The Treehouse Group

It’s time for another ideaXchange! On June 13, join dozens of curious and engaging people from across the city for an afternoon of ideas, activities and networking at MaRS. We’re eager to repeat the success of the 2008 and 2009 editions with an ideaXchange devoted to the world of music. Think: beat-boxers, New Orleans Style Brass bands, phonetics in Opera, mental health and music, technology, and the “pirate” problem, plus anything else we can jam in. We’ll also have live musicians writing songs during the conference to be performed at the end.  Ending off the day will be a catered reception, and a chance to continue the discussion(s).

Tickets for the event can be purchased here.

For more information on what we do, you can go to the Events page. Details about this ideaXchange will be updated here.

The 2010 edition of the Grown-Up Science Fair, held May 8th, had even more displays than in previous years, and we were all thrilled to see the roughly 300 people who came out and participated so enthusiastically.

Some of this year’s highlights included: Transcription Hero with Jeremy Feingold from Spongelab Interactive, where players used the Guitar Hero controller to transcribe a section of DNA; mealworm art; an experiment which sought to find out which gender has better reflexes (before and after a few beers); and one which determined the effects that happy or sad images have on people when they are composing music. These, on top of our annual displays of Flubber, Periodic Table Twister (a Twister game set entirely on a giant-sized periodic table), the Scientific Arts & Crafts table, and the baking soda volcanoes, ensured there was more than enough to do until the wee hours of the morning.

Thanks again to everyone who came out - we hope to see you next year!

We’re really looking forward to the upcoming lineup at May 7th’s Treehouse Talks with Mike Paduada, Mirella Amato, and Steve Ferrara.

You can go to the event page for more information.

We hope to see you there - MaRS Discovery District (101 College Street), room CR2.

On April 1, participants were treated to another great round of Treehouse Talks:

Loreen Barbour shared some of her pictures from a recent trip to Northern Russia including an eight course sampler of food from Siberia. Most of it had meat, but thankfully she left the pureed liver + mayonnaise dish behind.

Loreen Barbour, Treehouse Talks, April 1, 2010 @ MaRS from Joseph Wilson on Vimeo.

Russell Zeid shared some stories from his life as an engineer/artist, building a life-sized Albertosaurus model out of junk-yard scraps for a mall in Calgary. Check out his video here as he explains his philosophy of nexialism, the “meta-science” of intersection between science and art.

Russell Zeid, Treehouse Talks, April 1, 2010 @ MaRS from Joseph Wilson on Vimeo.

Niclolas Rouleau did a fantastic job of wrapping things up with an argument about the evolution of legal thinking in international development. If we want to provide legal structure for people in developing countries in order to nurture economic growth, how do we do it without stepping all over the unwritten rules that already exist in their culture?

Nicolas Rouleau, Treehouse Talks, April 1, 2010 @ MaRS from Joseph Wilson on Vimeo.

Next month’s talk promises to be fantastic. We’re back to our first Friday of the month slot on May 7th, 6pm in CR2 at MaRS, and our line-up looks great:

Mike Paduada on careers from Math to the Moon
Steve Ferrara on street art in Toronto
Mirella Amato on the challenges of Beerology.

Come early to get a seat (and cookies)!

Check out past speakers, bios and videos at www.treehousetalks.com

Those lucky enough to turn into human pretzels on the Periodic Table Twister and make a big (scientific!) mess with Flubber at last year’s Grown-Up Science Fair (GUSF) will be both thrilled and relieved to hear that the Treehouse Group will once again be partnering with city-wide science festival Science Rendezvous for the 2010 edition.

Moving along Queen Street West, this year’s Evening of Madness will be taking place at the Rhino. Our goal is to connect as many scientists and non-scientists as can fit in one room, in order to investigate the lighter, fun side of science and technology in Toronto.

This year’s party will be on May 8, from 8pm - 12am at the Rhino (1249 Queen Street West).

Click here for information on past events, and here for updated information on this year’s GUSF.

If you’d like learn more about and/or get involved with the GUSF, please contact Joe Wilson at joe@treehousegroup.org.

A big thank-you to the almost 100 people who crammed into CR2 at MaRS last Friday for the inaugural Treehouse Talks lecture. For those of you who weren’t able to make it, here’s a little taste of what you missed to pique your interest for the next one:

Dan Falk explored the world of time from the perspective of science and philosophy, and even performed an experiment to determine how people estimate the passing of time. It turns out that whether we’re watching a clip from Terminator 2 or staring at a red dot on the whiteboard, we tended to overestimate the amount of time passed.

Nadja Sayej rocked the boat with her in-your-face style of art criticism. She screened the previously unavailable “Three Worst Episodes” of ArtStars* TV in an effort to turn weakness into strength, though the crowd still thought they were only worth 2 stars out of 5. Obviously a spirited discussion ensued. Nadja had to rush off early to interview artist and musician Peaches for an upcoming ArtStars* episode, but you can catch up with Nadja and her art world craziness at ArtStarsTV.com.

Zahra Ebrahim closed the evening with a talk about her company, archiTEXT, and their attempts to bring the world of architecture to the level of everyday people. Complete with “architect glasses,” people got to draw pictures of their childhood homes, which served as an excellent access point into discussions of the buildings in which we live and work.

For more excellent pictures from the evening check out our Flickr set here.

A final thank you to Connie Tsang, photographer extraordinaire, who documented the proceedings so ably.

We’ve been quiet for the past few months as we gear up for a raft of new events in the spring that will be undertaken in partnership with MaRS. We are excited to be launching a new series of free seminars entitled Treehouse Talks, taking place after work on the first Friday of every month. Three speakers, chosen at random, will have 15 minutes to talk about their specialty (or try to make up something up) in a manner that is interactive, and pushes the boundaries of the presenters and their audiences. Powerpoint is banned.

The first of these talks is happening on Friday March 5 at MaRS in room CR2. There we will be fortunate enough to hear from freelance science writer/broadcaster Dan Falk on the enigma of time, ArtStars*’s founder Nadja Sayej on fear and loathing in the art world, and archiTEXT’s Zahra Ebrahim on design and social change.

Join us! They’re free!

We will be keeping updated information on Talk participants, past and future, here.

After a bit of a break (to appreciate the Great Canadian Summer, bien sur), we’re back with some updates and news.

Updates

ideaXchange
We have elected to postpone our Fall ideaXchange, in favour of throwing a bigger and better party in the Spring. We’ll post information on the website as it becomes available, so be sure to check back for updates.

Cape Farewell
We were captivated and touched by this quick video documenting the travels of the young artists and scientists of the Cape Farewell crew as they explored Arctic waters, recording data and interpreting the experience as they went. Keep an eye out for the segment featuring the junk yard band on Baffin island: the drumsticks they are using were given to them by the Treehouse Group during an orientation session we put on at MaRS Discovery District, in Toronto, last Fall.

News

Monthly Brunch Series
A big thank-you to everyone who joined us for some “Hillcrest archaeology” last weekend, as part of our monthly brunch series. We picked up some “artifacts” from the neighbourhood and examined them through the lenses of different professions. The results were then given the Treehouse Treatment: What can a midwife teach a fisherman? How do epidemiology and the history of medieval guild festivals overlap? How can a baker and an exterminator share information?

Member News
Joseph Wilson is heading to MaRS! During a one year contract, Joe will be working closely with MaRS to roll out some new educational programs and on-line content. Look for some dynamic events in the new year featuring more collaborations between MaRS and the Treehouse Group.

That’s it from us for now. As always, if you have any questions or feedback please feel free leave a comment or get in touch! Happy Fall, everybody.

… but we’re not letting the warm weather and siren song of Canada’s many lovely outdoor patios keep us from our work! (Well, not too much, anyway.)

Our resident freelance writer, Joe Wilson, has another great article for you to check out in the July 2009 Issue of Open Source Business Resource (OSBR), a free monthly publication of the Talent First Network.

The Group as a whole is still busy working away on ideas for upcoming events (the Fall ideaXchange in particular), as well as additions to the website (details to come), and we are always seeking out new opportunities for collaboration. In that spirit, keep your ideas coming via email, comments on the blog, and on Twitter. We appreciate hearing from you.

Finally, we’re very flattered to have been listed among the Trailblazers on the VOLANS website, along with other groups from all over the world. We appear to be in very good company!

We’re currently bandying around ideas for our Fall ideaXchange (music? Intellectual Property law? Who can choose from so many options?!) and are soliciting input from any and all interested parties.

We want to avoid the boring PowerPoint/lectern talks that are frequently found at conferences, and would much rather employ innovative variations on traditional modes of presentation. Our main focus is in finding unexpected links between different fields of study and/or work.

Help us organize an event that will engage as wide a cross-section of Toronto as possible: if you have any feelings about what our theme should be, or ideas for brain-cleansers or fun activities, let us know by leaving a comment below, or by writing to us at ideaxchange@treehousegroup.org.

Thanks!