Renjie Butalid

Sigma Chi Wine & Cheese, January 2007: (L-R) Kiran Narayansingh, Matt Colphon, Michelle Zakrison, Levi McCulloch, Jeff Aho, Swiss Nanton Gill, Renjie Butalid

It is said that nothing brings family together more than weddings and funerals.

This could not be more true for the Theta Psi chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity at the University of Waterloo, who lost brother Jeffrey Aho last week. Outside of Sigma Chi, Aho truly had an impact on Greek university life, the Engineering Society, as well as student politics on the University of Waterloo campus as a whole. I was privileged to have known Aho, as a brother, friend and colleague, having worked with him when we were both on student government at UW several years ago, and more closely as a brother when he pledged and joined Sigma Chi close to three years ago. (I joined Sigma Chi in April 2005)

Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State, once said that “University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small”. This could not be more true of Aho, who truly embodied the principles and steadfastness of student politics, even right up to the very end when it was revealed that he was indeed behind the @fakefedspres twitter account.

Although there were times when we did not see eye to eye on issues related to governance policy and business operations of the Federation of Students, I have always had a deep respect for Aho and his well-thought out and reasoned arguments, and often sought out his advice on such matters. Rest in peace brother Jeff Aho, I truly hope that you have found the peace that you were always searching for. You will be missed.

Guard well and strong arms around you.

In hoc signo vinces,

Renjie Butalid

Memorial Service – February 8, 2010

Sigma Chi brothers at Theta Psi’s 20th Anniversary, March 2007

A memorial service for Jeff Aho has been organized by the Theta Psi Chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity at the University of Waterloo. It will be held on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 7pm on the UW campus.

Details below.

Posted via email from renjie’s posterous

Posted via email from renjie’s posterous

Pleasantly surprised to find my talk from the EpCon conference in Waterloo last week featured on TechVibes today.

From the article by Karim Kanji

When it comes to technology I’ve always been of the belief that if it can’t make life easier or simpler, then who cares.  So, when it comes to creating positive social change, I’m all ears.  Last Friday, Renjie Butalid, Communications Coordinator for Social Innovation Generation at the University of Waterloo, spoke at EPIC’s EpCon 2010 event in Waterloo, Ontario.

Renjie challenged the delegates to question how they could use their education to use technology to transform social dilemmas.  Renjie, himself, is passionate about using online communities, technology and social media to create positive social change.  Furthermore, he is convinced that young people have the power and opportunity, like never before, to affect positive change in the world.

During his presentation he cited four examples of companies and initiatives that have used technology to create meaningful societal change:

1. KIVA - A dream of lending to low-income entrepreneurs via the internet is now one of the largest and most successful micro-lending programs in the world with thousands of people now able to live in dignity.
2. Cell-Life – The vision of Cell-Life is to improve the lives of people affected by AIDS in South Africa through the use of mobile technology.
3. SIMpill - According to their website, the SIMpill Medication Adherence System monitors the patient’s medication schedule and intake of medication and reminds patients and carers as necessary by sending a text message to the patient and/or carers mobile phone if the patient does not take their medication as prescribed.
4. MoCa - MoCa connects health workers in developing nations to medical professionals around the world via mobile technology.

To date, more than $10 million has been raised via SMS for Haiti earthquake relief.  With two-thirds of Africa’s 4.5 billion people using some sort of mobile technology in the next 2 years, the opportunity for social change is not just a hope anymore: it’s real.

Nick, Mike and I also had a great time capturing video and doing interviews with all the delegates, organizers and speakers at #EpCon last weekend, as part of We Move Media.

We’re hoping to have the videos edited and released in the next week or so. Stay tuned for more details!

Congratulations to the EPIC team for doing an amazing job with running the conference!

Posted via web from renjie’s posterous

Full disclosure: I am one of the lead organizers behind TEDxWaterloo, taking place on February 25, 2010.

If you are a big fan of TED and find yourself watching TEDTalks videos on a seemingly regular basis, why not come out to TEDxWaterloo on February 25, 2010 to experience a TED-like event in the company of like-minded, passionate individuals who believe in ideas worth spreading.

Applications to attend TEDxWaterloo are now open and you can apply to attend here

If you are not located in the Waterloo Region or surrounding area, you can still follow the proceedings of the day’s events on Feb 25 by watching the live webcast on our website www.tedxwaterloo.com

The theme for TEDxWaterloo is Tomorrow Started Yesterday, and will feature an amazing line-up of speakers discussing a broad range of topics and ideas touching on this theme. The speaker line-up for TEDxWaterloo will be announced in the coming weeks, stay tuned!

Why do I have to apply to attend TEDxWaterloo?

I have seen a number of comments to this effect on twitter as well as on facebook, following the announcement yesterday on the TEDxWaterloo twitter account and facebook fanpage. For the sake of openness and transparency, I wanted to clarify a few of the key issues that have been brought to our attention.

To provide a bit of background to the event itself, TEDxWaterloo is organized as an independently organized TED event.

From www.ted.com/tedx

TEDx was created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading.” The program is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.

At TEDx events, unique talks given by live speakers combine with TEDTalks videos to spark deep conversation and connections. TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis.

There are some guidelines as well as recommendations that TED provides to organizers to help re-create a TED-like experience at TEDx events. For example, TED encourages prospective TEDx attendees to fill out applications forms in order to showcase their commitment to attending the event.

From my own perspective as one of the organizers of TEDxWaterloo and discussions with other TEDx organizers, this approach also allows organizers to deeply and more meaningfully understand what motivates the audience members. Of course, there are also some practical considerations to this approach, such as capacity limitations of the venue (to be announced soon for TEDxWaterloo!) as well as budget considerations.

Taking the cue from the upcoming TED 2010 conference happening February 9-13, 2010 in Long Beach, CA, it seems to me the purpose of curating both the speakers roster as well as the audience members comes down to ensuring a rich and stimulating exchange of ideas among a diverse group of peers.

There are major differences between actual TED conferences (TED 2010, TEDGlobal 2010, TEDActive) and local TEDx events held in cities around the world. I would like to note that it is free to attend TEDxWaterloo and the application process is open to all, everyone is invited and encouraged to submit an application to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!

N.B. If you’re interested in reading more about this discussion, I would encourage you to check out this page on TED’s website, that addresses a number of probing questions including, ‘Is TED elitist?‘