Theme: Adjacent Possible

We’ll gather to explore the unlimited opportunity held in the Adjacent Possible, the premise that there is an enormous untapped sphere of ideas that exist just outside what we think we are capable of, sparked one after another like endless ripples in a pond. What if you could go beyond “what you know today” into the far greater “what is possible?” Every adjacent possibility opens another, creating bursts of limitlessness far beyond what we can currently imagine. Most importantly, adjacent possibilities can only exist when creativity and curiosity are given freedom to explode into new ideas, creating massive shifts and positive change.

Jack Singer Concert Hall
205 8th Ave SE
Calgary, Alberta, T2G 0K9
Canada

Aaron Goodarzi

Assistant Professor at University of Calgary’s Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute

Aaron Goodarzi, PhD, is an assistant professor at University of Calgary’s Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute at the Cumming School of Medicine, and currently holds the title of Canada Research Chair for Radiation Exposure Disease. He is a globally recognized researcher in understanding how radiation impacts our DNA to cause genetic damage and ultimately cancer. Aaron currently leads the ‘Evict Radon’ campaign to test homes across Canada for radon gas, which is the biggest lifetime source of radiation exposure for nearly everyone, and the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers being responsible for the premature deaths of many thousands of Canadians each year. He obtained his PhD in biochemistry from University of Calgary in 2005, and trained as a post-doctoral scholar in radiation biology at the Genome Damage and Stability Centre at the University of Sussex (UK) until 2010.

Bianca Manuel

Artist in Residence

Bianca Manuel is an MFA student in Drama, with a specialization in Design and Technical Theatre, at the University of Calgary. She is researching the role of Scenography within interdisciplinary contexts; how the procedures of collaboration with, and in, performance design can allow the scenic elements to have greater dramaturgical relevance. Manuel studies performing arts in digital environments, through social media experiments, and cyber performances such as Self, Who am I, and E-ntimacy.

David Moscrop

Political Theorist and Postdoctoral Fellow in the Scholarly Communications Lab at Simon Fraser University

As an academic, writer, and political commentator, it would be safe to say that David Moscrop could enter into any political conversation with an opinion, and a well-informed one at that. His studies and research focus primarily on democratic deliberation, citizenship, social media, communication, and how we make political decisions – both good and bad. Moscrop is a political theorist and postdoctoral fellow in the Scholarly Communications Lab at Simon Fraser University, where he studies information flows in the digital public sphere and democratic decision making. He completed a PhD in in political science at the University of British Columbia in spring 2017, and is currently working on a project focused on how knowledge circulates on the internet and what that means for citizen participation in contemporary democracies.

Eric Jardine

Assistant Professor of Political Science at Virginia Tech

Have you ever heard about the Dark Web? How much do you know about it? What about cybercrime, security technologies, and Internet governance? As an assistant professor of political science at Virginia Tech, and a fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Eric Jardine’s research covers these and more. The CIGI is a Canadian think tank focusing on governance challenges in the 21st century. Imagine how much we truly don’t understand about the digital landscape we live in, and how much there is to learn. Jardine’s work explores the challenges our new digital lives have brought to public policy, as well as uses and abuses of the Dark Web and trends in cybercrime. It considers the dilemmas created for public policy governing both anonymity-granting technologies and encryption, as well as channels by which new security technologies can actually make us less safe.

Farima Berenji

Founder and Artistic Director of the Farima Dance Company

Farima Berenji is an award winning, internationally acclaimed performing artist with a lifelong passion for dance and its ability to bring meaning and spirituality to our lives. She is also a deeply talented dance ethnologist and archaeologist. A third generation artist, she travels worldwide to record, research, lecture, perform, educate, and to inspire creativity through dance and movement. Berenji is the founder and artistic director of the Farima Dance Company and the worldwide Simorgh Dance Collective. She has spent her life studying, researching, and performing with master teachers and performing artists throughout the world, including her home countries of Iran and Azerbaijan, as well as other Silk Road countries. Her passion for dance in general, and more specifically the sacred, classical, and folk dances of the Silk Road have led her on a stunning journey learning, teaching, promoting, and performing for audiences all over the world.

Hymm Melodies

Performance group

HYMM Melodies combines traditional melodies from around the world with modern composition to create music that appeals to a wide audience. Based in Calgary, these musicians come from diverse backgrounds to combine the musical traditions of the Middle East with influences of jazz, blues klezmer, and western pop music.

Jeremy Klaszus

Editor, The Sprawl

Jeremy Klaszus is editor of the Sprawl, a Calgary pop-up journalism venture he founded in 2017. The Sprawl is a crowdfunded, ad-free, made-in-Calgary model—a reinvention of local journalism in tough times. It operates with the goal to share stories in a meaningful, non-reactionary way. Before launching the Sprawl, Klaszus worked as a freelance journalist who covered Calgary for local and international media outlets. He has contributed to CBC, the Walrus, the Calgary Herald, National Geographic Traveler, Swerve and the Globe & Mail. The Sprawl is Calgary pop-up journalism. They launched in September 2017 to cover Calgary’s municipal election. It began as a zany experiment, a creative way to keep local journalism alive in tough times. A swell of community support has turned the tiny shop into a going concern. It is designed to be set up and taken down and set up again to cover specific things.

Kelcie Miller-Anderson

Founder, MycoRemedy

An acclaimed innovator and social entrepreneur, Kelcie Miller-Anderson started her research into developing novel remediation methods for the Alberta Oil Sands at just 15 years old. By age 21 she had founded her first company, MycoRemedy, and set her sights on remediating the world with her innovative fungi-based approaches to remediation. Miller-Anderson has struggled with chronic illness her entire life, and was recently diagnosed with two rare genetic conditions. Despite having to sleep up to 20 hours in a 24 hour period, she has never let her illnesses deter her from building both her company, MycoRemedy, and nonprofit, The Dandelion Project.

Le Cirque de la Nuit Canada

Performance group

Established in 2013, Le Cirque de la Nuit Canada is a one of a kind creative collective based out of Calgary, Alberta that specializes in the development and execution of truly immersive and memorable performance based experiences. Cirque brings together the very best performers from across Canada and merges their talents with generous creative capacity for production, choreography, custom made props, decor, costumes, music and visual effects, creating a multidimensional experience. Featuring: Body Art Motion (Tanya Lee, Rachael Blake, Amy Burlano), Jennifer Chelsea (Wolf Flow), Jenny Sager, Kate Ryan, Jai Benteau, Landon Waters (Mr. Waters), and Tony Esteves (Talk2MorePeople). General Manager: Kelley Matley. Soundtrack by Adam Blanchard aka Smol Beats.

Robin Winsor

President and CEO, Cybera

Robin Winsor is a highly influential visionary and executive in the technology field, who is known for being both a playful and provocative agent of change. Born in Scotland, Winsor grew up with a passion for both science and adventure, moving to Canada in 1982 to pursue both. Over the course of his extraordinary career, he invented the world’s first direct digital x-ray imaging device, and has led a not-for-profit technology accelerator to become one of Canada’s most vocal champions for the digitally disadvantaged. He joined Cybera as President and CEO in 2010. Under his leadership, the company’s mandate has expanded to provide digital services to Alberta’s K-12, startup, First Nations and public sectors. Cybera is now widely credited for overseeing the continuous development of Alberta’s cyberinfrastructure, while advocating for improvements to the availability and accessibility of technology, for all Canadians.

Sophia Lebessis

Owner, Transformation Fine Art

Owner of Transformation Fine Art, Canada’s first Inuk owned Inuit art gallery located in Calgary’s historic Grain Exchange Building, Sophia Lebessis is paving the way for the next generation of Inuit entrepreneurs to edify their art from their perspective. Inuit on her mother’s side and Greek on her father’s, Lebessis was raised in Arviat, Nunavut. Her childhood was spent in Canada’s Arctic and Greece where from a young age her keen eye for art was developed. Lebessis is a descendant of the Idlout family depicted on the Canadian two-dollar bill, a currency artifact that depicts a dark time in Canadian history. Lebessis has called Calgary home since 2002. She moved here to attend post-secondary school, and graduated from the University of Calgary with a BA in Communications and recently graduated with a Masters in Adult Education. Transformation Fine Art, specializing in Master Works of Inuit and First Nations art, is an individually tailored experience for collectors of any budget.

Sue Mylde

Educator with a multi-dimensional background in communications, education and research

Sue Mylde is an educator with a multi-dimensional background in communications, education and research. She uses her talents and experience to engage children in classroom settings, and audiences of all ages through her presentations at TELUS Spark Science Centre and on GlobalTV. She believes that hands-on participation and learning fosters student engagement and deepens their abilities. She works to help others understand the need for children’s hands to be active in order to help them grow literate lives.

Tim Tamashiro

Talk Show Host, Handshake on Facebook Live and YouTube

A love of music, and a dream to create a life full of it, carried Tim Tamashiro all the way from childhood music lessons to a successful career as a jazz musician. Growing up in small town Alberta, Tamashiro felt differently than the other kids, and embraced that feeling to pursue creative outlets that he enjoyed. Piano lessons led to music school, work with with HMV retail, then a role with MCA Records. For twenty years, he enjoyed working in music, from performing with bands, singing at events and in front of prime ministers and royalty. He sang jazz standards with The Jump Orchestra in Edmonton, then moved to Calgary and joined a local jazz group called The Swinging Bovines. He released his debut album, “Wiseass Crooner,” in 1995, and toured Canada promoting it. Most recently Tim authored the book "How to Ikigai: Lessons for Finding Happiness and Living Your Life's Purpose"