The Growing Influence of Geek Pop Culture and How to Profit from It

In the not so distance past, geeks were marginalised rejects of society for their interests in underground subcultures, aptitude in emerging technologies, or apparent social awkwardness. Now well into the 21st century, former subcultures like comic books and science fiction have since become mainstream pop culture whilst using the latest smart technologies at our literal fingertips is now seen to be cool. Geeks are no longer labels to be ashamed of and many are indeed pinnacles of modern society behind some of today's iconic brands. Many people now outwardly  profess themselves a Geek in celebration of their specialised interests or like-minded fandoms with fellow Geeks.

It's cool to be Geek!

Marvel's Avengers. Star Wars. Star Trek. Game of Thrones. Beginning as geeky subcultures, within a generation these franchises have since been elevated to mainstream pop culture with millions of fans worldwide. Therefore the industry of modern Geek Pop Culture is now worth billions and continues to grow.

Comic Fiesta, Malaysia's largest fan convention, is attended by upto 50,000 geeks & otakus annually.

In this conference, hear from the Geeks themselves what motivates their fandoms and what they want to spend their hard earned cash on. Then listen to industry panelists sharing ideas on how local businesses may leverage on their franchises to potentially profit from the fans of Geek Pop Culture. Corporate management & executives, SME owners, event organisers and entrepreneurs are invited to attend.

VENUE

Black Box theatre, MAPKL @ Publika Shopping Gallery

Level G2-01, Block A5, Solaris Dutamas,

No 1, Jalan Dutamas 1,

50480 Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA

DATE

Tuesday 14 November 2017

AGENDA

1.45pm Doors open to Black Box & Registration

2.15pm Welcome & opening remarks

2.30pm PANEL: What Geeks Want

3.30pm Coffee break

4.00pm PANEL: Leveraging from Geek Franchises

5.00pm Questions & Answers session

5.30pm End conference

7.30pm Geek Night Out Movie Screening: Man of Steel* (see below)

Outpost Commander Richard Chua (right) speaks to Jeff Sandhu of BFM Enterprise about Geek Pop Culture

Listen to podcast about Geek Pop Culture on BFM 89.9 Enterprise Tech Talk with Richard Chua of Outpost Productions.

This conference and movie screening are organised by Outpost Productions as part of Publika's Comic Play, a week-long carnival from 14-19 November 2017 of hobby-centric activities by local special-interest communities. This shared platform brings together artists, performers, art galleries, and NGOs to update on the latest trends, exchange ideas, connect with each other. Comic Play will be staged at four locations within Publika: Boulevard (red & blue zones), The Square, Black Box and White Box. Each location will have its own designated activities that include Art Exhibitions, Mini Collectors Library, Movie Screening, Panel Talks, Bazaar, Stage performances, Retro Gaming Experience, Artists Alley, Cosplay Costume Contest, and Tabletop Games. Get the updates on these activities direct from the official Comic Play Facebook Event.

What Geeks Want

Now that geeks no longer feel the need to figuratively "hide in the closet", many geeks are indeed proud to express their fandoms as well as share their enthusiasm with the public. Whilst geeky merchandise often satisfies the immediate want to own a piece of their fandom, geeking-out also involves sharing such passions with fellow fans at events such as conventions like Comic Fiesta, Comiket and San Diego Comic-Con. Hear from these representatives of local fan communities on what motivates their love of geek pop culture and how they seek to engage with their fandoms.

Panelists:

• Sanjiv Indran, Star Wars Malaysia Fan Club (SWMFC)

An avid traveler, naturalist and Star Wars Geek, Sanjiv Indran channels his passion for Science Fiction into engineering simple, sustainable solutions at Engineers without Borders Malaysia, to help empower Humanity one underprivileged community at a time. Sanjiv holds position of Honarary Secretary for Star Wars Malaysia Fan Club (SWMFC), a nonprofit organization registered with the Malaysian Registrar of Societies run by fans for fellow fans.

• Allen Yap, Pop Culture Fun - Malaysia

Growing up in the 80s, Allen Yap was drawn to geeky pop culture through video games and comic books, closely following Transformers, G.I.Joe, The Punisher, Ghost Rider and Captain America from Marvel Comics. These fueled his interest in toy collecting which remains till this day. He started cosplaying in 2006 and founded the Heroes (TV series) Fan Community Malaysia with support from Star World. This series together with launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe marked the rebirth of the Superhero narrative in mainstream entertainment media and reignited Allen's inner geek. He blogs & vlogs about toys, comic books, and video games on his Facebook channel Pop Culture Fun - Malaysia.

• Hew Shin Chien, Comic Fiesta

Comic Fiesta has been the heart of Malaysia's Animation, Comics and Games (ACG) community since 2002, most well-known for its trademark event every December in Klang Valley. Beyond being a convention for fans of the ACG culture, Comic Fiesta through its various activities spearheads the development of various creative-based areas, such as creative entrepreneurship, illustration, comic industry and cosplay in Malaysia. The most recent Comic Fiesta in 2016 gathered over 45,000+ youths and ACG enthusiasts together in one of the most happening festivals in Malaysia.


Panel moderator: Umapagan Ampikaipakan, BFM89.9

Listeners of BFM89.9 would be well acquianted with Umapagan Ampikaipakan. Uma (as he is fondly known) is a journalist and cultural commentator. From newsprint to the world wide web as well as radio & television, he contemplates everything from the idiosyncrasies of Malaysian politics to his unnatural obsession with the written word. His long running radio show, Bookmark on BFM89.9, is Malaysia's pre-eminent broadcast on all things book related. He is also a film critic with At the Movies and the co-host of BFM89.9's drive time radio show, The Evening Edition.

Leveraging from Geek Franchises

The boom in Geek Pop Culture over the last decade has offered numerous opportunities for corporates and entrepreneurs to cash-in on the billions of dollars spent by geeks on their fandoms. These include many local businesses that have leveraged off popular geek franchises like Transformers, Star Trek, Marvel's Avengers, etc. Representatives from the film entertainment industry will share ideas on creating new business opportunities associated to geek pop culture in Malaysia.

Panelists:

• Kara Lee, United International Pictures

For over 15 years, Kara Lee has been responsible for marketing film products from Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures. Mega-blockbusters under her helm include Malaysia's highest grossing titles from the Transformers and Fast & Furious franchises. She is directly involved in identifying, pitching and managing third-party brand and media partnerships, in addition to managing promotions and publicity for films released under both Studios.

Kara is Marketing Director at United International Pictures, Malaysia.

• James Andrew Chong, TGV Cinemas

James Andrew Chong has been a fanboy for all things pop-culture, cult, sci-fi & everything “nerdy” for as long as he can remember. Citing Star Trek & sci-fi as his source of inspiration, he is basically a fan of everything “imaginative” from growing up with music, movies, comics and classic 80's TV shows. He has been in the cinema industry for the past 13 years working with both GSC & TGV and still never gets bored of sitting in the cinema auditorium watching & re-watching movies again & again on the BIG screen.

James holds position of Manager - Content Strategy at TGV Cinemas.

• Kelvin Loke, ShiokToys Collectibles

A fanboy at heart, Kelvin Loke's indulges in his geek passion as an avid collector of premium pop culture collectibles. His hobby evolved into business when he took over the reins of Shioktoys Collectibles 7 years ago. Since then Shioktoys Collectibles has grown to be a leading distributior and retailer for premium pop culture memorabilia such as licensed statues and busts from renown brands like Sideshow Collectibles, Hot Toys, and XM Studio. Kelvin's business philosophy of "by collectors, for collectors" means clearly understanding what geeks want and how to cater to those needs in his niche market.

Panel moderator: Richard Chua, Outpost Productions

For the last 30 years, Richard Chua has been a sci-fi geek with interests in Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, etc. He also enjoys delving into superhero and fantasy genres from Marvel and Lord of the Rings respectively. His passion into geek pop culture is often reflected in his compulsion to collect memorabilia and interest in cosplay. Since 2015, he has been an avid explorer of major pop culture conventions like San Diego Comic-Con to meet his sci-fi idols. Richard's day-job involves geek consulting, entertainment marketing and event services.

REGISTRATION

Ticketed event by online registration only via our listing on Eventbrite:

Admission Fee, RM50 per pax

Who should attend?

Corporate management & executives, SME key decision-makers, event organisers & agencies, entrepreneurs, business media.
(Qualified Attendees)

OUTPOST GIVEAWAY

For Qualified Attendees, we giving out five (5) pairs of General Admission tickets worth RM100/- via our Facebook Page contest. Follow these few steps to participate:

1. Like this announcement post and our Facebook Page Outpost Productions.
2. Share this post and write " I want to make more $$$ from Geek Pop Culture. Join me to learn how! #GeekConferenceMY #OutpostGiveaway "
3. On the event listing choose either Going or Interested to stay informed on updates.
Contest closes Friday, 10 November 2017, 11.59pm. Winners will notified by our Facebook Page with further instructions for registration; credentials may be requested as qualified attendees.

Terms and Conditions for Registration:

1. Admission to event is subject to completed registration and payment as registered attendees. Walk-in admission is subject to availability of seating.
2. No refund will be given for no-show by registered attendees. However, registered attendees who are unable to attend may nominate a substitute by contacting organiser at crew@outpost.com.my before 12 November 2017.
3. The organiser will take every reasonable effort to deliver the event agenda. However to to circumstances that may be beyond reasonable control, the organiser reserves the right to revise event agenda and/or panelists without penalty or refund to registered attendees.
4. In the unlikely event of cancellation on the scheduled date by unforeseen circumstances, registered attendees will be first offerred the option to attend rescheduled event, or receive refund of admission fee.

* Note: Geek Night Out Movie Screening for Man of Steel is FREE for all convention attendees and public but a separately ticketed event. Register in advance via Eventbrite as seating priority will be given to registered attendees.

For inquiries, kindly email crew@outpost.com.my or send a direct message via our Facebook Page Outpost Productions.

ABOUT THE ORGANISER

Outpost Productions caters to a wide audience of Geek Pop Culture in Malaysia recognising that geeky fans are often passionate on not just one but multiple fandoms. In our ideal world, Star Wars fans and Trekkies peacefully co-exist. Same with comic book geeks who love both Marvel and DC. Our social media channels publish and share geeky content plus support local pop culture events with fan engagements and coverage.

For corporate clientele, Outpost Productions offers Geek Consulting supported by on-ground events implementation. For over a decade we have provided solutions for thematic marketing and promotions aimed at retail customers. Our clients include leading brands in film distribution, cinemas, toys and entertainment services. 

May The Force Be With You and Live Long & Prosper!