GeekWire Gala recap: A sweet night in Seattle as community comes together for annual holiday bash
That was sweet! The Seattle tech community came together in a big way Thursday night at the annual GeekWire Gala, as Showbox SoDo was the setting for a festive, candy-themed, holiday celebration.
More than 700 attendees packed the venue for a night of networking and partying, presented by Gala sponsor First Tech Federal Credit Union.
There was plenty of music — from the University of Washington’s Furmata A Cappella to DJ Mixtress to the Geekaroke karaoke in the Lollipop Lounge.
The food and drinks were great, with signature cocktails, a mashed potato bar, cold Thai noodle bar, sliders, cupcakes, and more. And there was lots and lots of candy.
Custom-printed macarons from Macadons were turned out all night with images of people, pets and more.
There was also a fun caricature artist, a festive fashion contest, LED games and a 360-degree photo booth that was spinning all night.
In a special program before the official party kicked off, we paid tribute to the region’s “Uncommon Thinkers” — Seattle-area inventors, scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs transforming industries and driving positive change in the world.
The honorees included: Protein design researcher Ingrid Swanson Pultz; fusion energy expert Uri Shumlak, Stoke Space CEO Andy Lapsa, TerraPower Isotopes’ Chris Dunckley; and AI researcher Hannaneh Hajishirzi.
A big thanks to Greater Seattle Partners for their support of this awards program, now in its second year.
In addition to First Tech, big thanks to gold sponsors Greater Seattle Partners and Network of Giving; silver sponsor Delta Air Lines; and supporting sponsors Showbox Presents, Washington State Department of Commerce, and ALLtech.
And thanks to everyone for making our party your party. Happy holidays!
Watch all the photo booth videos here, with password 895b36.
Keep scrolling for more photos from the 2024 GeekWire Gala: