Our Vision Going Forward

GeekOut South-West has been going for five and a half years; soak that in for a moment. We’ve been around long enough to see groups, events, website all come and go. We’ve been around long enough to reach a point where we’re established, some people call us reliable and we often get plenty of conversation around how much good we do for everyone. That, to me, is something I’m incredibly proud of. However, sometimes, you have to take a step back and really think about what your vision for something is. What has it been all this time? Has it changed? Today, I’m going to explore our vision for the rest of the year and beyond.

Happy New Year 2019 from GeekOut South-West

January 1st! Happy New Year everyone! It’s a new day, it’s a new beginning and y’know, I feel like this is going to be a fantastic year for us all. I think our group’s going to go from strength to strength and I think that we’re going to have a great year for the website. But that’s not all – I feel like this is just going to be an all round good year. So strap yourselves in, we’re going to go for a time-travelling journey for what we’re hoping to do in 2019 – And hopefully you’ll be joining us for the whole ride.

GeekOut Shrewsbury Meet: A Review From A Bristolian

I’ve always wondered what being on the other end of the coin is like; you know, actually sitting and enjoying a GeekOut Meetup, rather than running one. In the whole time that GeekOut Shrewsbury has been a thing, I’ve never been able to go up myself. It being on a Thursday means that I’d have to effectively take a day off and do over five hours of travel, or take two days off and do two lots of driving and have a place to stay. I also didn’t want it to be obvious, so managing to keep it secret for so long felt oh so good.

Apps: A Notification of Distraction?

Tech is amazing, no matter what a detractor might say to the contrary. Every day, I wake up and check my phone to see all of the updates that came overnight. 60 emails, 10 Twitter notifications, 2 text messages and 6 personal Facebook notifications, not including the GeekOut specific ones. But in a world that’s constantly connected, sometimes, it can feel like all of this tech has turned into one big distraction.

Shaping The Future of GeekOut Media

GeekOut Media is the name we’ve given the collective of GeekOut South-West, GeekOut West-Midlands and our web ventures. We’ve been wanting to bring everything together properly for some time, but it just hasn’t happened as of yet. A massive project to bring it all together is still underway, but until recently, we hit a stumbling point. Now that issue is in the past, it’s time for us to shape our future – and you can help us make it how you’d want it.

Happy New Year 2018 from GeekOut South-West

Today marks the 1st of January and as you’re reading this, I’m probably still tucked in bed. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to start the year off nice and early, I truly would, but ultimately I’d only end up going to bed earlier, right? So which is the bigger crime? That’s what I thought – Happy new year, everybody! It’s time to consider your resolutions, as always, but I’d say that it’s about time we stop relying on long-term resolutions and instead relying on smaller goals. Here’s what GeekOut South-West will be doing this year, over time – and we’ll see how far we get with these goals in 2018.

Merry Christmas 2017 from GeekOut South-West!

‘Tis the season to be jolly, but it’s also the season where you need to wrap up; so be sure to keep warm this Christmas Day. Of course, you’ll no doubt be unwrapping presents whilst you keep wrapped up, but as we uncover the mysteries of today’s article, we from GeekOut Media wanted to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!

GeekOut Shrewsbury Meet – June ’17

Behold the rising star of the Shrewsbury geek scene! And behold you, the beautiful people who make it a reality!

June marks the last of the four month trial period agreed with both the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse and Montgomery’s Tower but it is fairly safe to say that the end of the trial does not mean the end of GeekOut West Midlands. To mark the last of the introductory Meets I held the Big Geek Pub Quiz, an unapologetically brutal test of strange and esoteric geeky lore from literature, games, comics, television, films, anime and manga, and a miscellaneous section of the kind of weird things you get to know when you’re just this nerdy.

Without further ado, a gallery of this month’s highlights, but stay tuned to the end, there will be another quiz!

Coffeehouse Afternoon

At last I have beaten Murray at a game of Star Realms! Not that I’m dwelling on it at all.

I arrived overburdened with the usual variety of games made slightly damp by the inclement weather to find Murray reading his way through Scott Pilgrim.

Coffee, cake, dice and cards. It’s what you might define as business as normal but the looks on the faces of those who came and sat with us still looked a little confused. A quick round or two of Star Realms with Murray and we broke out the Magic decks moments before more faces started to appear. Fluxx and Great Scott before a round or two of Tsuro (#Tsuro), and finally a quick game of Bucket of Doom which shall not be spoken of here or ever again! Some things are better left unspoken.

Monty’s Tower – The Big Geek Pub Quiz

Returning to our corner in Monty’s Tower, and a hearty meal (and less than hearty pudding) to fuel the evening of gaming. We welcomed new members, dragged them into a few games – including more Tsuro, great game to introduce new people – and then at 8:00 we divided for the Big Geek Pub Quiz. Perhaps a slight rephrase as the quiz itself proved rather short, all over and done with in an hour once the tie had been broken; but by the standards set by my questions, one would have to have been a Big Geek to get even half of it right. Kudos to you all, there were only one or two questions that nobody answered correctly.

With a winning score of 9/24, The Humans drew level with Team: Team :) Fortress 2 forcing me into an unexpected tie-breaker situation! Congratulations to Ben, Matt, and Murray of Team: Fortress 2 for winning the disappointing prize which was made even more disappointing because I forgot to bring it. Enjoy your replacement non-disappointing vouchers.

July

As the trail period has come to a close there will be a few shifts in format as yet to be fully confirmed, but plans are afoot. Stay tuned to Facebook and MeetUp for more information on the next GeekOut Shrewsbury Meet on the 27th of July. Before you go, a couple of quick questions to you lovely geeky people:

 

If you have enjoyed it all so far, I look forward to seeing you soon. Remember that these Meets are made by geeks for geeks, and we want to know how to make it better for you. See you next month.

GeekOut South-West: What’s In Our Future?

We’ve certainly started to reach the end of life for our humble little website, but no matter what, we’re going to keep on growing and getting more and more people to join the cause. In case you’re wondering what happened to plans such as the new website, this article addresses those developments and hopefully provides answers for the future of our community. We’re going to keep on growing, is the jist of it, but if you’re a fan of what we do and were curious as to what we’re up to, let us tell you!

GeekOut South-West Meetup 15-08-14

This is a half-reblog and half-rewrite of a previous post, so I do apologise if you’ve seen some of this content before; however it’s worth noting that the next GeekOut South-West social group in The King William Ale House is this Friday!! Woot!

Come join in the fun and festivities!!

 

GeekOut South-West Meetup – 15/08/2014

Friday 15th August 2014
7pm start time
Upstairs @ The King William Ale House

 

We have a lot of events planned for this meetup, such as:

Geek quiz from 7:30pm-8:15pm (results no later 8:30pm)
The quiz covers all aspects of geekdom, if you manage to get 100%, I will personally crown you the king or queen of geeks.

Magic: the Gathering “Testing the Waters Tournament”I call this a “Testing the Waters Tournament” as we don’t know how good all of our decks are and what sets are being used. As such, anything goes. Let’s see how this pans out! ProTip: There are prizes for the winners of the M:tG tourney!

Cards Against Humanity (10pm+)
Yes, the horrible game for horrible people makes its return at the next GeekOut meetup.

Cosplaying?!
At the last GeekOut session, I accidentally promised I would be in costume for this one. We have potentially a few others who might come in costume too. So, um… If you’re joining us for this event, please come in costume too so I don’t feel too odd? It’s going to just be me, isn’t it?

We’re looking to make geekdom a very visual spectacle for all to enjoy. Those who aren’t into geek-culture should still be able to look and see what we’re up to: After all – How did you get into your geek cultures, unless something was shown to you?

 

As a general note, I’ve now got the quiz done!

I’ve actually been working on a CROWN for the King or Queen of geeks! I’m going to ease off the 100% thing a bit and just let 1st place get to wear the crown. With this being said: There is actually an extra prize for getting 100% associated with the crown, so good luck folks!

The Cards Against Humanity session might need to take place in a pub that stays open later. I’ll be keeping people informed on Twitter, Facebook, Anime League and Meetup.

Speaking of which, today might be the day for you all to jump onto all of our social media platforms and come join in the conversation!