Hawkeye Reporter

ciLive! 14 will be held March 9 at the DMACC West Campus

• ciLive! at DMACC is celebrating its 14th anniversary in 2023.
• This year’s event theme is “Be Your Own Superhero” and features a variety of inspiring speakers from diverse backgrounds.
• All ciLive! 14 speaker presentations will be free to attend in-person at the DMACC West Campus and are open to the public; free livestreaming of all speaker events will also be available via e360tv.

DMACC is pleased to announce an inspiring line-up of presenters for this year’s Celebrate! Innovation (ciLive!) at DMACC Speaker Series, which is marking its 14th anniversary this Spring. ciLive! 14 will be held March 9, 2023, in-person at the DMACC West Campus in West Des Moines, and thanks to the generous support of sponsors, all ciLive! 14 speaker presentations will be free and open to the public. Free livestreaming of all speaker presentations will also be available via e360tv.

Each year, ciLive! at DMACC gives students and the opportunity an opportunity to hear from and interact with a variety of accomplished people – some famous, all inspired – who have dreamed, created and achieved.

“We’re excited to continue ciLive! at DMACC with another fascinating and diverse group of speakers this Spring,” said ciLive! founder and DMACC West Campus Provost Dr. Anthony Paustian. “This series has grown tremendously over the past 14 years, and it continues to evolve and inspire.”

‘Be Your Own Superhero’

This theme of ciLive! 14 is “Be Your Own Superhero” and will feature the following speakers (click here to watch a special announcement video):

• John Ratzenberger, an actor and director who is best known for playing Cliff on the beloved TV sitcom “Cheers” throughout the show’s entire 11-year run. Ratzenberger has also voiced a variety of PIXAR characters; in fact, he is the only actor to voice a character in every PIXAR film released to-date (more: ratzenberger.com).
• Molly Bloom, the best-selling author of “Molly’s Game,” a memoir that chronicles her journey from a college student and Los Angeles waitress to founder and operator of the largest and most notorious private poker game in the world. An award-winning film adaptation of her book, starring actress Jessica Chastain and directed by Aaron Sorkin, was released in 2017 (more: twitter.com/immollybloom).
• Mitch Matthews, the host of the top-ranked “DREAM THINK DO” podcast. Matthews’ goal is to help people to push through their fear to DREAM bigger, THINK better and DO more of what they were put on the planet to do. A native of Newton, Iowa, he now resides in Des Moines (more: mitchmatthews.com).
• Alex Weber, an author, international keynote speaker on leadership and peak performance, and the only person to both host and compete on NBC’s Emmy-nominated series “American Ninja Warrior” (more: imalexweber.com).
• Dr. Shawna Pandya, a physician, aquanaut, scientist-astronaut, martial artist and advanced underwater diver. With backgrounds in neuroscience, space, entrepreneurship and medicine, Dr. Pandya has led a life devoted to technology, innovation, social development and adventure (more: twitter.com/shawnapandya).
• Kenny & Friends, Grammy Award-winning drummer Kenny Aronoff, who was named one of the “100 Greatest Drummers of All Time” by Rolling Stone magazine. Aronoff has recorded and toured with some of the biggest stars in every genre of music, including John Mellencamp, John Fogerty, Bob Seger, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Melissa Etheridge, Gregg Allman, Alanis Morissette, Goo Goo Dolls, Joe Cocker, Sting and many others. He will be joined at ciLive! 14 by bass guitarist James LoMenzo, who’s played with White Lion, Ozzy Osbourne, Slash, Ace Frehley, David Lee Roth, Megadeth and John Fogerty, and by guitarist Brent Woods, a student of the legendary Randy Rhoads who’s played with Vince Neil, Kristin Chenoweth, John Waite and Sebastian Bach (more: kennyaronoff.com).

ciLive! at DMACC has been hosted by the DMACC West Campus in West Des Moines since the event’s inception in 2010. The College’s West Campus began receiving national recognition for its modern approach to learning soon after campus construction was completed in 2001. Through partnerships with a variety of hardware and software developers, as well as providers of academic content, emerging technologies continue to be an integral part of the DMACC West Campus learning environment.

For more information about ciLive! 14, visit ci.live. A detailed event schedule will be released in early March.

Media contact: Dr. Anthony Paustian, (515) 554-8900, adpaustian@dmacc.edu

Original source can be found here.