Geeks in the Wild

 When we look at the description of ‘geek’ on Wikipedia, it says “The word geek is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast or a person obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit, with a general pejorative meaning of a "peculiar person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual, unfashionable, boring, or socially awkward". Unfashionable? Boring? Socially awkward? That’s definitely not something my fellow geeks at SAS can relate to. In fact, during the last ‘Talk of the Geeks’ at the Belgian SAS Forum, we asked the audience what they thought was a ‘geek’. These were their responses:

Intelligent, curious, smart sexy nerds: right on the mark! But don’t take my word for it, come and see for yourself: on October 9 and 10 the SAS Geeks will gather again at the World Summit AI where you can spot us in the wild at the SAS booth (D46). To see the geeks in action, you can sign up for workshop 15 “Talk of the Geeks: Geeks of the World Unite!” We’ll cover some cool stuff like using data driven d3.js custom visualisations, working with ONNX models and using Lime and Ice to make AI more transparent. No less than 9 (!) enlightening talks of 5 minutes each, plus the chance to win great prizes during the Beach Ball Break and online quiz. Want to get a preview of what to expect? Well, we’ve created a cool video to whet your appetite. I’m sure after this session you’ve experienced for yourself that we are anything but unfashionable (Geek Chique!), boring or socially awkward.  CU at the Summit!