learning through the universal language of music. We’ll scat and riff our way through a “jazzy” discussion!
Ithar Hassaballa will share “Engaging Black Communities in the Decision-Making Process Related to their Health Needs”. Ithar will discuss strategies for engaging Black communities in addressing their health needs in various communities across the U.S. We have a notion that “if we build it, they will come” which is a top-down approach that is ineffective. It is important to meet communities where they are, engage them in the decision-making process, and respect/incorporate their culture and identity to into community programs.Let’s kick this off!About the speakers: Dana Snipes is a bonafide Experientialist and humble yet passionate seeker of all things which sit at the precarious intersection of the Emotional & Rational; Left-Brain/Right-Brain, Science & Spiritual and self proclaimed Extroverted-Introvert. A Kansas City native, Dana is a “Double-Dukie” having focused her studies on psychology and biology during undergraduate study at Duke University in Durham North Carolina. She continued the trend during her studies at the Fuqua School of Business through her focus on marketing and the health care sector. Focused studies of Epidemiology at the University of Chapel Hill, and Marketing at the University of Otago, in New Zealand round out her passionate focus on Marketing within the Health Sector as a powerful force to help influence awareness and access to tools and products that improve the life of people and pets. Dana has focused over 25 years in the healthcare industry. Initially supporting the development of new drugs via clinical trials research with major pharmaceutical companies, and most recently over a decade marketing in pet health. After spending time in North Carolina, Texas, and Illinois, Dana found her way back home to the Kansas City area. Currently, she is proud to lead an incredibly talented marketing team at Hill’s Pet Nutrition as Global Marketing Director of Innovation.Most importantly, Dana is a mother of two daughters, a wife, and a lover of the arts. She enjoys cooking, music, and dance. It is through this rich tapestry of experience and expression that she sees the world, and works to give the best to her family and community.
Ithar Hassaballa’s purpose in life is to contribute to improving conditions for the health and well-being of populations. Ithar obtained a doctoral degree in behavioral psychology [Community Health & Development] from the University of Kansas, and a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Kansas Medical Center in Spring 2017. Experienced in community health project management, evaluation, quantitative and qualitative interdisciplinary research, and university teaching, Ithar aims to improve the social and built environments to promote healthy behaviors and reduce the burden of non-communicable and communicable diseases within communities.With eight years of experience in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of community interventions, she provided consultation, training, and evaluation to more than ten organizations and universities through a nation-wide type 2 diabetes initiative directed towards vulnerable populations.Furthermore, Ithar provided more than seven years of consultations, training, and evaluation services to the World Health Organization’s African Regional Office in Brazzaville, Congo, including evaluation of the 2014 Ebola response effort in Liberia. Ithar taught at the American University in Cairo and addressed youth violence prevention in Kansas City, Kansas.Recently, Ithar joined the Center for Public Partnerships and Research and her goal is to address mental health in Kansas and globally.
