His work includes: Presenting on Radio, Presenting on Podcasts, a Conference/Event Speaker and co-ordinator, a Website and UX Designer, a Music Producer/Remixer and Sam’s been given the nick-name of “Digital Noisemaker” by the founder of Wikipedia (Jimmy Wales), because Sam’s known for making a lot of noise on the web.

If it involves people, places/events and an exciting way of engagement, creativity and interacting, then… Sam’s on it!

In Bristol, he runs ‘Dsoundz Media” – a small and friendly Digital Agency specialising in the broadcast, music, education, charity and social media sectors. Sam Downie helps clients improve their effectiveness and efficiency of their communication and engagement with their “key audiences”.

For further information on Dsoundz Media, visit:  www.dsoundz.co.uk

Find Sam Downie on these Social Media platforms… such as:

• Follow Sam on TWITTER
• Follow Sam on FACEBOOK
• Watch Sam on YOUTUBE
• Watch Sam on VIMEO
• Watch Sam webcasting LIVE on BAMBUSER
• Add Sam on LINKEDIN

SAM DOWNIE – PRESENTER ON RADIO, TV & WEBCASTS

As a Presenter, Sam’s worked for/alongside various Big name clients, who include:

BBC Radio, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC 6Music, BBC NEWS (TV), BBC Drama (TV)

VARIOUS CLIENTS SAM’S WORKED WITH

Starbucks (UK), The Watershed, Bristol City Council, Revision 3 TV, TWiT.TV , Macworld Conference & Expo (ID Publishing)…

CHARITY’S SAM HAS WORKED WITH INCLUDE

Wikipedia Foundation, Wikimedia UK, Radio Salaam Shalom, MIND, Epilepsy Action and Salaam Shalom Media (Bristol).

MORE INFORMATION

• I’m passionate about - Technology & Gadgets, Music Technology, Web Innovation, Social Media platforms, being a Presenter on Radio & Webcasts, Speaking at Expos and Conferences around the world – and supporting and encouraging Charity’s to engage with the Web and Social Media, helping them to connect and make a difference.
• My TEDx story - Since 2008 I’ve been following TED by watching the vast TED TALKS conferences online. In April I received a phonecall from Karl who was going to be organising a TEDx event in Bristol, as he had heard about my knowledge behind Social Media platforms, Events and Web 2.0 – so he invited me to a meeting. The rest they say, is….
• Talk to me about - Social Media engagement, Presenting on Radio, Contributing to & setting up and running live Webcasts, TEDxBristol, Dsoundz Media, Festivals, Celebrity, events, Mac’s and Apples…
• Who & what inspires you & why? – plenty of people help to inspire me, from family and friends to people such as: Jean Michael Jarre (musician), Grant and 3D from Massive Attack (band), Peter Gabriel (musician) and Real World, Anti-VJ (the best Video DJ’s in the world, who happen to be from Bristol), Biz Stone and Jack and the team at Twitter, Steve Jobs and many others, at Apple Computer Inc, Matt at WordPress, Steve Wozniack, Leo Laporte and team at TWiT TV, Kevin Rose at Revision3 / Milk Inc… and many others.  I get inspired most day’s, but these folk and company’s help me along the way…

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“Imogen is an eccentric, innovative musician who blends aspects of the world around her into a beautiful universe of song.” @Jack – Twitter Founder

ABOUT THE PERFORMER:

Imogen Heap, is a four-time Grammy nominated multi-instrumentalist who began writing music by her 13th birthday (and broke America by her 28th), Imogen Heap has been described as an innovative singer-songwriter with a quirky and inspirational character a tech savvy musician with an eccentric sense of style and uniquely graceful music.

Imogen, is a profoundly English artist whose songs transcend time and place to conjure captivating digital dreamscapes of love, loss and hopefulness. Her distinct, eclectronic-style – a brilliant kaleidoscopic symphony of voices, beats, sounds and emotions – mixing beautiful lyrics with breathtaking melodies, traditional instrumentation with computers, to create a sound that’s folk-hued and digital and sparks the imagination.

In 2010, Imogen Heap performed at the WOMAD Festival with guest beatboxing-musician Shlomo.

ABOUT TOM MITCHELL AND THE MUSICAL GLOVES:

Tom Mitchell is a Senior Lecturer in Music Systems at UWE Bristol who has previously worked as a software developer/engineer. He received a first class BSc(Hons) degree in Music Systems Engineering from the UWE Bristol in 2002, where he was later awarded a PhD and PGCertHE in 2008.

Tom’s research explores the intersection between Evolutionary Computation and audio synthesis, with the application of Evolutionary Algorithms to optimise parameters for unsupervised sound matching.

Alongside his research, Tom has worked as a freelance electronic musician/performer and has created bespoke compositions for art exhibitions, installations and fashion shows.

In the Music Performance above, Watch Imogen Heap as she demonstrates Tom Mitchell’s latest creation, a pair of musical gloves that allow wearers/musicians to manipulate music/samples using just hand gestures.

NEWS STORY FROM : BBC BRISTOL  ( link: CLICK HERE )

Less than a fortnight ago Imogen Heap was among the great and good of the music world in LA, picking up a Grammy for her latest album, Ellipse.

On Thursday, she was surrounded by music industry hopefuls at Bristol’s University of the West of England. Imogen was giving music technology students an insight into her unique style of musical engineering.

Ahead of the appearance, the performer revealed on Twitter that she was nervous about facing the students.

“Racing over to Bristol’s University of West England for my first Uni Q&A in a lecture hall! Yikes…. Looking forward to it though,” read her tweet.

BBC Bristol’s Andy Howard (Morning Glory) was there to interview her:

Andy said: “I wish I’d had that kind of lecture at University!. In my view, Imogen Heap is one of the most original and dynamic songwriters around. The way she uses instruments and electronic equipment is mind-blowing. She’s also a joy to talk to, and revealed some interesting things about herself – all on Morning Glory next week.”

Imogen won the Grammy for Best Engineered Album, Non Classical for Ellipse, which she produced and engineered herself. She came to UWE because she knows Tom Mitchell, senior lecturer on the university’s music technology course.

Tom recently worked with Imogen, helping her to prepare for her international tour following the release of Ellipse.

“We’re thrilled that Imogen stopped by at UWE,” said Tom. “Her inventiveness and technical prowess is renowned throughout the world, she is truly an inspiration. The students will benefit by gaining an insight into the techniques used by one of the most innovative musicians working today”.

Imogen Heap said she was delighted to spend some time with the students ahead of her gig at the Bristol Academy.

“Tom and I have collaborated on a several occasions in the past, it’s great to come to UWE and spend some time with the music technology students.” she said.

Imogen spent the morning with students answering questions about the composition, production and engineering of her work as well as other aspects of her career.

Mervyn and his research team are inventing new ways of ‘seeing’ and interacting with the nanoworld in natural and intuitive ways, opening up exploration in biology and medicine. Nanotechnology has huge potential for transformation in many aspects of our lives.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Mervyn Miles is distinguished for the development of a number of revolutionary new techniques of scanning-probe microscopy and demonstrating their potential for breaking into new areas of research in the study of biomolecular and polymer systems.

One of these permits, for the first time, the study of dynamic changes in many systems of critical interest achieved through imaging rates of more than 100 frames per second, fast enough to follow previously inaccessible biomolecular processes and to fabricate nanoscale structures.

A second is a unique form of force microscopy that senses the specimen surface through a few atomic layers of water molecules without mechanical contact, ideal for studying delicate biological structures at high resolution.

A third involves adjustment of the damping of an atomic force cantilever in a liquid environment so as to improve sensitivity, significantly enhancing the rate of imaging and reducing the damage caused to soft materials.

This year Mervyn Miles and colleagues took elements from their research into the novel scanning probe microscopy and probe dynamics to develop an idea for an affordable Atomic Force Microscope. Their business plan for the production, marketing and distribution of the new microscope won them £10,000 towards the establishment of their spin-out company, Spyglass Technology.

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO PODCAST :

Dr Marie-Annick Gournet, is the Director of Widening Participation, Principal Lecturer in Intercultural Communication and Area Studies at the University of the West of England in Bristol.

In this Audio Podcast recorded at TEDxBristol 2011, Listen to Dr Marie-Annick (UWE), on why TEDx is good for Bristol and hear about her Positive Action training Hub (PATH) which seeks provide a centralisation of information and support for BME communities in the South West order to reduce if not remove barriers to access to Higher Education institutions.

The initial phase of (PATH) will focus on the teaching profession, with the intention to widen participation in other professional areas such as legal professions and other areas where some groups are currently underrepresented.

Dr Marie-Annick Gournet’s main interest is in the notion of identity, its basis and its relationship to culture. She is particularly interested in exploring the ideas of positive diversity and the impact of cultural hegemony and homogeneity.

For further information, please visit the UWE website here: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/cahe/elc/aboutus/staff/drmarie-annickgournet.aspx

MORE ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Marie-Annick began to explore these issues mostly through the works of poets form the French and English speaking Caribbean islands, this remains her main research focus. Her recent work has focused on experience of BME school students in British schools and Higher Education Institution; in relation to the above.

OTHER ROLES:

I am involved in the university’s Widening Participation scheme as Coordinator of Schools Link Project. The main purpose of the project is train university students from BME backgrounds to work as positive role Model for BME students in secondary schools. Other stands to this project include: the Ethnic Minority Higher Education Awareness Programmes (EMHEAP) – focussing on mentoring support for transition from year 6 to year 7 and Ambassador Support for the year 10 and 11 on the Windsor Junior Fellowship.

• Chair of the Aimhigher West Special Advisory Group for Initiatives with BME Groups with the role of spearheading initiatives across the SW, aimed at raising achievement.

• Successfully secured a £50,000 bid for the running, across the Aimhigher West Partnership, of BME the Way Forward Project (2006-2008).

• Secured bid £29000 (approx.) for the running of two MFL revision days per year at UWE (2006-2009).

Rob Mitchell is the Co-founder of First Born Studios. He’s a well-known Creative Media Producer who works with audio visual and live media, in the Television, Community, Arts and Corporate Sectors.

First Born Studios works include:

• ‘Under the Bridge’ (HTV (ITV 1 West) / Firstborn)
• ‘A Night to Remember’ (BBC Bristol / Available Light)
• ‘Rush’ (Brief Encounters Film Festival / Southmead Youth Centre, Bristol)
• ‘Is Nature Kind?’ (Brief Encounters Film Festival)

MORE ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Rob Mitchell’s work with Black Pyramid Film & Video project includes ‘Origins’ and ‘Voices Over Bristol’; countless workshops and collaboration on the Film Festival. During 2001-2, Rob has deployed media skills as Development Worker for the Bristol Race Forum.

Rob say’s:

I co-founded Firstborn in 1999 with Shawn Naphtali Sobers, to make a programme about Bristol and the slave trade. For the last decade Firstborn have specialised in Media education. That involved using the power and creativity of media to tell community stories and those from under-represented parts of society. Also the practice itself of making media is immensely empowering, which I like.

Our aim is to maximise the potential of community media as a tool for learning and empowerment, without compromising on production values. We are also developing more high impact work as commercial products and edutainment.

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO PODCAST OF THIS TEDxBRISTOL PERFORMANCE :

Atto Mul is an untrained musician and artist. Beginning in rural Zimbabwe in 1999, he has worked as a stone carver living in South Wales, South America and other African countries. For company during this solitary work he wrote songs that after returning to Bristol in 2009, have found an audience.

ABOUT THE PERFORMER:

Of African and European origin, Atto bridges race and culture but a non-creative past and exclusion from both sides of his make up has formed an all-inclusive inspiration.

In 1999 I found myself on a beach in Mozambique. I say found but I was lost geographically, personally, I was alone and it was raining. As if to put a message in a bottle, I put pencil to paper and a song emerged, my first – ‘Ancestors’. As I wrote an unmistakable calm came over an inner war that had raged life long between my cultures, races and their callings. I kept writing songs simply for companionship that I played to my guitar style (that naively attempts to make up for having no other musicians!) but it took a passing to make me acknowledge I had no audience and would take these creations home unless I set them free.

Atto performs his music for a street audience and acoustic venues where he’s recognised for the unique percussive guitar style he’s developed, for the depth of his lyrics and the idealistic vision that runs irrepressibly through them.

Listen to more of the latest Music Demo’s from: ATTO MUL

The forgotten way by Atto Mul

All We Can Be by Atto Mul

Hope by Atto Mul

Wendy Stephenson is a renewable energy engineer with 15 years’ experience in the environment and climate change sector. She is CEO of The Converging World, a Bristol-based charity that aims to address issues arising from social inequality, creating mechanisms which link communities in the developed and developing world.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Wendy worked overseas for more than five years in the oil & gas industry before returning to the UK as head of Environmental Affairs for EEF based in Westminster. She is former Chair of the manufacturers’ climate change group and was on the executive board of the European Steel Federation. She has also worked with community groups and local authorities to support them in tackling climate change, is the author of the West Somerset Climate Change Strategy, and co-author of the carbon neutral strategy for Exmoor National Park.

ABOUT: THE CONVERGING WORLD

The Converging World ( www.theconvergingworld.org ) aims to tackle climate change and global inequality through renewable energy. The charity currently owns two large wind turbines in India and the profits from this investment are used to fund local social and sustainable development projects and to work with UK communities to help them install their own community-owned renewable energy.

Arthur Potts Dawson, 40, is a talented chef, restauranteur, cookery writer and social entrepreneur.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Arthur trained with the Roux brothers and has gone on to work alongside industry ‘greats’ including Rose Gray & Ruth Rodgers at The River Cafe, Rowley Leigh at Kensington Place, Hugh Fernley-Wittingstall and Pierre Khoffman.

He relaunched Cecconi’s restaurant and worked as executive head chef for Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Restaurant.

Jamie Oliver recently described Arthur as “the original green chef”.

Arthur created two restaurants described as ‘sustainably aware urban restaurants’, Acorn House and the Water House. Arthur’s latest restaurant project is an organic ‘pop-up’, Mrs Paisley’s Lashings, profits go to organic education projects in London schools.

Arthur’s latest and well-known business venture, The People’s Supermarket, opened in June 2010 and is a not-for-profit co-operative social enterprise.

The People’s Supermarket is a unique business model, with it’s member/owners working voluntarily. The aim is to keep costs low and good food cheap. The People’s Kitchen, within the supermarket, is also producing delicious food for sale in the supermarket.

David Glowacki is originally from Milwaukee, but presently based in the UK. He studies all kinds of things. In this talk recorded at TEDxBristol 2011, David demonstrates his DanceRoom Spectroscopy project.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

In the last four years, David Glowacki has published over 30 peer-review papers spanning a range of subjects, including scientific instrument development, optics, spectroscopy, computer programming, atmospheric chemistry, classical and quantum dynamics, biochemistry, religion and power, and cultural theory. Recently, Glowacki’s scientific work has been featured in high profile scientific journals such as Science and Nature Chemistry. In addition, he has given over 20 contributed and invited talks in both academic and non-academic settings over the last 3 years.

David Glowacki also has a number of creative pursuits, which are…:

(1) He recently finished a novel, The Fist of a Bum Called god, which has been described as “Vonnegut meets Borges meets Bukowski meets Foucault”.

(2) He is a part-time resident at the Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol, where he is working on an EPSRC grant called ‘Danceroom Spectroscopy”, which is an attempt to fuse his interests in scientific instrument development, quantum and classical dynamics, digital technology, computers, art, and cultural theory, motivated by his desire to convey to others the beauty and subtlety of the microscopic world.

In collaboration with modern dancers, a musician, and a graphic artist, this work made a fantastically successful debut at the Arnolfini, located in Bristol, which is the UK’s largest modern art museum outside of London.