Geeks’ Night Out in Tempe

It wasn’t hard to find Tempe’s contribution to the Arizona SciTech Festival. You just had to find your way to Tempe City Hall. The three Dr. Whos, the garrison of storm troopers, the pack of zombies, team of proton-packed ghostbusters and myriad of other costumed characters pointed the way for you.

Amidst all the chaos and fun were more than 60 booths by students, businesses and local groups. At the event, you could find nanotechnology by a collaboration between ASU, Rio Salado College, and the Boys and Girls Clubs. Chevron sponsored five Tempe school booths to showcase their experiments and learning. Mark Taylor brought glow in the dark furniture and awareness on healthy living. Go Daddy, NASA, Honeywell and so many others shared state of the art science and technology. We had an 8’ tall video game by University of Advancing Technology that used Tempe’s streets as a backdrop and a life-size replica of the Dr. Who Tardis – you know, that phone booth he uses to travel through space and time. It was built by a local fan.

We had robots everywhere, including one built by Corona del Sol High School students that shot basketballs in our City Council Chambers. The Tempe City Council proclaimed the third week of February to be Geek Week and the robot accepted the certificate.  

A ballyhoo like Geeks’ Night Out is our sneaky way of getting kids interested in (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) STEM education. They prepared their displays months in advance, learning along the way, and spent an evening telling people about their projects – and hanging out with Darth Vader.

We need the next generation to love science. We need them to know  that it’s fun. Our world has become so much more technologically advanced. We need people who not only have skills to keep advancing us – we need people who love doing it. If we can start now by showing that science and science fiction go hand in hand, that super heroes can be super scientists, we will get there faster. With more flair.

A more sedate portion of our event is the ASU Venture Catalyst Rapid Pitch. We bring together some of the state’s best technology and business experts to judge the concepts and actions of start-up companies. More than $14,000 in prizes were awarded from law firms, Microsoft and marketing companies.

Geek’s Night Out is also our way of thanking the 20 percent of Tempe’s workforce that is currently employed in a tech job. We celebrate their accomplishments and remind them that they are valued with this week. We see people leave their Mill Avenue offices, smile and walk across the street to enjoy the geeky array of fun. 

More than 3,000 people attended the four-hour event. Geeks’ Night Out will happen again next year – we’ve already had people asking if they can get more involved. Join us on the third Thursday of February. Bring your light saber.

Contact us for any questions you may have.

Vice Mayor Onnie Shekerjian – onnie_shekerjian@tempe.gov
Councilmember Robin Arredondo-Savage – robin_arredondo-savage@tempe.gov