Geek love

State of the Art

by Jumana Farouky

Webster's defines a geek as "a person often of an intellectual bent who is disapproved of" -- a far cry from the term's origin in circus sideshows, where it described one who bit the heads off chickens. Tim McEachern, self-proclaimed "geek since birth" (he's convinced geekiness is genetic) and co-founder of the First Annual Geek Pride Festival taking place in Boston this weekend, has a more inclusive definition. "A geek is anybody who thinks they are one," he says over the phone from his home in Albany. "What makes me a geek is my incessant love of the technological way of life."

With the help of some dedicated fellow geeks -- and a dot-com sponsor in Andover.Net -- McEachern is calling upon all the proud denizens and netizens of Geekdom to descend upon the Hub for a weekend of unadulterated geeksploitation. The festival kicks off this Friday night with a catered Swap Party at the Modern on Lansdowne Street, where geeks can whet their appetites by trading books, music, games -- and html code. Which suggests yet another, sturdier, equation: code swapping constitutes advanced geekitude, fer sure.

Part two of the festival is Saturday's all-day geekathon at Park Plaza Castle, with live music from techie-friendly bands (local trip-hoppers Splashdown), and geeky games: a "Stump the Geek" trivia contest, a Quake III tournament, and a Matrix-inspired Nerf battle. Computer consoles will line the walls, enticing eager geeks to try out the newest games and programs. And then there's the inflatable Moon Walk that geeks young and old can bounce around in. "It's really an anti-trade show," says McEachern. "Instead of going in and looking at the latest and greatest in technology, people are encouraged to show up and have some fun. The idea is to celebrate the normal activities of a day in the life of a geek."

All play and no work makes Jack a dull geek, so hardcore, no-frills geeks will find cerebral solace in the festival's lecture series, which features über-geeks like Rob Malda, founder of the Slashdot News for Nerds site, and Alex Pentland, head of MIT's Media Lab. McEachern points out that the un-pocket-protected non-geek masses are also invited to the festivities. What's in it for them? "They have a chance to get a glimpse of the people who are controlling the world. Know your master."

The idea for the festival was hatched two years ago while McEachern was hosting a radio talk show called Geek Nation. One day a friend called in to ask, jokingly, when Geek Pride Day was. A few months later, McEachern had coerced a group of geeks out of the closet for a mini-celebration. "Basically, we got a couple of friends together and drank a few beers. This year I thought we could have more fun if we made Geek Pride Day bigger." Word travels fast in geek circles, and soon afterward he was inundated with e-mails from people offering to do everything from design posters to sponsor the event. "All the organization and most of the planning for this festival occurred on the Internet. That's the geek modus operandi."

The next Geek Pride Fest will be held in San Francisco this September. After that, nobody knows. McEachern is hoping the festival will grow big enough to go on a national and maybe worldwide tour. But first, the geeks must conquer Boston. "Think about it for a second. Historically, Boston is the birthplace of revolution. And right now, a geek revolution is taking place."

The Geek Pride Festival runs Saturday and Sunday at the Modern Lounge, 36 Lansdowne Street, and the Park Plaza Castle, 130 Columbus Avenue. For information, visit www.geekpride.org or call (877) 868-4201.