The first Manoa Geeks of 2009 drew another capacity crowd of tech-minded folks. Our great hosts at Straub, Angela Keen and Mark Ching, set a new bar for geek eats with pupus from their in-house catering department. They also showed just how far they were willing to go for our event by drilling into their AV cabinet to get at their presentation equipment!

Burt Lum invited everyone to the second annual Unconferenz on February 7 at JAIMS in Hawaii Kai. Seth Ladd announced the “Aloha on Rails” conference coming in the fall. Russel Cheng showed off the fun new iFu Kung Fu iPhone app by Oceanit. And Kevin Lohman said he’s also got an iPhone app coming out, and said he’d like to meet with other iPhone developers.

Tech demos are a core part of Manoa Geeks, but despite the full-on assault on Straub’s facilities, we weren’t able to have any presentations.  I do want to thank those that stepped forward to demo, however, and hope you’ll take the time to check out their work:

• Joe Philipson was going to update everyone on Reel Geeks Ride, the cross-country bike ride he’s planning with Carlos Urreta. They’re looking for sponsors and sponsor suggestions, and couchsurfing-savvy hosts in cities and towns along the way.
• Truman Leung was eager to show off Ascribe, his web-based church database and website building Software.
• Daniel Leuck was going to give a preview of Ooi, an open-source portal and social networking platform for Flex applications to be released later this year.
• Tony Barnhill was planning to show off the work done for the Mountain Apple Company using Magento.

Hopefully, they’ll have a chance to show off their stuff at the next Manoa Geeks.

Without the demos, there was that much more time for networking and meeting new people… and really, that’s one of the best parts of Manoa Geeks.  It continues to surprise and inspire me to see how far we’ve come from a corner table at a small coffee shop in Manoa.  Once again, thanks to everyone for coming, and I hope to see everyone at the next Manoa Geeks!

Check out more Manoa Geeks photos at Flickr. Be sure to tag your Manoa Geeks photos with “manoageeks”!

For the first gathering of 2009, Manoa Geeks returns to its roots, stepping back from barstools and disco balls to again embrace friendly, thoughtful spaces provided by local companies hopping to foster and connect with the local Web 2.0 and tech community.

Date: Thursday, Jan. 22
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Straub Clinic & Hospital at 888 S. King St. [Map]

General Overview:

• Introductions: A quick zip around the room!
• Presentations: Got something you’d like to show people? Have something to demo or announce? Get in touch!
• Eat, Drink & Talk Story
• Guided Discussion: What’s going on in the web world?
• More Talk Story!

About Our Host:

A big mahalo to the folks at Straub Clinic & Hospital, which was founded in 1921 and has grown to be one of Hawaii’s largest health care providers. As part of Hawaii Pacific Health, Straub is part of a non-profit medical system that services Hawaii through a family of hospitals, clinics, outpatient centers and hundreds of physicians and clinicians throughout Hawaii. We especially want to thank Angela Keen and Mark Ching for bringing Manoa Geeks to Straub.

Learn more about Straub at StraubHealth.org and follow Angela Keen (@AngelaKeen) and Mark Ching (@MarkChing) on Twitter!

We have a place and time… now we only need you. Feel free to invite a friend — we looking forward to seeing you there! Please RSVP via Eventbrite:

http://manoageeks.eventbrite.com/

And you can tell the world you’re coming via the below services:

• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=46419571726&ref=mf
• Upcoming: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1454603/
• TechHui: http://www.techhui.com/events/manoa-geeks-january-2009