IndyHall Member Profiles: Dr. Greg Wilder
Filed under: Community Support, coworkers, From the Business Side, Independents Hall
I’d like you to meet Dr. Greg Wilder.
Greg is a classical conservatory trained pianist and composer whose works have been performed on prestigious stages across the globe. He is known by many different titles including but not limited to musician, composer, professor, and more recently co-founder of Orpheus Media Research.
I, however, know him by a very different title:
Speed Chess Nemesis.
It is for precisely this reason I challenged him to conduct this interview over a match. The opening move was simple; I wanted to know how Greg came to be a part of the Hall.
“I met Alex through PSL (Philly Startup Leaders) and I was very curious about him and his ideas about Indy Hall. I put myself on the waiting list and as soon as they relocated I became a member.”
I couldn’t help but wonder how a classically trained pianist composer wound up sitting in front of a computer as opposed to, well, a piano.
“I haven’t been hands on with any music for a number of months now and it’s been very difficult. I made a conscious decision to focus on my business and it has completely changed my life. Instead of attending an orchestral rehearsal for example, I’ll go to a business meeting.”
I still wasn’t quite sure as to why exactly he was here, a deceptive tactic perhaps. It was time to make a developing move. I had to know what could be so important to someone that they would put aside everything their life had revolved around thus far in order to pursue it.
“I’ve spent my entire life listening to, performing, and studying music. I’m fascinated by the way in which the human mind interacts with music and what I’m doing here at Indy Hall is giving computers a human-like sensitivity to music from both the listening and compositional standpoints.”
Boosh. Check. A bold move indeed, but would it pay off?
“My first morning here I really didn’t know if this would work but by the end of the day my mind was blown. There are so many brilliant people here that you really can’t be the ‘smart kid in class.’ I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with quite a few of them and they’ve done a lot to help make my vision a reality. What we’re doing is as much about coworking as it is about music innovation.”
Checkmate. Well played, Dr. Wilder. Well played.
IndyHall-U pilots “Mac Programming Foundations” class with Philly Cocoaheads
Filed under: Education/Workshops, Events, Independents Hall, IndyHall U
Education is core to IndyHall. Specifically, peer education. We’ve said (and not just Geoff and I, but our members) that it’s hard to not learn something while working at IndyHall. The diversity of skillsets and experiences, along with a group over people who truly love their craft, makes for some really unique learning experiences.
Take that, mix in Geoff’s University professor background and our shared flare for seeing education reformed into a more hands on format, and something starts to bubble.
For a while now (at least since the first IgnitePhilly), we’ve been musing around the idea of having a more formal workshop series than the evening workshops we’ve held over the last 2 years. Something where the model for organic peer education we already know works, but we have a chance to really focus on it and figure out a way to institutionalize it without killing it with bureaucracy.
With the move to the new office space on 3rd street, we’re left with “IndyHall Classic” (the new pet name for our Strawberry street location) for the next 10 months as an experimental classroom workspace. We’ve got lots of ideas, and will share more as things evolve. Things are likely to start design and tech heavy, but that’s only because that’s who’s volunteered to work on developing classes. IndyHall U is NOT meant to be a tech shop, much like IndyHall isn’t. Diversity is welcome. Deviation from the norm is encouraged. Seriously.
In the mean time, we’re excited to announce the very first beta class from within the Tech Department of IndyHall U: Mac Programming Foundations.
Bring an Apple for the Teacher
As a natural evolution of the monthly Cocoaheads meetup that convenes at IndyHall once a month, Mac Programming Foundations grew out of a desire to develop a higher baseline of knowledge for Cocoaheads attendees. Cocoaheads organizer Andy Mroczkowski banded together with Jason Allum, David Martorana, Aaron Evans, and Michael Zornek to put together the two-session class, and urged us to let them hold it almost immediately after we’ve migrated our office to our new location.
The class will consist of two sessions on Saturday May 9th and May 16th. $100 gets you not just the two sessions, but a copy of “Learn Objective C on the Mac“, a companion book for the class.
$100 is a steal even without the curriculum and the book: to get to learn from 5 extremely bright Cocoa Developers for 8 total hours is well worth the c-note.
You can visit the Mac Programming Foundations page for more information.
Space is limited, so if you are interested in the class please register as soon as possible!
