Annual 09 - Tgf Abstract

PREAMBLE_Definition of Geek: An intellectually inclined person, especially one who is interested in scientific or technical subjects; as, a group of geeks wearing pocket protectors; -- originally a deprecatory and contemptuous term, but in the 1990's, with the increase in popularity of computers and the frequency of accumulation of great wealth by computer entrepreneurs, it has come to be used with noticeable frequency by technically competent people to refer to themselves, ironically and sometimes proudly. [Informal] A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance. Geeks usually have a strong case of neophilia. Most geeks are adept with computers and treat hacker as a term of respect, but not all are hackers themselves -- and some who are in fact hackers normally call themselves geeks anyway, because they (quite properly) regard `hacker' as a label that should be bestowed by others rather than self-assumed. The mail idea of The Geek Festival” (acronym TGF); is to create e convention were fans, professionals and curious people can approach a wide range of subcultures, ironically labeled as “Geek”. These subcultures, thanks to the development of Internet and to a cinematic rediscovery (just think about all awards collected by The Lord of the Rings movies), experienced an increasing social visibility and are no longer considered a cultural niche. Before these changes, every national reality developed in a different and unique manner, devoid of cultural cross-fertilization. So the purpose of this event is to create a place, physical for some days in a year and virtual for every day, a place for sharing opinions, commercial material, organization strategies, information on emerging artists and fulfill every cultural or commercial request in a clear and appropriate way. The Festival structure has been chosen to allow even people not familiar with elements of “geek” culture to approach all cultural domains in an easy and assisted way. It will be definitely a place to find cultural resources, opportunities to create project related to all treated cultural domains or just spend some time having fun. All this in a easy way, with a new generation point of view oriented to the creation of trans-national co-operations. The whole festival will be made up of two main areas, one for the exhibition and an one for all activities, and will take place in Pescara from 19th of December 2008 to 23th of December 2008 in the Ex-Aurum Building; open to the public from morning to evening. The exhibition area will provide spaces to publishing houses, exhibitors or independent authors, where they will show and sell their works and products, and of course maintain a direct contact with all visitors. This space is conceived to create a showcase that becomes virtual when the Festival is over, making all cultural works visible in a clear and interactive way. The area reserved for the activities will be set up and managed with the co-operation of local, national and international associations, which will provide know how and voluntary staff to perform the activities and attend the visitors. All thematic areas are here listed and explained in detail: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Game Area Visual Arts Area Literature Hi-tech & Science

5. Xsports 6. workshop GAMES AREA The game area is place devoted to playing and socialization, where everyone can meet and have fun. Activities include mainly Roleplay, Boardgames, and Miniature Gaming and area designed to have different involvement levels, directly related to the visitor interest level: game fanatics will have the possibility to challenge each others in many tournaments, while people willing to have fun with friends will simply sit down and enjoy one of the many games in the “free game room”.

VISUAL ARTS AREA The Visual Arts Area is entirely dedicated to form of art and creativity expression recently emerged. Activities performed in this area consist in a Graffiti & Contemporary art show and two competitions, YouTube Movie Contest and Flash Movie Contest, where participants use new technologies to express their creativity and diffuse their creations. The area will also comprehend many free screening of movies, and the main movie genres will be science fiction, horror and fantasy. These movie themes are having, thanks to successful film productions, a growing development. During every day of the Festival there will be continuous screenings, and proposed movies will be both classics and previews. There will also be an exhibition with a famous foreign comic writer, and for this event a special cooperation request has been submitted to Japan Foundation an official Japanese governmental body which promotes Japanese culture.

LITERATURE Writing is one of the first ways man used to express his creativity, giving form to his imagination. TGF, which has imagination as his main theme, reserved a special area for literature during the whole event, a place where local and international authors will show their new works. The most important genres of these discussions will be science fiction, horror and fantasy, for most of roleplay games and miniature games take inspiration from literary works

HI TECH & SCIENCE The sky and the stars always inspired human imagination, and all stargazing activities proposed in this area are intended to pay homage to all artists inspired by the stars, and to offer an informal release of scientific information. With the help of trained technicians, all visitors will have the opportunity to use telescopes, scientific equipment and special software to admire the most important constellations and learn more on the stars composing them. Another element of interest for humanity is the creation of an artificial human being; TGF will also propose an exhibition of ultimate robotics, and alternative uses for robots, such as Robocup: football games played by robots.

XSPORTS In an outdoor area outside the Festival there will be a special “xsports zone”, equipped with a ramp and obstacle course, dedicated to new generation sport disciplines like skateboard or acrobatic bike. Activities scheduled will include exhibition of professional athletes and contest reserved for non-professionals. Everyone will have the opportunity to bring his bicycle, and have it repaired and upgraded by a team of professionals.

WORKSHOPS There will be three important discussions: one workshop dedicated to evolution of experimental roleplay, and how to use it as a communication tool; a meeting with GOTO10, a collective of international artists and programmers, dedicated to Free Software and digital arts. GOTO10 aims to support and grow digital art projects and tools for artistic creation, located on the blurry line between software programming and art; and an open discussion on the future of miniature gaming.

A PLACE FOR THE “IMAGINARY” For four days more than 100 exhibitors from across all Europe, hundreds of visitors and fans looking for rare works not to be found in their home country and curious people willing to meet new sub cultures will all make a unique event. There will also be four live shows, organized to attract local citizens and entertain visitors. 1- Ancient music performance, taking inspiration from fantasy genres 2- A special performance dedicated to the wonderful mysteries of the universe, set up in co-operation with astrophysics scientists. 3- On Saturday 20th December is on schedule a special Burlesque girl show 4- On Sunday 21th December is on schedule a Cosplay event, a sub-culture consisting in dressing like characters seen in comics, movies and serial. European and International Value Transnational dimension is, for people working (or interested) in cultural domains where finding materials or skilled partners is particularly difficult, the only way to raise the quality level. There are no national realities able to create and complete this kind of project alone. All involved organizations are made up of young and highly motivate members, coming from the experience of “I…Ludiamoci”, a week long event based on comics, games, literature and new technologies. “I…Ludiamoci” was planned and organized for 10 years in Pescara.

People working on this project soon became aware of the limits of local programming, and decided to face EU activities for the first time. TGF is based on creative and voluntary work made from fans for other fans, for the purpose of bringing together similar cultural domains which never met before.