TOPICS ON TAP FOR THE APRIL 2025 WEST LINN IGNITE TALK INCLUDED: 

1. Heather Lloyd: Search Engines Over the Years from Start to AI

Twenty-five years ago, searching the web meant scrolling through Yahoo! directory or checking out Ask Jeeves. Today, we can run deep research in minutes and see short search summaries in seconds. This fun chat explores how search engines evolved from simple directories to showcasing AI-powered overviews—and what that shift says about how we find, interact with, and trust information online. Forbes called Heather Lloyd-Martin "the pioneer of SEO copywriting. With over two decades of shaping how we craft content for the web, she's known for her fun, engaging teaching style and geeky knowledge of all things Google. Heather loves sharing actionable tips, insights on search evolution, and how to write content that positions, converts, and makes readers smile.

2. Brent Georgeson: The Gribble Cemetery: Pioneer Cemeteries

Why should you appreciate Pioneer Cemeteries? What stories do they tell you?  Brent Georgeson is a social studies teacher in Estacada. He has his Masters in Education from Portland State University. Brent grew up in historical Oregon City which sparked his interest in history.

3. Lucy Schreiber: Vexillology: The History of Flags

Learn about the complex history of every nation’s pride. How a piece of cloth can represent a community. Lucy Schreiber is a junior student at West Linn High School. She is interested in art, design, animation, space, and Japan.

4. Eileen Boerger: Filipino Heritage in Oregon

Did you know that the Philippines was a territory of the United States for almost half of the 20th century? Because of this, Filipinos started immigrating to the United States in the early 20th century, including my father. I will review the heritage of Filipinos in the Pacific Northwest and our integration into local communities.

Eileen Boerger is a retired technology executive with over 40 years experience with technology companies such as Unisys, Mentor Graphics and as former co-owner and CEO of CorSource Technology Group in Portland. Eileen has degrees from The University of Texas at Austin in Computer Science and Mathematics.

5. Joe Corella: History of Predictions

Who can predict the future?  No one!  But that doesn’t mean that some bold thinkers didn’t take their best stab at it.  We will examine some of the brighter predictions from previous centuries and see how they panned out. Joe Corella is a retired IT executive with 20+ years’ experience at companies which include IBM and Microsoft.  He has a degree in Electrical Engineering from UCLA where he focused on solid state and quantum electronics.