GEEKS ARE TAKING OVER NE1S SPACE 2... FOR NEWCASTLES FIRST GEEK FESTIVAL

Gamers, comic nerds, war hammer nuts and board game enthusiasts take note on Saturday 22 February from 1 5.30pm theres a FREE event dedicated to all your passions happening at NE1s Space 2... in Newcastle. For the first time, all these interests are being catered for under one roof in an event that will combine stalls, exhibitions, workshops, a gaming zone and a Q + A session with star guests Josh Heyde programmer for international software giants, Ubisoft and comic design genius, Nigel Auchterlounie, who is responsible for Dennis the Menace in the Beano as well as his own published work. The Geek Festival as the event has been dubbed aims to debunk the myth that these hobbies and interests are for nerds and to highlight the many and varied opportunities in these fields in Newcastle and the North East as well as celebrating with other like-minded enthusiasts. Ubisoft will have a big presence at the event, and will be bringing along a gaming pod, plus Josh Hyde will be on hand to deliver a talk outlining his journey into the industry.  Other contributors of international renown are Steve Jackson Games famous for board games since the 70s, Games Workshop, Forbidden Planet and Travelling Man all leading players in their respective fields.  The event is being co-hosted by regional event organisor, Steven Hesse and his brand Geek Apocalypse, which has a website and podcasts including interviews with guests including Red Dwarf's Robert Lewellyn and Chris Barrie, board game designers Matt Leacock and Andrew Hackard as well as promoting local North East talent. The Discovery School, which is being developed in conjunction with Newcastle College and is scheduled to open in September 2014, will bring brain games to test and develop mental agility exploring the link between what are known as the STEM subjects Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and routes into gaming and other related industries. Commenting on the event and what is planned for the future, organiser Michael Evans from Solar Learning said: This is the first in what we hope will be a series of events to explore the Geek phenomenon. The first step was to pull together representatives from the worlds of gaming, comic books and board games companies and to gauge levels of interest from young people in Newcastle.  The next steps will be to organise future events to explore the career paths and opportunities that can stem from these interests and to raise the profile of these legitimate and lucrative industries. Stephen Patterson, NE1s Director of Communications added: NE1s Space 2... provides an ideal venue to host events of this sort and Geek Fest will hopefully encourage a new raft of young people into the centre for this and future events and activities.  Newcastle is at the centre of major developments in the gaming and software industries and we are keen to help young people interested in these areas to identify routes into these careers and develop particular learning to support them into these industries. Further details of the event can be found at www.space2.org