Get to the Peak of Your Geek

At last week's Digital Hollywood, I spent a few moments speaking wih Don Rose, Editor in Chief of the LA Report on the subtle but important difference between the monikers "geek," "dork," "nerd" and "dweeb." Having probably been called each one of these at various points in my life, I concurred with Don that by far geeks are where it's at . And so I feel compelled to share one of LA's best kept tech secrets - the g33k d1nners.

Thank Heathervescent for bringing LA's true geeks together in a social setting and for two years straight. Heather brings together some of the most interesting, talented and fun geeks in town to eat, swap demos and sometimes even grab some swag. According to the organitrix herself, the g33k dinners are a monthly gathering of technologists. Heather originally conceived of the idea when attending the first Barcamp in LA in 06 and felt compelled to bring that spirit along throughout the year. With LA supporting some of the world's largest technology companies, including, of course, Santa Monica's very own Myspace, LA is quickly rising among the ranks of our fine nation's most wired cities. Now in its second year, Heathervescent's g33k d1nners don't require you to be a card-carrying coder, just that you possess an unwavering interest in technology and the people involved in creating, discussing and evangelizing it.

Interested geeks should absolutely check tonight's iteration at UWink Media Bistro, reknowned not only for its management pedigree (it's owned by Nolan Bushnell and operated and developed by his son Brent), but for its distinctly geek flavor, complete with participatory ordering via touch screens. Don't miss a new addition to the dinners, PPT Karaoke, guaranteed to delight any geek. A full schedule of upcoming g33k d1nners is available here. And as for Heathervescent, she's an ubersupergeek, having spent 8 years in the Bay area working for start-ups and leading the path for AJAX evangelism when it was still DHTML and even has some of her own technology patents. Now that's geek cred. There's even an easy to use Google group dedicated to the cause.

Photo of g33k d1nner by heathervescent via Flickr.