Few people call me geek and a lot of others call me “Social Media Freak”, I prefer the second one but what is sure is that I am a techie person.

On July 5th, an event is taking place in Beirut (Lebanon) and I encourage you all to attend it: GeekFest Beirut 5.0 – Music and Fashion. “Geekfest 5.0 will bring out all that is geeky in fashion and blend it into the urban tunes of modern Lebanese Bands and Performers. Though geeks would not admit they are into fashion, we do know that there is a certain subcultural attire associated with them and we are about to expose it to the world!”

The event will take place on July 5th at 8:00 PM at The Alleyway, Gemmayze, Beirut and here is some interesting information along with the program of the event (All this kindly provided by the organizers 🙂 ).

What is GeekFest ?

GeekFest is intended to be an offline social for online people and should be interesting to anyone who’s involved in the online world and in using technology to create, educate, entertain, inform, drive change or just play around. It’s a purely social event  and is purposefully kept organic, free and easy.  Launched in Dubai in 2009, there have, to date (and to our surprise), been GeekFests in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Cairo, Alexandria, Damascus, Amman and other Middle Eastern countries. Each one has been different in style and content, reflecting the diversity of our region but also reflecting how the very loosely defined template of GeekFest allows people to do their own thing the way they want to. Each regional GeekFest has happened because someone liked the idea and wanted to give it a try in their community. Nobody owns it, nobody sets rules – the only guiding principals have been shared in iterations of this very Geekifesto.

About The Online Collaborative – Geekfest Unorganizers

Online Collaborative (www.onlinecollaborative.org) is an initiative that began at the American University of Beirut and now is actively expanding to different universities and schools in Lebanon. Online Collaborative seeks to group social media enthusiasts and experienced individuals in the digital media world to help promote proper digital citizenship through making the most of social media in the best ways possible. Spanning over 120 members, the OC has already organized many successful events and training in Lebanon such as the Social Media Changing Lives conference in AUB in 2011, Blogging Lebanon Conference in 2010. The OC also actively seeks to provide support to various local and regional events in providing online coverage and community crowdsourcing.

The Program 

7:30 PM | Registration
Early registration secures spots for special sponsor goodies and Geekfest branded swag. Come early before the good stuff runs out

8:00 PM | Let’s Talk the Talk

• Maya Metni | Le Geek, C’est Chic! How to dress like a Geek? A practical guide | Maya is a visual communication consultant. She gathers her musings & inspirations in her blog www.mayametni.com & @mayametni 

• Toni Yammine | Crowdsourcing Music Videos – Meen the Band | Toni is a Lebanese musician/director. He likes chocolate so much, and knows how to count very well in both Lebanese and English. He also has an RC plane and tweets on @toniyammine.

• Hind Hobeika | Smart/tech clothing and where that’s all heading? | Hind is an engineer, swimmer and a self-tracking geek at its most!

• Beshr Kayyali | Making Arabic Indie Music Popular Sawt.com | Beshr is a true Geek through and through. He has worked on many successful web projects for geeks apart from his day job as a developer.

• Bassam Jalgha | Live Demo How to Build an Audio Synthesizer in 10 minutes Using Open Source Information | Bassam is a maker by heart. Always high on solder fumes, he works with electronics, build robots. He is into the DIY cult and tries to annoyingly spread it among his entourage. Check him out on www.depotbassam.com.

• Loryne Atoui | Fashion for a cause | Loryne is a graphic designer impassioned by a crusade against breast cancer as well as travel and photography.

9:30 | On the Catwalk!

Everybody knows that Geek is the new sexy! And we’re here to prove it! Our red carpet fashion show will feature:

• REAL PEOPLE and GEEKS AS MODELS
• Fashion for fundraising – Bras for a Cause by One Wig Stand 
• Up & Coming Lebanese and Middle Eastern Geeky/Urban fashion Designers stages by Fishy Nation
• An Online Collaborative line designed by our own Joseph Maalouf
• Geeky Tshirts by Maya Zankoul
• Looks from top Lebanese Fashion Bloggers
• Geeky Tshirts by NOBRAND
• DJing the show is DJ Beats

This year Geekfest will blaze with music performances from up and coming Lebanese Brands hosted in the cool space of The Angry Monkey including:

• Alternative Rock Performance by Near Surface
• Special Vocal Performance by Hiba Kadri
• Acoustic Cover Performance by John Nurpetlian
• A Stand Up Comedy Performance by our own Malek Teffaha
• GIVEAWAYS DRAW FROM OUR SPONSORS
• House Music by DJ G.
• Real Party Time featuring a DJ set by Underrated
• AND OTHERS…

ONGOING – The Art Show 

The Union’s Space in Gemmayze will be turned into an art expo featuring an exhibition on how Music influences art by Sandra Issa.

ONGOING | Food & Drinks (Optional)

Entry to Geekfest and participation in all of its side events is FREE, however, you may choose to reserve a place for dinner or drinks & snacks at two of The Alleyway’s locations or have anything on their menus. These deals are made solely for GeekFest Beirut attendees. Reservations are processed below.

• Couqley Dinner Formula for LL 29,000 | [Starter + Main] or [Main + Dessert].

• The Angry Monkey Formula for LL 30,000 | Open 961 Beer with premium snacks on the table (nachos, wings, etc…). Entrance to the venue is 18+

Here are the official web platforms/accounts for GeekFest Beirut:

Web: http://www.onlinecollaborative.org/p/geekfest.html

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GeekFestBeirut

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Geekfestbeirut

The info available here was kindly provided by the organizers or made available on their website.