The Coolest Philadelphia Geeks Recognized Friday Night At The Academy
By Mike Dougherty
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Local video game developers, computer programmers and film makers were among those recognized for their work Friday night during 2nd annual Philly Geek Awards at the Academy of Natural Sciences.
"We've got the perfect auditorium for it. And who doesn't want to have a drink under the T-Rex?" Jill Syvesma with the Academy said she immediately signed on to host the event when the founders of Geekadelphia proposed the idea. "We're already the home of geeks here in Philadelphia, so why not bring everybody in, in back-tie attire and have them party?"
There were hundreds of innovators there, including Ted Mann who created the mobile coupon app SnipSnap. He's nominated for best start up.
"You get these coupons in the mail, in the newspaper, you can basically add them all to your iPhone so you never forget them at home again."
Scott and Brian were not nominated for anything but they did bring along their invention, Photobot3000. It's a photobooth in a box that can be customized in a million ways.
"It is a photo-taking party machine. It's self-serve."
Tony Trov and John Zito's Alpha Girls, a sorority horror movie, was nominated for best Indie film of the year.
"It's a magical night of social outcasts and geeks and nerds, dweebs, and spazoids," Trov said. For Zito, it was "great to see everyone come together and celebrate."
Tickets for the event, over 400 of them, sold out in just a few minutes. Philadelphia's geeks are a tight-knit group, and they're thankful Geekadelphia co-founders Eric Smith and Tim Quirino put this together.
"It tells us that we should keep doing it," Smith said.
"It definitely confirms our suspicions that there are a lot of geeks in Philadelphia," Quirino added.
Geek Headline of the Year & Hacker of the Year
Headline Nominees:
Derrick Pitts
Patrick Kerkstra - WINNER
Faye Flam
Hacker of the Year Nominees:
Georgia Guthrie - WINNER
Stephanie Alarcorn
Scientist of the Year Nominees:
Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich
Dr. Youngmoo E. Kim - WINNER
R. Andrew Hicks, Ph.D
Viral Project of the Year Nominees:
Random Acts of Culture: Ikea from Opera Company of Philadelphia's Pop Up Opera - WINNER
Angry Birds Trailer: Nick Murphy
Firewall: Leah R. Kauffman
Social Media Campaign of the Year Nominees:
Under Armour's Finding Undeniable: Red Tettemer & Partners
NPR's Fresh Air: WHYY
Zoe Strauss Exhibit Foursquare Campaign: Philadelphia Museum of Art - WINNER
Web Development Team of the Year Nominees:
Jarvus Innovations
P'unk Ave
Blue Cadet Interactive - WINNER
Startup of the Year Nominees:
SnipSnap
Curalate - WINNER
ElectNext
Indie Game Developer of the Year Nominees:
Flyclops for Domino!
Cipher Prime for Splice
Final Form Games for Jamestown - WINNER
Visual Artist of the Year Nominees:
Mike Smith
Yis "NoseGo" Goodwin
Jessie "Ishknits" Hemmons - WINNER
Comic Book Artist of the Year & Comic Book Writer of the Year
Comic Book Writer Nominees:
Bryan J. Glass
Phil Kahn
Rob Kelly - WINNER
Comic Book Artist Nominees:
Brad Guigar - WINNER
Dan O'Connor
Nick Filardi
Feature Length Indie Film of the Year Nominees:
Maybe We Can Go To Hollywood: Directed by Isaac Williams
Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles: Directed by Jon Foy - WINNER
Alpha Girls: Directed by Tony Trov and Johnny Zito
Mancation: Directed by Frank Vain
Local Annual Event of the Year Nominees:
Women in Tech Summit: Philly Women in Tech - WINNER
Philadelphia Science Festival: The Franklin Institute
Philly Tech Week: Technically Philly
Barcamp Philly: Local Community Unconference
Wordcamp Philly: Local Wordpress Conference
Geek of the Year Nominees:
Tristin Hightower - WINNER
Gerri Trooskin
Roz Duffy
