Nerd Nite Charlotte returns to Divine Barrel Brewing Friday, August 21, at 7pm! Don’t forget to follow on Facebook and Instgram for updates. Full details will always be here on the Nerd Nite Charlotte website. Are you a past presenter? Want to be a future presenter? Don’t forget to connect with Michael on LinkedIn!
Ian Guthrie has over 20 years of experience across analytics, pricing, IT, and business strategy. He’s built a diverse career driving data-led transformation and operational success; with a leadership background includeing serving as a pricing leader for three companies and directing analysis and business intelligence initiatives for over a decade. As a Certified Fraud Examiner, he also applied forensic accounting expertise at a Washington, D.C., firm. Since 2013, Ian has advised roughly 20 clients as a management consultant while maintaining a strong technical foundation in IT—having developed around 30 custom business applications and led enterprise-scale implementations for platforms like SAP, Oracle, DB2, and Google BigQuery. He started developing trading systems around 2010 and developed over 100 different trading related algorithms. He started live trading various HFT systems in June 2025.
Ian was formerly very active in the Charlotte Standup comedy scene – but lately not so much. From 2005-2008 he helped start and run a mic off and on at a place called SK Net. This later became Crown Station and moved to NoDa. He still dabbles from time to time. He started working in cartoon animation in 2024, and has been making his own animated cartoons for a couple of years
“Adventures in High Frequency Trading”
Ian and his wife, Ashly, will present an overview of high-frequency trading (HFT), tracing its evolution by comparing past and present markets before diving into the mechanics of “seeking alpha” and avoiding “fool’s gold.” It highlights the technology required to build these systems as well as risk management, common technical bugs, and the psychological demands on traders. Finally, it wraps up by examining the current state of HFT and outlining potential future directions for the industry.
Zoe Van Kirk and Juliet McGee are licensed therapists at Grey Embraced Psychology, a Charlotte practice that believes healing doesn’t have to fit inside a box. Together, they specialize in trauma, anxiety, depression and personality disorders using evidence-based approaches that are anything but cookie-cutter.
Zoe is a Certified Therapeutic Game Master and Dungeon Master who loves making neuroscience tangible through tabletop role-playing games and other creative interventions. They have a special passion for supporting people in high-demand professions, including healthcare workers and first responders, and for making therapy more engaging and accessible to neurodivergent communities.
Juliet is the founder of Grey Embraced Psychology, a practice built on the idea that life rarely exists in black and white. She believes exceptional therapy can be both scientifically grounded and down-to-earth, creative and unconventional. Juliet works with couples and individuals, with a focus on supporting couples navigating fertility and individuals working through trauma, utilizing a diverse toolkit of evidence-based therapies, personalized to each client’s goals.
It’s Science, I Swear: The Evidence-Based Magic of Tabletop Gaming in Therapy
Could playing pretend in a table-top role playing game (TTRPG) actually help you navigate life in the real world? Emerging research says yes! TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons are making the leap from game night in a friends house to therapy in the office. In this 20 minute chat, we’ll break down some core concepts behind therapeutic gaming—how stepping into a character’s shoes gives us a safe space to process real emotions, build confidence, relate to others, and practice coping skills. Come discover how rolling dice helps us level up both at the table and in real life!
Julie McElmurry didn’t know how to make a documentary so when she won a $1000 grant to make one, she started Googling. When she needed in-person classes, she started the Charlotte Unconventional Film School, which filled 800 seats with adult learners in its third year. She loves demystifying things and believes that knowledge is meant to be shared. She thinks everybody should build onramps so other people can get into cool new worlds. She works for various film festivals, produces a live Story Teller’s Open Mic in Charlotte & Raleigh, is Program Manager for a documentary organization called The D-Word and helps filmmakers get unstuck. Her website is www.nonfictional.org and she wants you to know that you can make a documentary too.
Make that Documentary Yourself!
Do you know what the number one thing is you need to be able to make a documentary?
You actually already have it.
It’s access.
Who do you know? Nobody else is going to make a documentary about them. If they like you well enough and trust you, they’ll let you talk to them with that camera off to the side. Don’t put the camera between you and them and hide behind it. This is a real conversation. You can learn how to edit and if you have empathy and perception, the timing of that will become clear with experience.
Calling all Nerds! Anyone interested in speaking about anything from Astrophysics to Kaiju Zoology, check out our presentation guidelines HERE.
Name our Mascot! Click the banner above and submit your suggestion in the Contact form, the top 5 will go to a poll on our social media and the winner will be announced at an upcoming show!