It’s been called the “poor man’s TED,” although it describes itself as “an
ad-hoc participant powered unconference.” It’s the BIL
conference — a series of fascinating talks about technology, society, and the future. The most recent BIL took place March 5-6 on the Queen Mary in
Long Beach, CA. A panel of four BIL insiders join us to discuss the
conference:
Simone Syed
Alexis Bright
Cody Marx Bailey
Reichart
Von Wolfsheild
Image by inACtion via Flickr
Simone Syed identifies as a Bio-technoprogressive, Builder of Better Futures, Sustainable Emerging Technolust, Occasional Poet, Full-time Ingenue, Gardener Extraordinaire, Expertly Weird, EcoGeek and co-founder of BIL. Simone is a recent transplant from Tucson, Arizona, where she honed her skills in management and social architecture while practicing as a counselor for people suffering from substance disorders, running three car care enterprises, directing special event, chairing various clubs and organisations on and off campus, and generally finding herself the eye of well directed storms. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona with degrees in Evolutionary Biology and Cognitive Psychology. She was president of the H+ chapter at Tucson, co-organizer of SustainaBIL, a former grease monkey, avid climber, burner, and skeptic.
Image by glennharper via Flickr
Alexis Bright recently accepted a part time position with Voxer.com as office manager, because who doesn’t want to work for an awesome startup? It also helps to support her learning addiction. She enjoys learning about the effects of trauma and how to treat it, willpower, self-compassion, and meditation. Her long-term goal is to become a licensed psychotherapist. Currently she has a part-time psychotherapy internship working with trauma survivors. Her hobbies include training for the Tough Mudder run, coordinating events for friends, and spending time with loved ones. She is also a co-founder of BIL, a
founding member of Hike the Geek and lover of bacon.
Image via Wikipedia
Cody Marx Bailey is an advocate and leader in open source, free culture and distributed organizations. His focus on pragmatic approaches to solutions has lead to the creation of The Creative Space, the first coworking office in Texas. He is also a cofounder of the BIL Conference, an egalitarian run unconference held in Long Beach, CA. More recently, he has honed his sense of management and development towards entrepreneurship and culture. His involvement with the revitalizationof Downtown Bryan, TX has been instrumental in the economic, cultural and professional development. He has over a decade and a half of web development and electronic collaboration experience. Cody Marx Bailey began his career working for VA Linux Systems while in High School in South Texas. In his spare time, he is an avid gardener, learner and music producer.
Baron Reichart Von Wolfsheild is Chief Software Architect, CTO, and Co-founder of Qtask, where he specializes in complex platform software architecture, including accelerated cross-platform development, lossless compression technology, encryption, gambling systems, and multi-point real-time communication systems. He has played a key role in the conception and creation of a wide array of entertainment titles including Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Die Hard, Walt Disney World Quest Magical Racing Tour, 102 Dalmatians, Matchbox Caterpillar Construction Zone, Caterpillar Gold Mining, Hot Wheels Crash, Shrek Fairy Tale Freak Down, and Shrek Swamp Kart Speedway among others. Plus he he designed and created the award winning Walt Disney Animation Studio, and the multi-million dollar original video game franchise Return Fire. In addition to lecturing at universities and speaking at industry conferences, Reichart has appeared in magazines such as Time, Life, and Business Week. He has made appearances on MTV, C-Net, and All Games Radio, and has been featured on ” Entertainment Tonight.” Von Wolfsheild is also a co-organizer BIL conference “The un-conference”, and a co-founder international www.HIKEtheGEEK.com.
