This is Orlando

Instead of me trying to introduce you to Edan let me pull straight from her website. Archer's swampy sensibilities come through loud and clear in the grooves of Journey Proud, her voice is sultry as sweet tea and crackles like the ever-present heat lightning of her Everglades upbringing. All moonshine and honey, she gets gritty with dulcimer magic and casts spells with intimate ballads and fingerpicking, alternate tunings, and rich effects. As she pulls from her varied...

To say there is a lot of passion in our community is an understatement. When it comes to igniting the flame of passion there is no one better to feature than Jesse James. As Editorial Director at Orlando’s Falcons Creative Group (see This Is Orlando Episode 16) he helps steer their creative vision. Known for there immersive interactive experiences (check out the link, you will be glad you did), this alone would content mere mortals. Not Jesse, you will find him involved in projects using all...

I recently had the pleasure of meeting an incredible and passionate voice in the Career Services field right here in Orlando a few weeks back. Justin Nguyen graduated from UCF in 2018 with a degree in finance. While working his way through school he quickly realized that an education was only a part of what he needed to succeed once in the real world. His instincts told him that his professional skills and network were just as important. He watch his fellow students struggle in the areas and...

It was so good to get to sit down (virtually) with Tom this week and catch up. In addition to being a great ambassador of sound he is also an incredible teacher. Although many of his stories come from the world of audio his lessons are transferable to all disciplines. His message mush like my own, Get Involved, be creative and never give up. It’s a total bummer that we are not able to sit down in person these days but thanks to the folks at Zoom we are able to record these episodes and...

Well, here we are. March 2020 and everyone is somewhat locked down and trying to make the best of things in dire circumstances. I miss getting to hang with Carlos and we wanted to keep the podcast alive so we decided to try our hand at remote podcasting through Zoom. Episode 36 is our conversation and it seemed to work out pretty well. In fact we have already recorded episode 37 with EA Director of Audio, Tom Todia. Will publish that one soon enough but for now here’s a little filler...

Game Developers and technophiles in general. Do you know about the Global Game Jam and it’s impact on the gaming community? Game Jams in general are ubiquitous and a great way to advance and sharpen your skills. They are also a great way to network and pad your portfolio. On episode 35 we sit down with long time pal Chad Hoover from the Orlando Game Space to talk about the recent GGJ and upcoming jams and opportunities here in Orlando for you to get involved with. We are fortunate to have...

Happy New Year. TIO took a small sabbatical to enjoy the holidays with family but we are back, loaded and locked for 2020. I have been sitting on this episode for longer that I hoped. There is nothing I enjoy more than going to see a band that delivers way beyond expectations. Not that I had preconceived ideas or expectations, I had only heard of the Conglomerate prior to attending their record release party at the Blue Bamboo. However, after two incredible sets of their blend of Jazz...

The best thing about hosting a podcast is that you get to meet some awesome people, case in point Kalley Dunn / Director of Development and Strategic Initiatives and Monica Sakurai / Director of Marketing and Development at AmFund. AmFund has been working with and supporting Non Profits locally and nationally for 20 years now. In fact watch for their 20th anniversary Ribbon Cutting to celebrate their new digs sometime after the new year. Here’s a bit more background - The American...

On the second edition of Hylant Presents Corner Office Rachel and I sit down and catch up with a guest many of you are already very familiar with. CEO and Founder of local Tech powerhouse Fattmerchant, Suneera Madhani.  Suneera and her crew continue to grow this local Orlando success story into one of the largest and most successful payment platforms nationally, now employing over 100 at her downtown offices. In this episode we hear about where Fattmerchant is today, the daily juggling of...

The Conglomerate at their Record Release party My quest for music in Central Florida has proven quite fruitful. Meet Chris Cortez, Musician and proprietor of Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts in Winter Park. An Orlando native, Chris founded Blue Bamboo 4 years ago and has created a room that is all about the music. A cozy and comfortable environment with incredible acoustics and a welcoming vibe that features a variety of homegrown and touring acts in Jazz, Classical and the occasional Pop,...

I am super excited to be able to start featuring some music on the podcast starting with my friends Paul Mauceri and Wheeler Newman from Orlando’s Cosmic Root Collective. From their website; The Cosmic Roots Collective are three dudes from Orlando, FL – Wheeler Newman, Ronnie Brannan, and Paul Mauceri – who play a unique blend of what they dub “Psychedelic Progressive Pop from Space.” They formed in 2013 and draw from a variety of influences, including the punk energy of...

I have been fortunate to know Angie for over 15 years now. We met during our time at Full Sail. A few years back she took her talents to Advent Health where she currently serves in Community Recruitment Services. What she learned in Career Services she now brings to our region’s largest healthcare provider. Her goal is to help and serve while building relationships throughout Central Florida between future healthcare providers and Advent. On a personal note you will never meet a nicer,...

One thing that Orlando has in abundance is passion. When I first met Banks a few months back I was quick to realize he had it in spades. Trying to pin down who he is or what he does is impossible. Actor, Children’s Performer, Clown, Film Maker. He is all of these things and more. In this interview we discuss all of these things but focus on his group Black Cow Jumps. I guess it could be best described as experimental or interactive theater. Actors portray themselves and include the audience...

I am thrilled to bring you the first episode in a new series of talks we call This Is Orlando - Corner Office. The series is sponsored by my friends at Hylant and will feature Hylants own Client Executive Rachel Dobbs as my co host. In addition to her work at Hylant Rachel has served our community well over the past 5 years including her stint as Chair for the Seminole County Tech. Association and her involvement in the chamber as well as a plethora of community meet ups. The goal for Corner...

If you are following the Tech scene here in Orlando you undoubtedly already know Marco. He has been covering Orlando’s tech scene for close to 5 years now and has seen a lot of changes. We sat down to discuss these changes and talked a lot about where we are heading. In addition to his work with the Sentinel I learned of Marco’s undying devotion to gaming. As a self proclaimed game nerd he is now fueling his passion by vlogging about the local scene on his YouTube channel The OVG and be...

I am excited to say that we have hit the 25th edition of our podcast and couldn’t be any more happy to finally get the chance to sit down with Bob Kennedy: Acting Associate Vice President of University Advancement and COO, Florida Polytechnic University Foundation. I have known Bob for a couple of years now. In addition to providing the voice for FPU he is extremely active in our tech community and serves on many boards including the Central Florida Tech Alliance. Those of you looking for...

Part two of our focus on the local music scene. Let me introduce you to Miguel Bustamante, audio engineer and owner of Lucesca Productions. The mission at Lucesca is to Support and guide independent and emerging artists and songwriters through the increasingly autonomous music industry landscape. Music production with a focus on storytelling, which converges with song placements and synchronization as a primary end goal. Miguel has a storied career and it’s only just beginning. He has...

That was then… The benefits of doing the podcast are many but getting to meet so many cool people is the tops. Michael Donaldson is no exception. Whether learning about the current music scene or trading war stories from back in my days in the biz I could have gone on for hours. We tried to narrow it down to an hour but that was still not enough. It looks like Michael has a lot more is store for us so watch for follow up episodes as we work towards helping to expose more of what seems to be...

That was then… The benefits of doing the podcast are many but getting to meet so many cool people is the tops. Michael Donaldson is no exception. Whether learning about the current music scene or trading war stories from back in my days in the biz I could have gone on for hours. We tried to narrow it down to an hour but that was still not enough. It looks like Michael has a lot more is store for us so watch for follow up episodes as we work towards helping to expose more of what seems to be...

Every third Thursday at the Orlando Game Space you will find my friend Jamal running around, shaking hands, sharing hugs and cultivating an incredible group of creatives at an event he calls Mood The Party. Mood The Party is a diverse gathering of Orlando creatives from the art, music , tech and film communities. The idea falls under the banner of Jamal’s organization The Mercury Collective. The Mercury Collective is a traveling art show that is a lot more than just an art show. On any given...