On Thursday night we had the first of our Sparkplug Talks and it was a good time. Well over a hundred curious folk came to the Launchpad to see the presentations and we were so happy to see all of you who were there. 

It looks like the Alibi had someone in the audience. Julia Mandeville wrote up this piece for her Alibi blog:

Lessons From Last Night's Lecture(s)

If you weren’t able to join us there will be videos of the presentations available soon. As a preview I‘d like to show a few of my favorite slides from the evening.

This slide came from Michelle Melendez's presentation on the Women's Design Collective. The sense of joy and warmth in the faces of these women is undeniable and infectious.

Having formerly been the editor of a literary magazine I am particularly interested in the transitions and, in some cases, ruptures that mark the transition of publishing from print to digital. Ellen Berkovitch & Conrad Skinner talked about their move into the online publishing realm. It is still a radical choice. This slide says it all.

And finally, this slide from Chris Goblet's presentation on bringing solar power to the Grower's Markets. The victory pose above a mobile solar unit that is part of the inspiration for a local solution to a community need. That is what our Fab Lab is about and what the Sparkplug Talks are about.

We'll have more about the recent Sparkplug Talks coming up soon. Until then don't forget that we are looking for presentations for the next round of Talks in June.

 -Grady Jaynes