Our Speakers!
Ignite Stratford 2.0 Speakers
Charlie McEvoy ~ charlie@intuneaudio.ca @charlie_mcevoy
Charlie McEvoy is a full-time freelance Musician/Producer/Educator in Stratford Ontario whose life has been dedicated to helping others pursue their musical and creative dreams. His resume is filled with everything from touring with an African jazz band to producing the audio book of a New York Times bestseller. As the owner of In Tune Audio he works helping musical artists create their masterpieces and runs a busy teaching studio with 40 plus students. His free time is spent being a human jungle gym for his 3 kids.
Andrew Mavor ~ myagi@spamarrest.com @myagisoleclaw
Andrew Mavor aka Myagi is a Stratford born and raised music producer, DJ and artist who has in the course of a ten year career carved out a spot as one of Canada’s notable contributions to electronic music. He has toured and gigged all over the world, from Paris to Phuket, Sydney to Shanghai and back again. His original music shows up in video games, tv ads, movie trailers and cell phone apps, and on the sound design front he designs synthesizer sounds, creates expansion packs and is commissioned to create audio presets for various pieces of software. His second full length album “Ape and Essence” is about to come out and features a number of cutting edge multimedia tie-ins that make it a new style of musical experience.
Barb McMahon ~ barb.alan@gmail.com @BarbMcMahon
Reiki practitioner, artist, blogger at www.happysimple.com, bakery co-owner, dog-walker, prison volunteer, marching band member…. Barb McMahon has done a lot and is interested in everything.
Francesca Marini, PhD ~ fmarini@stratfordshakespearefestival.com
Since July 2010, Dr. Francesca Marini is Archives Director at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Prior to this position, she was Assistant Professor at the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, UBC, Vancouver.
She has a Ph.D. in Library and Information Science (UCLA), and has studied as an archivist in Italy. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre Studies (University of Bologna, Italy). She is a leading expert in performing arts archiving, and has been engaged in several research projects. She presents widely at national and international conferences, and publishes in archival and Performing arts journals. She is a Theatre Library Association Board member, and is part of several scholarly and professional associations. Her new position as Archives Director is Dr. Marini’s dream job, and she has been walking on air since moving to Stratford.
Karen Schulman Dupuis ~ karensd@gmail.com @karensd
Curator of Dialogue. Cultivator of Relationships. Community Engager & Builder. Professional Elephant Hunter. Intrapreneur. Social Media Strategist. Renaissance woman. Lover of all things creative, expressive and engaging.
It’s all about the dialogue, which is why KSD loves building events & opportunities in her hometown of Stratford to support that dialogue (Ignite, TEDx, SocialMediaBreakfasts). She’s always been a geek of the curious kind which has most recently translated into her love, embrace and work in social media. Karen has worked in ICT for the last 12 years in sales, education, operations and program management and is currently a Business Consultant with a national telecommunications carrier in Canada.
Jennifer Zammit ~ stratfordrollergirls@gmail.com
Jennifer “J-Whoa” Zammit is one of the founding members of Stratford LOCO Roller Derby, a low contact team of Perth county roller girls. Off the track, she holds down three jobs, not including the all-important one as a wife and mother of three kids. And, for the record, J-Whoa loved roller derby way before Drew Barrymore made that movie.
J-Whoa is proud of her Maltese heritage. It has afforded her the ability to kill rabbits with her bare hands, yell super loud, and grow a stellar J-Whoa booty. Her fashion sense is what one would consider retro nostalgia that sits this side of the border to Tackyville. Derby has made all that acceptable…except maybe the rabbit thing.
Kelley Teahen ~ kteahen@uwaterloo.ca
After hanging around university long enough to collect three degrees, Kelley went on to a career in journalism and communications that includes being honoured with five Ontario Newspaper Awards for writing, and five years running the media office for the Stratford Festival of Canada. Currently she serves as director of external communications for the University of Waterloo. She is editor of Waterloo Magazine and chairs the university’s Communications Council. She also teaches a second-year English course, Arts Writing, at St. Jerome’s University, and takes on projects in marketing planning, media training, and web writing through Coffee Bird Communications.
When she’s not working or writing, Kelley cooks, entertains, attends live performances, sings occasionally, and chases the impossible dream of getting her heels to the floor in Downward Facing Dog. Wherever there has been a patch of earth where Kelley has lived, she’s planted stuff. And she hates mowing the lawn.
David Hicks ~ david@pensario.ca @HiDavidHicks
David Hicks is a freelance writer and branding consultant pretty much smitten with Stratford. He is the researcher, writer and wingman for Stratford’s successful campaign to be designated one of the world’s ‘Top Seven Intelligent Communities’ for 2011. And 2012 is looking even better.
Steve Stacey ~ SJStacey@rogers.com @localcomelately
Steve Stacey is the Director of The Local Community Food Centre.
Steve Stacey (M.Sc.) is a local food educator and activist who writes all about his adventures-in-food in Stratford via his blog The Local-Come-Lately. He has founded several community gardens and school garden projects and has worked extensively with Stratford’s renowned Culinary Arts teacher Paul Finkelstein to demonstrate to young people the fun and flavour associated with growing and cooking with fresh local food. Steve is currently the co-chair of Slow Food Perth County and the coordinator of the Slow Food Sunday Market, which moved to downtown Stratford in June 2011. His passion for education and his leadership in promoting good food for everyone recently culminated in his being hired as the Director of The Local Community Food Centre in Stratford.
Carol McLeod ~ carol@carolmcleod.net @ContentedCopy
Carol McLeod is mother to three, wife to one, the voice behind @ContentedCopy, and Artistic Director of two Storytelling Festivals. Raised by a colourful family of storytellers, and somewhat educated by Gaelic-speaking nuns in her hometown of Dublin, Ireland, Carol and her immediate family emigrated to Canada when she was a teen. She graduated with a degree in English from UWO, and is now happy, finally, to be using said knowledge in her work as a copywriter. Eight years ago she discovered the joys of country living, and lives in an old farmhouse just outside St. Marys.
A Blue Sky thinker, community agitator and social change advocate, Carol also geeks out on shiny new Moleskine notebooks, all things roller derby, really good chocolate, and REALLY good stories.
Shawn Hartwell ~ simple.fishandchips@live.ca @simplefishco
Simple minded Chef and small business owner who is always thinking outside the fish bowl, believing in sustainability and Local involvement while knowing opportunity is only a risk not taken!
Paul Finkelstein ~ finkel519@gmail.com @paulfink
Food as a tool for change. High school foods teacher, $3 chef, writer ‘Best Health Mag’, Host of a show called ‘Fink’ that was once on TV. Father of three, husband of one. The photo is old, but makes me look young.