Geek vs Life

Who was the Keynote speaker at PAX 2006?

If you answered Alex St John, of Wild Tangent, and part of the creative team behind DirectX at Microsoft, you would be correct. You would also be in the minority to know that..

He spoke of developer parties and such, but ultimately didn’t connect with the audience. My friend has a sticker that says: “Corporate music sucks”, I agree. Why have a corporate person talk to an assembly of geeks and gamers? They needed someone more on their level, less “you”, more “we”. Someone more like them, they needed a gamer.

Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade fame made the right choice for their PAX 2007 keynote speaker: Wil Wheaton. Wheaton of TV’s Star Trek: TNG and movies like Stand By Me and Python fame is more than just an actor. He the author of Dancing Barefoot and Just A Geek, an online blogger called wilwheaton.net and a avid gamer.

PAX is poised to become the biggest gamer convention in North America with E3 becoming a corporate affair. It is an event for the fans, by the fans. People like Wheaton who delivered a keynote address that spoke to the audience.

(Ed. Note: The other four parts are in the comments section -J.)