There’s an impossible amount of thank yous owed. To all of our sponsors, especially to Jill and the rest of the The Academy of Natural Sciences gang, little would have been possible without your help and support. To Doogie Horner, our hysterical MC, you set the standard to which the rest of our fabulous presenters followed. You were all amazing.

I’m still trying down links to all the various major and minor media outlets who gave us coverage. I think I might have to give up. I know y’all were just doing your jobs, but we appreciate it so much, we truly do. (Who picked up a copy of the Philadelphia Daily News this weekend? We made the front cover!) Finally, to all of our 400 or so attendees, we were happy to have each and every single one of you there. We had a blast and we hope you did too. We’re expecting professional photos later in the week, as well as a Slideshare of the deck we used during the presentation.

In the meantime, please enjoy a Flickr gallery of my personal photos. 

Like Eric had said his is closing speech, we need you to help us improve next year’s awards. Be on the lookout for our plans with the 2012 awards and make sure to mark your calendars and pitch your ideas for categories and nominees. See below for a list of winners from our inaugural awards show.

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Young writer-creators Jeff and Mike have tons and tons of story written for their erstwhile superhero team, the Steel City Order. Problem is, they haven’t been able to get the right artist on board to make their vision a reality. The pair has taken to Kickstarter to get funding and make sure the project sees the light of day, and now you have a chance to help. Here’s what Jeff has to say about the story behind SCO:

Isaac Brock, James Royer, Conner Matthews, and Chelsea Kitt decide to use their powers to defend rather than destroy … but many citizens do not believe the group’s claim of superheroism. As such, much to the chagrin of the group, they are reduced to performing such menial tasks as opening jars, retrieving stuck cats, and finding lost dogs.

Before long, however, the group gains notoriety, and moves on to the infamous Steel City. They find themselves weaved into a web of good versus evil, bringing down malicious street gangs, closing a dimensional rift created by a crazed scientist bent on making himself like the heroes, and even violently battling across Steel City against another group of superheroes. But before all that, we choose to tell readers about the group’s humble beginnings. We want the readers to see the team grow in both power and character. We join them on their journey relatively close to the beginning, when they haven’t even yet discovered all that they are capable of.

SCO is stylized as a printed comic book, but distributed freely on the internet in webcomic form. We can promise you, without a doubt, that this comic is, and always will be, a special little production, that stands apart from your average superhero comic.

Extra feel-good bonus points: The guys are just 19 and 20, and have been working almost exclusively with fellow college students to illustrate the project. Helping them pay an artist is almost like helping a starving artist (or three) pay for college! Can’t you feel the good karma already?

The Project: Rebuild Steel City – “Steel City Order” Webcomic

Creators: Jeff Kapochus and Mike Micklo

The Sweet Spot: For only $30 you can get a t-shirt with a panel of your choice from the Steel City Order comic, and $400 will get you a personalized character cameo. Even better, the guys are open to suggestions and ideas, so feel free to send them your own idea for a reward along with your donation.

Funding Deadline: September 9th, 2011

More Info: Check out existing pages from previous artists and get a feel for the characters at the Steel City Order website. Of course, you can also get all the details on the Kickstarter project page.

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Every Monday Geekadelphia features a Kickstarter created by local Philadelphians. Check em out and support our local geek scene. If you have a project that you’d like featured on site, contact geekadelphia@gmail.com.

We figured we’d put together a most awesome list of all the spectacular presenters we’ll have for the evening of the Philly Geek Awards. Some names you’ll recognize, some of them you may not. They’re all great and we’re so darned proud to have them in front of our audience, all dolled up and dapper.
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Welcome to this week’s Geek of the Week, where we highlight the fun and creative people of our city. This week we share a few words with Jenn Hall, local artist. By day, she’s a pastry artist at Geekadelphia favorite, Whipped Bakeshop. Though, her work spans multiple mediums.

So, Jenn, we happened upon you on account of your awesome R2D2 helmet (which we’ll touch upon later) but what can you tell me about yourself in general?

I think I’m really just like any other nerd out there; holed up at home waiting patiently for the zombie apocalypse, day dreaming about how bad ass it’s going to look when I kill like 27 zombies in less than a minute. You know, pretty typical stuff.

Presently, I’m a 25 year-old artist who calls Philadelphia home. I majored in printmaking at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and then went on to study art and geology at the University of Pennsylvania. If there’s an educational path that primes one better for a nerd-tacular artistic career, I don’t know of it.

I work at Whipped as a pastry artist, which has been a great avenue for all my creative energy. I love coming to work and being pleasantly surprised with a chance to make such things as a Buzz Lightyear fondant cake topper, for example.

Tell me a little bit more about that sweet R2D2 helmet you’ve got. How did you make it? Did you start off with some sort of simple one and paint it?

Initially, it was the ugly duckling of helmets. It looked pretty jacked up before I did my fairy godmother thing to it. It was an odd, dark maroon color and it had been used as a rental helmet, so it had sustained damage over time. Long story short, I did a lot of spray painting and clear coating. (more…)

Love camping? Live in Philadelphia? Then you might want to check out this Kickstarter, launched by a group of Philadelphia-based camping lovers, notably product designers Ben Ashpole and Jay Olman.

Meet the Pocket Grill, the world’s most compact, full-size camping grill that can, as you can imagine, fit right in your pocket. And just like most cookware you’d take on a camping trip, this little guy is made out of stainless steel.

Their goal is a lofty one, set at $40,000. But with the sort of perks these guys are dishing out, I can definitely see them reaching it. Donate a mere $40, and you’ll get a grill in the mail when they go into production. Kick in an extra $10, and they’ll throw in a cookbook made just for the Pocket Grill.

So! Hit up the Kickstarter, check out their official website, and follow them on Twitter for updates regarding the product. Best of luck, guys!

The Pocket Grill
www.kck.st/qrLcLq
www.pocketgrill.com

Left: Rachel, Top Right: Charm Necklace, Bottom Right: Bubble Necklace

Today’s Geek of the Week features Rachel Goldfarb, local jewelry designer and friend of Geekadelphia. We’re taking a look into her life of modern day silversmithing.

So Rachel, how long have you been making jewelry? How did you get started?

If you asked my mom she would tell you I have been doing jewelry type things my whole life. I guess I didn’t properly start until about four years ago when I learned to silversmith. I started to make jewelry for friends and family and then I applied to a craft show to see if I could get into it. To my surprise I did and then my business started!

Where do you draw your inspiration?

For the most part when I am trying to come up with a new design I begin to play with things in my studio. I just start to tinker. I feel like by having fun with my materials I kind of rediscover them and it leads to interesting designs. (more…)

Founded in 1997, The Philadelphia Cartoonist Society has since become the home to some of the most talented artists in the City of Brotherly Love. Created by Jeffro Kilpatrick and Andrew Hart, it has allowed artists of all types to network, find freelance opportunities and learn from each other. Mr. Kilpatrick was nice enough to answer a few questions and become this week’s Geek of the Week.

How long have you been drawing?

I have been drawing since I was 4 years old. My first memory of drawing was sitting at the kitchen table with my Dad. He would scribble randomly all over a paper and tell me to look at it and turn it into something with the pencil. It was kind of like the game you play looking at clouds, and identifying them as recognizable shapes, but with a pencil and paper. (more…)

Those geeky chicks over at Web Start Women are having another one of their fancy Startlucks! Join in with other like-minded ladies On Sunday, July 24th, at 7pm.

They’ll be meeting up at Mario Lanza Park, located at 2nd and Queen Streets. They’ll be sitting at the picnic tables in the middle, possibly spilling out to the grass. There’s a lot of girl geeking that happens at these Startlucks – join them as they pow around with other ladies to “brainstorm, talk about current projects, and otherwise socialize in a nerdy kind of way.”

And of course, there are plenty of snacks to be had! According to the Meetup page for the event, “June had a strong showing of baklava, so lets see July top that.” Sounds like a challenge! If you’re a geeky girl looking to share ideas with your kind, be sure to join them – and if you have gal pals who would also be interested, feel free to invite them as well!

Web Start Women’s July Startluck
July 24th, 2011
www.webstartwomen.com

This week’s Geek of the Week is Joe Hallman, a local composer whose music inspires the imagination. Joseph has worked with some notable musicians such as, internationally acclaimed American cellist Alisa Weilerstein, poet Jessica Hornik, and Antwone Fisher. He has also composed for members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Cleveland Orchestra.

Geekadelphia got to ask Joseph some questions about his work and inspiration.

What started your love of music? What’s the first memory you have?

I didn’t come from a particularly musical household. My mom listened to the radio fairly often- Motown, Oldies, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Fleetwood Mac, etc. I think the most pivotal moment is that in which I bought an LP of Beethoven’s 6th Symphony at a flea market. I had heard the music on Fantasia (it’s the Bacchanal scene with the satyrs, etc.) and loved it. I listened to it all the time. It was probably my first favorite pieces of music- and still is, I suppose.

What was the most challenging thing about acquiring the musical education you use now to build your songs?

I was a pretty poor kid- so money for lessons as a kid was sometimes scary to think about. I remember my first audition for a scholarship at the age of 12 or so. I thought I had done so miserably and I would lose my scholarship to keep studying and I just bawled my little head off for a day. It turned out fine of course. Money was always tight as a kid and classical music was/is pretty much an elitist’s hobby. Not sure how I transferred that into my process now. I guess it taught me the tenacity and chutzpah to dream big and follow through on the things that were important to me. Everything can be achieved. (more…)

So let’s say you own a small company and you need to find someone to design your logo or help with social media. And you want the person to be located in Philly (and why wouldn’t you?). What would you do?

Well, Alex Hillman and Linus Graybill have the answer for you. The two have launched We Work in Philly, a guide to all the people, places, companies and groups who call the City of Brotherly Love home. The site is a directory of almost anything you can think of that is located in and around Philadelphia. But when I asked co-founder Alex Hillman about it, he sees We Work in Philly as much more than that.

“We’re also hoping to inspire some Philly pride by asking people to add themselves and their affiliations to a Philly-branded website. Too often, people hear the less desirable things about Philly (if I have one more person bring up our sports fans throwing snowballs at Santa I’ll scream), so this site should make it easier to find stuff in Philly that’s positive.”

What might surprise you is that We Work in Philly is a community-edited website. Think Wikipedia for Philadelphia. That means anyone can add and edit anything on the site.

According to Hillman “Every guide and group in Philadelphia (and most other cities) is about a certain interest, and is limited to the scope of interest and knowledge of the editor. But this site is about an identity, so it needs to include a broader set of interests and knowledge. At Indy Hall, we’ve learned that the best things that have happened aren’t the ones we planned for, but instead, the ones we let happen.”

We Work in Philly is about more than working and networking; it’s about being a Philadelphian and what that means. If that sounds cool to you (and if your reading this, it should) check it out and become part of the community.

We Work in Philly
www.weworkinphilly.com

Photo by Danya Henninger

Today’s Geek of the Week column features Collin Flatt, who a lot of you might know from his food writing here in Philadelphia. From Phoodie to the Feast, you’ve surely read his blogs about tasty noms. Read on to learn about how he got into food writing, his massive video game collection (MASSIVE), and his favorite haunts for food and drink.

Let’s start off with you telling me about yourself. People might know you best for your former involvement with Phoodie and presently with The Feast. How did you get into the food scene and blogging about it?

I am a food obsessed individual, like most young Philadelphians, but I just happened to get obsessed a little ahead of the curve. My mom was a bad cook (love you, moms), and because of this, I wasn’t exposed to great vittles when I was little and have no allegiance to her gravy or casseroles, like most food folks I know.

What this did, though, was provide my palate with an early education on odd flavor combinations, and food that was inexplicably out of balance. She made meatloaf that was covered in Rice Krispies, and her Chicken a la King is legendary for it’s bonding properties. Obviously it has scarred me for life. Because of those experiences, I searched out food from cultures all around the world, and made it my mission to be a better cook than she was.

I started writing about wine first, and it spread into food journaling, and then beer as well. Hobbies become your job if you decide to spend more time on them than what you’re paid to do.

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Friend of Geekadelphia Britt Miller has long been a staple of the Philadelphia art scene.

Her amazing work can be found around the city on almost any First Friday and now can be seen on her brand new website. There you can check out a full gallery of her remarkable works, read her blog and find out where her work is going to be exhibited next.

It should be your first stop to get the complete story on one of Philadelphia’s premier local artists.

Britt Miller
www.brittmillerart.com