Why Nerd Fest?
Nerd Fest is a celebration of the boundless world of curiosity. It’s where people come together to explore, create, and connect across an ever-expanding definition of "nerd"—from AI and the natural sciences to gaming, media, arts, and culture.
We are intentionally creating a diverse environment because we believe the most powerful innovation comes from uniting every passion, background, and perspective. Join us to celebrate your unique expertise and experience the collective force of an inclusive, boundary-pushing nerdom.
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🌟 Ignite Curiosity – Dive into STEM, gaming, and media through immersive, hands-on experiences.
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🧠 Unleash Creativity – From DIY builds to storycraft, our workshops and panels spark fresh ideas.
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🤝 Find Your People – Meet fellow enthusiasts, make connections, and share what you love.
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🌈 Come As You Are – Newbie or pro, everyone’s welcome. No judgment — just joy.
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🎉 Celebrate Nerd Culture – This isn’t just acceptance. It’s a full-on appreciation of what makes you unique.
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Find your Nerdom
Whether you code for fun, nerd out on building (and battling) robots, collect vintage vinyl, or just enjoy a good info dump, you’ll find your tribe at Nerd Fest.
Workshops
Learn from experts
Game Labs
Build, test and play
Info Dump Sessions
Listen to Supernerds get Supernerdy
Nerd-Centric Networking
Find your tribe
Nerd Stuff
Explore our exhibitor exhibition area
Hackathon
Build the future together
SuperNerds
Get ready to unlock new obsessions as our Supernerds share their passions and pull you into worlds you never knew existed.
It's going to get really nerdy, real quick.
Dr. Gigi Johnson
Futures designer, educator, and innovation strategist
Dr. Gigi Johnson designs futures programs that help creators and organizations navigate AI-driven change. Through Rethink Next, she builds experiences and labs that blend systems thinking, creative practice, and agentic AI. She ran the UCLA Center for Music Innovation and co-founded the global virtual conference series Amplify Music. Earlier, she produced media foresight programs while teaching MBAs and executives at UCLA Anderson, after financing media-sector M&A at Bank of America.
Celia “DaPoet” Douglas
Writer, Artist & Educator
Celia “DaPoet” Douglas (she/her/they/them) is a poetic word bender from Southern California. They have hosted open mics, poetry slams, and writing workshops for the past decade. They explores themes of expression, identity, and mental health in their storytelling. They share their art through poetry, spoken word, and film. Celia loves playing basketball, going to bookstores, and singing karaoke. Celia is a SUPER NERD for the best animated television series of all time Avatar The Last Airbender. Celia also identifies as an Earthbender from the Earth Kingdom.
Blake Baxter
Co-CEO & Co-Founder, Immersive Enterprise Laboratories (IEL)
Blake Baxter is the Co CEO and Co Founder of Immersive Enterprise Laboratories, a next generation studio advancing real time, non linear production to transform storytelling. He brings 20 years of experience across family offices, venture capital, private equity, and strategic advisory, supporting high growth companies and ultra high net worth families in scaling, innovation, and team development. At IEL, Blake applies that expertise to building original IP and transmedia entertainment ecosystems. He also serves on the Board of Counsellors for the Dean of Social Sciences at UC Irvine, helping connect industry and academic insight.
Pastiche Queen
Performance Artist, Playwright & Director
Pastiche Queen (they/them) is a non-binary latindigenous performance artist, playwright, and director based in Hollywood, CA. Their work uplifts marginalized voices through theater, spoken word, and slam poetry. Featured on AppleTV’s Dear: Viola Davis, Pastiche’s award-winning solo show Level One Gygax: The D&D Solo Show and multiple slam championships highlight their innovative storytelling and transformative performances.
Shakir Ramsey
Creative & Growth Strategist
Shakir Ramsey is a Los Angeles–based multi-hyphenate creative and strategist whose work bridges art, technology, and culture. Formerly leading digital growth at Google, adidas, and Lionsgate, he now explores how AI, music, and visual storytelling can inspire new ways of connecting while keeping the “human in the loop.”
Teresa K. Morrison
Adjunct Professor of Visual Arts, Photographer & Archivist
Morrison’s art practice is focused on camera-less processes, with a concerted interest in photo-historical, expired, and obsolete materials. She maintains a growing collection of antique photographic papers with expiration dates ranging from 1890 through the late midcentury. She regards time and patience as catalytic studio assistants, and paper variants as collaborators whose unpredictable idiosyncrasies help determine the soul of the work.
Brendan Finch
CEO & Founder
Former teacher turned edtech founder. Created RocketLit to level the playing field in science literacy. Solving real classroom problems one student at a time.
Brian Wallace aka "Dubrobot"
Audio Engineer, Music Educator & Creative Innovator
Versatile audio engineer, music educator, and creative innovator with 25+ years of experience
spanning studio production, live performance, and academic instruction.
Known for Saxophone
work with Sublime, SeeSpot, Mobtown, Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra, and Long Beach Dub Allstars. Skilled in developing award-winning music programs, leading university-level courses, and producing world-class recordings. Recognized for combining technical expertise
with artistic vision to build collaborative environments, pioneer new technologies, and deliver high-impact creative projects across music, film, and media industries.
Elizabeth Adams
Folklorist & Professor
Elizabeth Adams is a folklorist, administrator, and sometimes college professor at CSU, Bakersfield. She likes to think about weird things like Las Vegas, food, and the challenge of both liking and worrying about liking midcentury literature (and furniture). She started reading Agatha Christie at the encouragement of her grandmother, Helen Flanders Moseley. She’s not sure she could survive or solve a locked room murder mystery, but can talk about mysteries in a locked room.
Benjamin Harmon
Artist & Founder, Curio Club LA
Benjamin Harmon is a multidisciplinary artist working with sound experimentation, analog visual effects, collage, and photography. Originally from just outside Chicago, he has lived in Los Angeles for the past 16 years, drawn to the city's cultural diversity, and proximity to nature. His art reflects a personal interpretation of the world around him — shaped by experience rather than overt commentary.
Outside the studio (his living room floor), Ben runs Curio Club LA, an event and tour company dedicated to uncovering the strange and fascinating corners of Los Angeles. Its mission: to broaden perspectives, reveal hidden wonders, and promote equity in exploration.
Boian Mitov
Creator of Visuino
Boian Mitov is a software developer and the creator of Visuino - a Graphical Development environment for Arduino, ESP32, ESP8266, ARM, RISK V, Raspberry Pi and most popular controllers.
He has over 37 years of overall programming experience in large variety of software problems, including Video, Audio, Digital Signal Processing, Data Acquisition, Hardware Control, Industrial Automation, Communications, Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence, parallel and distributed computing, and IoT.
But wait, there's more...
Check our Schedule for the full lineup
Become a Collaborator
