I attended the 2014 Geekies Awards on August 17, 2014. I had the privilege of sitting under the teleprompter, so had an awesome view once again.
I also found it extremely funny that the person we lined up behind was also at Table 15 with Seat 7. We had 8 and 9. The odds of that were astronomically.
Throw in the fact she was also a lawyer, meaning the first three people on the floor were attorneys, and we should head to Vegas.
The sophomore show was powered by a lot of creativity and innovation in the months and days leading up to the Geekie Awards. There were many big names, sponsors, and well-deserving nominees.
Geeks Innovate
Kristen Nedopak is the living definition of an early adopter who knows how to leverage technology. The encouragement of getting geeks to post videos on Weev, Tweeting out photos to #EmbraceGeekies2014, and am impressive Twitter campaign are a model of how to encourage audience interaction.
The Geekie Awards has an impressive Twitter presence, with 4,968 followers and over 16.6K Tweets. According to my social media comparison tool, their engagement ranking is 93% and Influence 85% in the last 30 days.
Gale Anne Hurd: Lifetime Achievement Award
Gale Anne Hurd was extremely deserving of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Her personal story is heroic and she gave an outstanding acceptance speech. Plus she read Marvel comics as a kid.
Ms. Hurd also took a photo of the audience with her watch. Hard not to love that.
Geek of the Year: LeVar Burton
I predict within 10 years, but not more than 20 years, LeVar Burton will be presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work in child literacy. The man is a true force for good in the world. Perhaps the only person to do more is Jim Henson and Burton has a good shot at exceeding Henson’s contribution to education.
Recognizing LeVar Burton as Geek of the Year for his amazing Reading Rainbow Kickerstarter project was one of the highlights of the night.
Let’s Talk About Comics
I went to the Geekie Awards rooting for Boston Metaphysically Society and Oh Hell. I met last year at Big Wow Comic Fest and was confident she would be nominated for a Geekie Award. She has an outstanding comic and is in a Kickstarter campaign to fund the next chapter of her book. BMS is a steampunk ghost-hunting story set in the 1890s, and you guessed it, Boston. Check it out.
I met George Wassil at Big Wow this year. His book is about a boarding school in Hell. It is an outstanding book and was very deserving to WIN the best comic book/graphic novel.
George is also one Hell of a nice guy.
Something My Grandmother Taught Me
There was one big thing that bothered me at the event: I saw more than one nominee leave after their categories were called. While there is always the chance someone had to leave for childcare, family emergency, illness, or a valid reason, I find it very rude to the other nominees to leave during the show. If you have have the honor of being nominated, give the other nominees the respect they deserve.
