The following is a post from Douglas Crets, Developer Evangelist, Strategic & Emerging Business Team, Microsoft.
More than 200 of San Francisco’s techies and startup founders put aside their work on mobile apps and the cloud last night and joined Microsoft, Bloomingdale’s and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship for an epic fashion party that raised thousands of dollars for a good cause. Below is a photo of Microsoft's Dr. Mark Drapeau, founder of Geek2Chic, speaking with Colleen Taylor, Silicon Valley reporter for TechCrunch TV.
A star-studded evening of catwalks, storm trooper masks and breakdancing started in the Bloomingdale’s on Market Street and continued on till the early hours at Bubble Lounge.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the #Geek2chic event tonight in San Francisco!
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) May 16, 2013
It was all for a good cause. And there was even a storm trooper. (That's Gary Wu of LucasFilm behind the mask.)
Microsoft’s Geek 2 Chic event is a charity fashion show series produced by Microsoft in collaboration with Bloomingdale’s that directly benefits NFTE and helps inspire at-risk high school-aged youth to stay in school, recognize business opportunities and launch startups.
One hundred percent of ticket sales and 10 percent of Bloomingdale's tracked sales the day of the event (save your receipts) go directly to NFTE.
Geek 2 Chic was really an excuse for startups to show off their fashion sense and their entrepreneurial prowess, as noted here:
My main man @bennettrich of @hingeapp rocking the catwalk tonight at #geek2chic raising $$$ for @nftetwitter.com/perrelli/statu…
— Jonathon Perrelli (@perrelli) October 25, 2012
Last night’s Silicon Valley event was the first time Microsoft had staged the event in San Francisco.
RT @briansolis: Photo: With @sarahaustin @themaria @heathermeeker before our catwalk #geek2chic (at Bloomingdale’s) tmblr.co/ZNsubyl4oOEi
— Microsoft BizSpark (@bizspark) May 16, 2013
The list of last night’s stars is long. The list included Brian Solis, author of “What’s the Future of Business”; Aaron Ginn, a Growth Hacker at StumbleUpon; Sara Austin, star of reality TV show “Silicon Valley: Startups,” and more.
The buzz was palpable. As the local stars strutted their Armani and other clothes donated by Bloomingdale’s, the capacity crowd sipped on their complimentary beverages and photographed the stars as they waltzed the catwalk, and tweeted the goings-on to the world.
The show also offered a chance to see some of the hidden talents of some of technology’s brighter workers, from a capella singing to the hint of a trapeze show. There was even breakdancing.
A series of tweets from last night:
#geek2chic about to start! Good luck @peterlamotte and @thorpus in ur pre walk clothes! Stay tuned for more pics! twitter.com/SusanStrayer/s…
— Susan LaMotte (@SusanLaMotte) November 9, 2011
me walking the catwalk at #geek2chic last night (lots of fun actually!) twitpic.com/7c9ys6 h/t @merici
— Dominic Campbell (@dominiccampbell) November 9, 2011
RT @sharonkoshy: Fashion + tech + an awesome cause cc @nfte Excited to be at #geek2chic! twitter.com/sharonkoshy/st…
— Microsoft BizSpark (@bizspark) May 16, 2013