The Geekscape PokémonGO Meetup! Getting Turned Up And TurnStyled!
It didn’t matter if you’re a card carrying member of Team Mystic, Team Instinct or Team Valor, this past Friday, all of the serious Pokémon trainers turned out for a few hours of Pokéhunting beneath New York City as part of the Geekscape sponsored TurnStyle PokémonGO Meetup! When I first started Geekscape way back when, it was never intended as just a podcast or just a website. The goal was to build a shared experience among all geeks, the formerly socially downtrodden who’s passions now rule every cineplex, TV screens and mobile phone.
Yes! We’ve taken over on a global level and never has that been more evident than with the widespread cultural phenomenon that is PokémonGO and at our TurnStyle PokémonGO Meetup! Players from all over the city (and beyond) congregated on Friday night to listen to our own SaintMort’s 8-Bit inspired DJing, shop at TurnStyle’s eclectic boutique shops and restaurants and catch as many Pokémon as they can. And it was a complete blast as we made friends from far and wide and handed out free toys and robotic gifts from our generous sponsor Wowwee!
The TurnStyle underground mall and its vendors was a perfect spot for our meetup. Situated just beneath Columbus Circle, with entrances from the street above and the NYC subway, it was easy to access. The shops came out in full force, embracing the evening’s theme with a mix of Pokémon themed items. Dog & Co., the local pet supply store, sold Pokéball shaped catnip while Georgia’s Bakery made Pokémon themed cookies and cupcakes. Beyond catching Pokémon and hanging out with fellow trainers, one of the greatest aspects of this event was meeting some of these vendors and seeing that we were driving smiles and customers to their doors. David, the owner of the Yong Kang Street Asian bowl restaurant thanked me by giving me one of his patented “Pokébowl” tuna dishes. I think he saw how much I was running around, dropping lures on the various Pokéstops and making sure that everyone was having a good time that I hadn’t taken a moment to actually eat anything! He then offered a giant discount to our street team members for helping make this what he called “the best night of business” he’d had since TurnStyle opened in April. Really, it was great hearing this from the various shops, getting people excited to be there and having a great time doing it. It made me happy to meet players who were stepping into TurnStyle for the first time, never having discovered it before.
Take a look at the gallery below and try telling me that this isn’t what Geekscape is all about: making friends, sharing experiences and putting smiles on people’s faces. Everyone had a great time, many Pokémon were caught and at the end of the day we all went home happy. Big thanks to longtime Geekscapists SaintMort, Frank Sanders, Big Yanks (and his daughter Bella who is almost as old as Geekscape) and Eric Francisco for coming out and helping with the event. You guys help build this thing every day and I love you for it. And of course, thanks to TurnStyle for hosting the event and giving us a place to hang out for a few hours and make some new friends and Wowwee for being such awesome sponsors with all of those toys! Together we delivered smiles upon smiles in the heart of New York City!
