IT In The D – Episode 66: Apprend, Detroit Fanfare, and The Elephant in the Room - a podcast by IT in the D

IT in the D, Episode 66.



This episode was pretty much exactly what it needed to be.



We were joined by two great guests talking about things they're doing around the area, ranging from an upcoming comic convention to zombie themed energy drinks and sodas to a new group getting off the ground helping people learn how to code and how to transition into a career in information technology...if that's what they really want to do.



And, of course, there was the elephant in the room...







Guests:



Dennis L Barger, Jr: Wonderworld Comics, Detroit Fanfare and Deadworld premium zombie beverages



Alan Languirand: Apprend



In our opening segment, we talked about our talk last week over at the Detroit Regional Chamber with Social Media Club Detroit about How Not To Suck at LinkedIn, as well as our upcoming event this Thursday over at Stray Cat Lounge.



As a reminder, details on all of our upcoming events can be found here on the site - http://www.itinthed.com/meet/, on our Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/ITinTheD, or in our Meetup group - http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/



Hope to see everyone on Thursday night!



And then...well, then we didn't really get into our usual discussion of news and items that had caught our eye over the previous week, mostly because the only thing that caught our eye was the stick that got poked into it.



So yes, we talked about the elephant in the room for the better part of the entire first segment.  No clue what we're talking about? No worries, just skip ahead to the second segment.  But if you do, yes, if you think you know what I meant, or what my intentions are, or how I think...particularly if you're basing that solely off of how someone else wrote...do yourself, and me, a favor and at least listen to the first segment.  I assure you it's worth the listen.



In our second segment, we dove in with Alan Languirand, who's launched something pretty cool downtown.  Leveraging his own background as a designer by training who became a developer by necessity, he has been a teacher for both Grand Circus and our friends at Girl Develop It, and now he's striking out on his own in forming Apprend.  Apprend is a group for people passionate about software and technology education. You should join Apprend if you want to learn about technology as a student, want to teach others about tech in a classroom / workshop environment, or are a tech professional that wants to connect with other in a more casual and social setting.  Great conversation with Alan, and we expect good things from Apprend moving forward.  Find out more about Apprend, and register for their first scheduled class, out at http://apprend.org/



For our third segment, we talked with Dennis L Barger Jr, a guy with about as many irons in as many fires as us...if not more.  He owns and runs Wonderworld Comics, a comics and collectibles store in Taylor.  He's organizing Detroit Fanfare, a comic con taking place in February of 2015 that you're going to want to be at.  He's involved with Deadworld premium zombie beverages, and was at the premiere event that I was at this past Friday.  It also turns out that Dennis and I have some shared history from more than a decade ago, and we didn't even remember each other from a hilariously off the wall night that we dove into a little bit.



Our final segment was the usual wrap up with our guests on points that we'd neglected to hit earlier, as well as just some closing thoughts.



Oh, and the premiere of something new we're playing with..."Real Detroit Heroes".  Enjoy.



We'll see you Thursday night, and listen live again next week for more fun.



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