FUZEnation came to the
City of Kitchener last week for their inaugural music and tech summit. It started out as the area’s best kept secret
and finished as the ultimate EDM party. We attended several of the scheduled events
and had a firsthand look at how tech, talk, tunes and turntables converged in
Kitchener.
FUZEnation Lit The Fuse With Their VIP Party – Night One
FUZEnation Lit The Fuse With Their VIP Party – Night One The first night of FUZEnation began with a kick off party at McCabe’s Cork Hall in downtown Kitchener. The toned down atmosphere quickly turned up once A-TRAK hit the stage.
This was big for Kitchener to get a DJ-ing champ as well-known as A-TRAK to play such an intimate show.
He even took the time to take photos with the guests at the event.
Time To Infuse The Tech At FUZEnation
Day 2
FUZEnation moved venues for the remainder of the
summit. The converted factory now known
as LOT41 hosted the rest of the festivities.
The afternoon brought TWITTER co-founder BIZ STONE to the stage. He had an inspiring talk about staying humble
and working to change things for the better.
He said he got his start doing book design, then moved onto web design
which brought him into the internet startup world. Profit, enjoy your work and
make an impact on the world is how Biz Stone describes success.
After the Q&A with Biz Stone was finished it was time to
refuel at the Food Truck area.
That evening STEVE
WOZNIAK, co-founder of APPLE came to speak about his experiences from
creating a house to house intercom with his friends during his childhood to the
formation of Apple and what he thinks about the products they create today. He
talked about the how false the films are when it comes to how Apple computers
came about. He mentioned that Steve Jobs
was more on the marketing side of things making tweaks to the products that
were created. Steve Wozniak said that
Apple’s goal is to always be innovative and let us in on a little known fact
that SIRI started out as a 3rd party app on iTunes that Apple later
included in their devices. He also left us with his formula for life. HAPPINESS = SMILES MINUS FROWNS PLUS FOOD FUN
AND FRIENDS. Also known as a master prankster I think he works that into the equation
as well.
Day 3
The last day for tech speakers at FUZEnation included REDDIT
co-founder ALEXIS OHANIAN. He spoke about the positive atmosphere on
Reddit and how each community works to assist one another. This was very astonishing, knowing how much
negativity is expressed on other social media sites. He also explained what an impact Canadians
have on the website and how there is a community for any topic you can think
of. Everything from Drag Queens to
Historians is the best way to describe the communities, otherwise known as
sub-reddits on the Reddit platform. He
also talked about how important it is to stay creative in the startup arena and
that community creators online and offline are important builders of cultureT
FUZEnation changed LOT41 Into An Electrical Fuse Box For The Finale
On the final night of FUZEnation had a mix of bands and DJs
in their line-up. The music pulsed
through the warehouse setting and the energy from both the performers and the
audience lit up the venue.
KANEHOLLER
While Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler is no stranger to performing
in Kitchener, this time his daughter was in the spotlight as KANEHOLLER started
the show.
THE HIM
The follow up performers were DJ-ing duo THE HIM which got
the fists pumping and the feet stomping inside LOT41
KEYS N KRATES
Keys N Krates really fit this idea of FUZEnation bring
together drum beats, keyboards and DJ mixing.
THE ADVENTURE CLUB
The Adventure Club, best known for their hit WONDER, brought
their brand of multi-tempo beats the stage and had the crowd on its feet for their
hour long set.
KYGO
Fresh off his 2016 Olympics Closing Ceremony performance,
headline KYGO had so much energy that the entire building and everyone in it
was energized throughout his set. It was
a great way to end the night and the FUZEnation Music and Tech Summit.
While this was the first event for FUZEnation in Kitchener we can see this event building year after year. This conference really surmised what it is to live in the area. To see music and tech collide in such a fantastic way shows just how great the culture is in the “tech hub of Canada”
