Our November 29 event is live! Our tradition of celebrating all and yet none of the traditional holidays continues. We have three great presentations ready, plus trivia and ugly sweaters a plenty!

TICKETS HERE: https://www.register2meet.com/nntonov25


Presentation 1: “Watches, Clocks and Time” by Craig Fay

Comedian/Recovering Engineer Craig Fay talks about humanity’s ongoing quest to keep track of time. A project that spans from cave paintings to atomic clocks and has had some surprising impacts on history, language, fashion, culture and well…pretty much everything. 

Craig Fay is a Toronto based comedian/recovering mechanical engineer known for his thoughtful and intricate stand-up performances.  He has also built a dedicated online following where he talks about science and its frequent intersection with pop culture. 

He has performed at the world famous Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, appeared on CBC Television as part of the Winnipeg Comedy Festival’s “Technology” Gala and is co-host of the long running and award winning podcast The Villain Was Right, where he and fellow comedian Rebecca Reeds defend the villains of TV and film.

Craig’s debut comedy album “Helicopter Rich” was praised as “observational and self-reflective…worth playing multiple times over” (Exclaim)  with his sophomore release “Performance Review” being selected as one of the best comedy albums of the year by Paste Magazine. His third comedy album “World’s Deadliest Cat” was released in October of this year with the full, filmed special due out later on Comedy Bar Max. 

You can follow Craig (@CraigFayComedy) on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.  Or just Google him. You’ll probably just Google him.

Presentation 2:  “Inside Santa’s Workshop. Blinking purses, flying fairies, and remote control Batmobiles; the diaries of a Toy Engineer” by Vanessa Raquel Raponi

Ever wonder how thousands of toys make it to the shelf every Christmas, to bring joy into the eyes of little ones every year? Canada has its very own version of Santa’s workshop right in downtown Toronto – filled with very real adult humans bringing creative and innovative toys to the mass global market. As you can probably imagine, playing with dinosaurs, Rubik’s cubes and sensory sand compounds can come with endless fascinating twists and turns. Join Vanessa as she shares insights about working in the toy engineering world, her journey as a queer woman of colour navigating a male dominated industry, and how she got to where she is today. 

Vanessa is a born and bred Torontonian turned Toy Engineer! Graduating with a dual degree in Materials Engineering & Management from McMaster University, Vanessa is now the Manager of Manufacturing Engineering at Spin Master – a Canadian founded kids toy company! She leads a team of engineers all over the world who bring toy ideas to life, from Paw Patrol to the Rubik’s Cube to Kinetic Sand, she’s worked on countless awesome products over the years. She’s also the founder of a national non-profit called EngiQueers Canada that advocates for inclusion in engineering, because diversity is badass.

Presentation 3: “Santa 101: The Jiggling Underbelly of the Professional Santa Industry” by Zac Kauffman

‘Insurance for Santa: What You Need to Know,’ ‘Santa and Sign Language,’ and ‘Designer Beard and Hair Care’ are just a sample of the informative seminars offered at various Santa Claus conferences across North America each year.

Standing at the intersection of camp and craft, consumerism, collective myth making, and yuletide LARP, we’ll explore the deliciously niche world of professional Santa Clauses, its ideological fissures, and some of evolving norms and standards within the community. 

Born and brined in the tender ennui of suburban Toronto, Zac Kauffman is an audio storyteller, podcast producer, and aspiring grownup. He dabbled in farming and wilderness education before eventually moving to Jerusalem to work as an audio journalist. He has a stubborn belief that a microphone can be a passport to another soul and his stories have aired on NPR stations and the CBC. He plans on moving into a dreamy loft apartment above a croissant bakery with his two brilliant children and eco-start up founder husband, as soon as he meets them. Until then, you can find him wandering Toronto’s Annex neighborhood, editing podcasts, and generally trying his best. 

TRIVIA presented by Nerd Nite Bosses Lauren and Virve

Yes, Virginia, there will be an ugly/creative Holiday Sweater competition. Bust out your coziest nerdery for whatever you celebrate this time of year!