Geek Pride Festival
Encyclopedia
The Geek Pride Festival was the name of a number of events between 1998 and 2000, organized by Tim McEachern and devoted to computer geek
activities and interests. The name of the festival is most often associated with the large event held on March 31 and April 1, 2000 at the Park Plaza Castle in Boston
, USA.
Before that there were two events at the now closed Big House Brewery in Albany, New York
. WAMC, the local NPR affiliate, sponsored the events which were organized by Tim McEachern.
The 2000 event was a major production, organized with the help of Susan Kaup, Chris O'Brien and many volunteers.
The event began Friday night, with a swap meet / social event at the Modern Lounge in Boston's Landsdowne Street nightclub district. Drink tickets were offered at the door, and the DJ played computer-themed music (e.g., It's All About The Pentiums
).
On Saturday, the main event occurred at the Castle, where admission was free. The middle of the floor held the "Email Garden", comprising about a dozen tables with PC
s running Red Hat Linux
, in a wired LAN
network and providing email
, Web
, and general Internet
access. At the front of the hall was a stage, which hosted a number of invited guests, including Rob Malda
of Slashdot
, Eric S. Raymond
, the video game cover band Everyone. The stage was also host to the final round of a Quake III tournament, held in a back room, displayed on the stage's projection screen, as well as the final round of "Stump the Geek", a geek trivia
contest.
Aside from the main events, the main floor had computer workstations displaying live webcam
feeds of "satellite" Festivals in remote locations. A live Shoutcast
feed was also provided of the Boston event. A poll for "greatest geek hero" was also held; the official winner was Alan Turing
.
According to Science/AAAS magazine, 2,000 people attended, though the open-door free admission made an official count impossible.
McEachern planned another event to take place later the same year in San Francisco, but was never realized.
Geek
The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to...
activities and interests. The name of the festival is most often associated with the large event held on March 31 and April 1, 2000 at the Park Plaza Castle in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, USA.
Before that there were two events at the now closed Big House Brewery in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. WAMC, the local NPR affiliate, sponsored the events which were organized by Tim McEachern.
2000 event
The event began Friday night, with a swap meet / social event at the Modern Lounge in Boston's Landsdowne Street nightclub district. Drink tickets were offered at the door, and the DJ played computer-themed music (e.g., It's All About The Pentiums
It's All About the Pentiums
"It's All About the Pentiums" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of "It's All about the Benjamins " by Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs and focuses on the narrator's obsession with his computer's hardware.-Track listing:...
).
On Saturday, the main event occurred at the Castle, where admission was free. The middle of the floor held the "Email Garden", comprising about a dozen tables with PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s running Red Hat Linux
Red Hat Linux
Red Hat Linux, assembled by the company Red Hat, was a popular Linux based operating system until its discontinuation in 2004.Red Hat Linux 1.0 was released on November 3, 1994...
, in a wired LAN
Län
Län and lääni refer to the administrative divisions used in Sweden and previously in Finland. The provinces of Finland were abolished on January 1, 2010....
network and providing email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
, and general Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
access. At the front of the hall was a stage, which hosted a number of invited guests, including Rob Malda
Rob Malda
Rob Malda , also known as CmdrTaco, is founder and former editor-in-chief of the website Slashdot. He is a graduate of Hope College and Holland Christian High School....
of Slashdot
Slashdot
Slashdot is a technology-related news website owned by Geeknet, Inc. The site, which bills itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters", features user-submitted and ‑evaluated current affairs news stories about science- and technology-related topics. Each story has a comments section...
, Eric S. Raymond
Eric S. Raymond
Eric Steven Raymond , often referred to as ESR, is an American computer programmer, author and open source software advocate. After the 1997 publication of The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Raymond was for a number of years frequently quoted as an unofficial spokesman for the open source movement...
, the video game cover band Everyone. The stage was also host to the final round of a Quake III tournament, held in a back room, displayed on the stage's projection screen, as well as the final round of "Stump the Geek", a geek trivia
Trivia
The trivia are the three lower Artes Liberales, i.e. grammar, rhetoric and logic. These were the topics of basic education, foundational to the quadrivia of higher education, and hence the material of basic education, of interest only to undergraduates...
contest.
Aside from the main events, the main floor had computer workstations displaying live webcam
Webcam
A webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
feeds of "satellite" Festivals in remote locations. A live Shoutcast
SHOUTcast
SHOUTcast is cross-platform proprietary software for streaming media over the Internet. The software, developed by Nullsoft , allows digital audio content, primarily in MP3 or HE-AAC format, to be broadcast to and from media player software, enabling the creation of Internet radio "stations"...
feed was also provided of the Boston event. A poll for "greatest geek hero" was also held; the official winner was Alan Turing
Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS , was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine, which played a...
.
According to Science/AAAS magazine, 2,000 people attended, though the open-door free admission made an official count impossible.
Corporate sponsors
- VA Linux (now SourceForge, Inc.SourceForge, Inc.Geeknet, Inc. is a Mountain View, California company that owns several computer tech-related websites and the online retailer ThinkGeek. Formerly known as VA Research, VA Linux Systems, VA Software, and SourceForge, Inc., it was founded in 1993.-VA Research:VA Research was founded in November...
) - Andover.net ( now OSTG, part of SourceForge)
- SwitcHouse (now Nintari)
- Addison-WesleyAddison-WesleyAddison-Wesley was a book publisher in Boston, Massachusetts, best known for its textbooks and computer literature. As well as publishing books, Addison-Wesley also distributed its technical titles through the Safari Books Online e-reference service...
Speakers
- Alex PentlandAlex PentlandAlex Pentland is the Toshiba Professor at MIT, a serial , and is one of the most cited . Pentland obtained his Ph.D. from MIT in 1981, was Lecturer at Stanford University in both computer science and psychology, and joined the MIT faculty in 1986, where he became Academic Head of the Media...
- Rob MaldaRob MaldaRob Malda , also known as CmdrTaco, is founder and former editor-in-chief of the website Slashdot. He is a graduate of Hope College and Holland Christian High School....
- Keith Dawson, editor of Tasty Bits from the Technology FrontTasty Bits from the Technology FrontTasty Bits from the Technology Front, abbreviated TBTF, was an e-mail and web-based technology newsletter written by Keith Dawson between 1994 and 2000...
- Eric S. RaymondEric S. RaymondEric Steven Raymond , often referred to as ESR, is an American computer programmer, author and open source software advocate. After the 1997 publication of The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Raymond was for a number of years frequently quoted as an unofficial spokesman for the open source movement...
- The Cluetrain ManifestoThe Cluetrain ManifestoThe Cluetrain Manifesto is a set of 95 theses organized and put forward as a manifesto, or call to action, for all businesses operating within what is suggested to be a newly-connected marketplace....
authors Christopher LockeChristopher LockeChristopher Locke is a widely read blogger, author and the editor of the e-newsletter since 1995. Starting in 2005, he has been writing the blog....
& David WeinbergerDavid WeinbergerDavid Weinberger is an American technologist, professional speaker, and commentator, probably best known as co-author of the Cluetrain Manifesto David Weinberger (born 1950 in New York) is an American technologist, professional speaker, and commentator, probably best known as co-author of the... - Michele D. Metts aka [Micky Metts] of CommunityBridge.com
- Jeffrey ZeldmanJeffrey Zeldman- External links :* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , , and A List Apart Web Surveys* * , "Boagworld", 2010-03-31* "InformIT Network"* , Khoi Vinh's Subtraction, 2006-10-10* , "DMXzone.com"* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *...
- Dave GreenDave Green (journalist)Dave Green is a journalist, broadcaster and snack food expert. He was Production Editor on Amiga Power magazine and Reviews Editor for the brief UK edition of Wired magazine. Together with Danny O'Brien, he is jointly responsible for publishing the email newsletter Need To Know...
& Danny O'BrienDanny O'BrienDanny O'Brien is an English technology journalist and civil liberties activist. He wrote weekly columns for the Sunday Times and the Irish Times; and before that for The Guardian, and acted as a consultant in helping The Guardian formulate its online strategy. He worked for the UK edition of...
of UK based ntk.net
Musical acts
- Upbeat Depression
- Everyone
- DJ Toby
- Ojamoj
- SplashdownSplashdown (band)Splashdown, formed in Allston, Massachusetts, in 1996, was an American pop rock band. The group disbanded in 2001; their last show was at the release party for the debut CD of Freezepop on February 2 of that year. Splashdown gained a small but extremely loyal following in the Northeast United...
Other events
The 2000 event is widely referred to as the "first annual" event, although McEachern organized at least one previous event named Geek Pride Festival (and/or Geek Pride Day) at a bar in Albany, New York. Some sources refer to the Boston event as the third annual.McEachern planned another event to take place later the same year in San Francisco, but was never realized.