Volume 19
Friday, June 1st @ 7:30PM
Mark Medlin
Mark Medlin's been traveling since his parents took him on a plane trip when he was 6 months old from Raleigh to Louisville in 1957. His first camping trip at age 3 was to the Mills River State Park with his father. He and his daddy slept in his father's WWII issued "pup-tent." In 1961 when Mark was 5, his father took him on his first trip to the Biltmore House. In 1961, you drove to the front door of the house to park and went inside, there was a swimming pool where they have concerts now and the terrace outside the majestic library was covered in a beautiful canopy of wisteria where they sold Biltmore ice cream. A lot's changed since then. Through the years, Mark's been fortunate to have seen much of the United States, Canada and France, but you only have a "Now I've turned 60 years old" travel adventure once in life. Tonight Mark shares the story of his with us.
Deirdra McAfee
Deirdra McAfee is widely published award winning author who's work can be found in Shenandoah, The Georgia Review, Willow Springs, The Diagram, Confrontation, The Rio Grande Review, The Baltimore Review, and others. She is part of Fiction fellowships at MacDowell, VCCA, Ragdale, Ucross, The Hambidge Center, The Vermont Studio Center, and others. Her most recent work, Lock & Load: Armed Fiction, is an anthology that looks at the ways in which writers use firearms in fiction the place that guns have in American Culture.
Gregg Levoy
Gregg Levoy is the author of Callings: Finding and Following An Authentic Life (Random House) and Vital Signs: The Nature and Nurture of Passion (Penguin). He's also the former "behavioral specialist" at USA Today and a regular blogger for Psychology Today.
He's presented at the Smithsonian Institution, Environmental Protection Agency, Microsoft, National Conference on Positive Aging, American Counseling Association, National Career Development Association, and many others, and been a frequent guest of the media, including ABC-TV, CNN, NPR and PBS.
A former adjunct professor of journalism at the University of New Mexico, and former columnist and reporter for USA Today and the Cincinnati Enquirer, he's written for the New York Times Magazine, Washington Post, Omni, Psychology Today, Fast Company, and others.
His website is www.gregglevoy.com.
Darcy
Writer, teller, teacher, actor ~ It's all in the stories! From her pockets she pulls stories seasoned with humor and salted with tears. Plus a few mental caramels to chew on. Watching living history characters come to life was so compelling she created a one-woman show, performing in costume as LAURA INGALLS WILDER. Darcy is partial to orange cats, blue moons, and pink clouds. If she's not out to lunch, you might find her in a brown study.
You take the stage! We are taking 4 volunteers after intermission to do a "relay" on a continuous 20-slide presentation;you improvise a talk without knowing what is coming next.
The result? Hilarity! We’ll do a sample before intermission and invite two volunteers to try it out after intermission. Each volunteer will receive a free ticket to the next PechaKucha Night Asheville on September 14th, 2018!!!
Matthew Toney
Matthew Toney is a software development manager who works in Asheville and lives in Weaverville. He is a western North Carolina native with deep roots in the mountains. He has a keen interest in genealogy and local family history. He and his wife Alison have recently moved back to the Asheville area after many years in Charlotte, Greensboro, and St. Louis, MO.
Dr. Michael Trayford
Dr. Michael S. Trayford is a Board Certified Chiropractic Neurologist and the Founder and Director of Clinical Operations at APEX Brain Centers in Asheville, NC. His primary areas of focus in clinical practice and associated research are learning and behavioral disorders of adulthood (with a focus on addictive disorders), brain injury, and cognitive decline.
He is a published journal contributor, international lecturer, and proud recipient of the 2017/18 Functional Neurologist of the Year award from the International Association of Functional Neurology and Rehabilitation. He currently sits on the advisory board for the Dementia Society of America.
Dr. Trayford’s driving force for the past decade has been bringing together those in the mental health and neuroscience communities to more effectively address the growing challenges faced by those seeking lasting freedom from addiction. He teaches, mentors, and collaborates with many providers and programs across the country seeking neuroscience (neuroplasticity) based approaches to addiction recovery.
Aside from doing what he loves in clinical practice, he takes any opportunity he can to spend time with his wife (Denise), two beautiful daughters (Sara and Kelsey), and his dog (Titus). Hiking, biking, camping, and most anything outdoors are his passions; as well as service to both local and international communities through Rotary International.
Dawn Westmoreland
Dawn Westmoreland, Retired United States Air Force veteran, is an analytical problem solver, skilled in quickly diagnosing challenges and providing innovative solutions to workplace bullying and discrimination. As a highly skilled Human Resources Manager consultant with over 27 years of experience, she successfully provides a “How To” system to eradicate workplace bullying and discrimination. Dawn is a passionate speaker, author, and mentor who understands workplace bullying because she has experienced it herself. Today, Dawn provide HR consulting to Mental Health professionals, attorneys, and companies. You can learn more about solutions to bullying and discrimination on her Podcast at http://www.mentalhealthnewsradionetwork.com/our-shows/the-empowered-whistleblower/
Jonathan Gach
Jonathan Gach (pronounced Gahk) would take a phrase like "master jack of all trades" as a compliment and personal challenge. Nurtured by his experiences as the seventh generation of his family to grow up in Asheville, he is passionate about fostering the ability to adapt to life's universal constant: change. Having studied environmental policy, business and economics at UNC Asheville, Jonathan seeks to nurture closer connections to our community's life-giving resources.
Starting an early professional career while in high school, he worked at Biltmore to further estate sustainability. Since then, his professional interests have touched several aspects of sustainability, including clean transportation through supporting work for Asheville's first solar charging stations for electric vehicles. Desiring a balance between physical and mental work, work for renewable energy mechanical and efficiency contractors eventually helped inform his passion for home performance. Jonathan now brings his enthusiasm and experiences to Green Built Alliance with certifications from the Building Performance Institute and the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners.
Jonathan involved himself early in the endeavors of the Energy Innovation Task Force. Now, Jonathan brings his past experiences to benefit a more-resilient energy future for Asheville by managing a strategic equity-focused energy upgrade program for Buncombe County households, in hopes of reaching peak-energy reduction goals, as well as improving occupant health and structural durability.
A resource to the community, Jonathan invites you to reach out to him. When not at work, Jonathan can be found deep into home improvement projects of his 1890s home in Saluda, NC with his wife.
