local artists - geekfest jeddah gamma

... took place yesterday. 

The idea was great! Like-minded, yet original types, that are passionate about various things, came together, could network and possibly collaborate on future projects. And, not feel so alone!

I was able to connect with quite a few crocheters. One wants to yarn-bomb. One has lots of ideas for the plastic crochet project. So many want to get involved! It's exciting! The organisers or "UNorganizers" where friendly and helpful and made us feel right at home. 

There were geektalks about Arabic sci-fi, gamer girls in Riyadh, community-building and design. The last one was presented by one of the TechnoCases, Graphyte, a local Graphic Design company. The geektalks were interesting but I found that last one, the most interactive, interesting, funny and one that I could relate to most. They even had a comic-making activity. I felt that one of the speakers really hit the nail on the head about creativity, when he mentioned that not being in the habit of creating, hinders creativity. But everyone can be creative! One of the designers also mentioned a couple of books that anyone interested in design should check out:

• Thinkertoys - by a regular contributor of this great site!
• Change By Design - by a great speaker on TED [More on this later in sha Allah!]

Another TechnoCase, Samsung had smart TVs around the venue (one of which was used for an Angry Birds competition!) and they have a Samsung TV app development contest on too! 

TechnoCase 3, Virgin provided GeekFest with some of their products and hosted another meet -up today (Friday 12th October).

All in all, it was a great event and I think there was something in it for all geek-types in Jeddah, venturing out to connect with others. Although there was artwork displayed, I unfortunately didn't notice it, as the venue itself houses so many vintage pieces on display. Speaking of which, I loved the feel of The Store. Although it's a clothes shop, I'd love to pay another visit, just to relax in the cafe! 

* Yes, I'm still blogging!