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.

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.

On Sept. 3, the Treehouse Group led 30 international high school students in an evening of activities at MaRS. The students were part of the Cape Farewell project, and traveled to the Arctic for two weeks to raise awareness about climate change through art and science projects.

After an introductory activity of “speed-networking for ideas”, the students engaged in a round of climate change treaty negotiations by acting out the roles of different stakeholders in the climate change crisis. US government officials went toe-to-toe with environmental scientists, and Chinese government representatives argued with the CEO’s of import/export companies over what to do about the problem of climate change. At one point the corn farmers went on strike, and the citizens threatened to form a coalition to unseat the government if they refused to subsidize green energy alternatives. All the while, journalists reported on the progress of treaty talks, sending headlines to the editor to be posted on the news-feed.

We wrapped up the evening by teaching 30 kids about to be enclosed in a metal ship how to do a drum-roll. Check out the video below:

Upon the request of MaRS, the Treehouse Group has been asked to take a group of 30 international high school students through a 2 hour session of Treehouse activities on Sept. 3 from 5 - 7 pm. The students are part of the Cape Farewell project, a project to visualize climate change in the Arctic through art projects.