Nerd Nite Los Angeles - September 2024

Nerd Nite is fun-yet-informative lectures at a bar. It's like TED Talks...but with beer.

We all know that learning is more fun when you’re drinking with friends and colleagues. Thus, Nerd Nite is a monthly event held in more than 100 cities across the globe during which several folks give 20-minute fun-yet-informative and easily accessible presentations across all disciplines – while the audience drinks along.

https://linktr.ee/nerdnitela

FAQ's:

- Doors open at 7pm. Intro at 7:45pm. Presentations at 8pm.

- The Brewyard Beer Company is a 21+ venue.

- There is free street parking surrounding the bar, but we recommend utilizing a ride share service.

PRESENTATION LINE-UP:

PRESENTATION #1: Pitch Perfect: How TV Character Pitching Fundamentals Can Help Make Your Next TTRPG Character Unforgettable!

By Mayanna Berrin

Summary: A lot of sweet nerds are obsessed with TTRPGs - and writer/actor Mayanna Berrin is no exception! Specifically, she's obsessed with character creation, and thanks to her background in television writing, she's determined to force these worlds to collide as she brings the art of the tv pitch to TTRPG characters everywhere through the only language she understands: pitch decks! Journey along with her as she takes you through creating a personal pitch for your next TTRPG character, saving your DM reading 15 pages of backstory and creating a framework to tell even better stories together! (Hopefully!)

Bio: Mayanna Berrin is an animation and games writer, improviser, actor, and TTRPG Actual Performer based in Burbank, CA. She's currently working as a Gameplay Writer for Adhoc LA and fills her days with as many D&D sessions as humanly possible. She's a Nickelodeon Program Writing Fellow and Women Write Now Fellow. You can hear her voice as Embla in Fire Emblem Heroes and as Fran in The Wandering Path Podcast. You can also catch her playing Oona Plume, a plasmoid bard on the new actual play series StoryQuest: Supernova on Youtube.


PRESENTATION #2: Heroes of the Sky: Why Pigeons Should Be Your New Favorite Animal

By Michael Kohl

Summary: "Gross and annoying..." "Carriers of disease..." "Rats with Wings..." The long list of pigeon libel will sound familiar -- but how well do you actually know these brave, gentle and intelligent creatures? LA-based musician Michael Kohl will take you across the reaches of space and time to rehabilitate the public image of a **flocking** incredible bird, dispelling harmful pigeon myths along the way. Get ready to see the common rock dove with brand new eyes!

Bio: Michael Kohl is a touring musician, root beer enthusiast and bonafide Nerd Nite fanboy from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Los Angeles, California. He first became interested in pigeons in 2006 when observing the casual disdain we show our feral neighbors; he's been a focused, passionate (and easily triggered) pigeon advocate ever since. When not crusading on behalf of our feathered interlopers Michael runs Extra Lives, an interactive video game concert experience that collaborates with Nerd Nite chapters around the world.


PRESENTATION #3: Anatomy of a Combo: How Fighting Games Work

By Joe Granville

Summary: There's a lot going on in fighting games between trying to hit your opponent while avoiding letting them do the same, managing resources and minding your positioning on the screen but there is one persistent question: "Why do you keep hitting me over and over while I can't do anything?" The answer is - COMBOS! From being a glitch in Street Fighter 2 all the way back in 1991 to being a central feature in the genre, combos offer insight into how fighting games work at a technical level, where every 60th of a second gets counted and scrutinized. Follow fighting fanatic Joe Granville as he pulls back the curtain and showcases the ways different fighting game moves come together to become something more.

Bio: Joe Granville has been playing fighting games off-and-on for about 20 years. In the last 2 years, he has been playing much more regularly, including entering tournaments such as Combo Breaker and Frosty Faustings in Chicago and EVO in Las Vegas - the unofficial world-championship for fighting games. He's never gone far in any of those tournaments, but still has a great love of the genre and has spent dozens of hours poring over the inner workings of the games. Joe's favorite fighting game is Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2, where he plays a fancy vampire guy named Slayer - named after the band because the game director is a huge fan of rock music.