Warning: Use of undefined constant PP_SETTINGS_TYPE - assumed 'PP_SETTINGS_TYPE' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /home/customer/www/martinsekel.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/panopress/panopress.php on line 626
So when did Geek turn cool?
Click to scroll down to the 360° Panoramas if you only like cool pictures.
Was it when Steve Jobs or Bill Gates became squillionaires? Was it when the term Geek became the norm and replaced Nerd? Was it a lot later when your (not so) average university nerd started up a social network called Facebook and took over the world? Could it even have been way back in 1985 when Wyatt and his buddy Gary created a knockout named Lisa in Weird Science?
Or was it at the point where your average Joe or Joan realized they needed their own private geek or nerd on a regular basis just to get through a day checkered with technological wizardry, gizmos, gadgetry and confusing buttons. (Half of us don’t even remember which password we use for what online thingy.com)
What I discovered at the Google Campus Tel Aviv
– The coffee was free. Dinner was free.
– There were CEO’s of start-ups and larger companies, really smart people (not mutually exclusive), tech junkies, police officers, me, photographers, code and web developers, entrepreneurs, soldiers in uniform, and did I mention a lot of really smart people. – There was even an old Staffy poddling around between the crowd and a Poodle-Chocolate running in and out of the manager’s office.
– Some guests were lounging around on beanbags, some deep in their smartphones, others hugging warm hello and some just peering out the windows over the balmy (and from the height behind double glazing – what seemed quite eerily quiet and still) Mediterranean business and start-up hub that is Tel Aviv.
– This kind of event is a regular occurrence. The 26th floor of Campus Tel Aviv is a constant flurry of activity daily – lectures, events, conferences like this GDG Dev Fest, mentor programs, international meetings and a host of activities filling the spaces of this floor.
– Not one wall in the centre was without graffiti or scribble-art.
– This place was oh so very cool.
Panoramas of the GDG DevFest Israel 2013
At Campus Tel Aviv there is a constant and consistent flurry of activity – tech conferences, international meet-ups, mentoring programs, brainstorming sessions, app launches and a host of other interesting and what one would call geeky goings on.
In more ways than we know these are the people, the brains, the geeks, who are defining the way we interact with one another and with the businesses and services we use every day. They are shaping our future and laying the groundwork for the playgrounds our children will be working in. I’d say that’s pretty cool – if not really scary.
So, in summary…
– Did I understand even half of what these really clever people were talking about? Nah!
– Did I enjoy the company and atmosphere? Absolutely?
– Was it easy to park? In Tel Aviv?
– Will I go back? Oh Most definitely!
– Did I get some great shots and produce a couple of very cool panoramas? Yep!
– Am I a geek? Sure.
– Do I think Geek is cool? Too friggin’ right I do!