Event Type: Technology

Come join us this Memorial Day weekend as we celebrate urban nerd culture!! “Blerd Bash”, a national tour that makes the anime and gaming fan experiences more accessible to urban communities, is returning for its second annual Chicago event. We’re bringing you an awesome event that fuses urban and otaku/gamer culture for a day packed with fun activities and good vibes.

What to expect:

🛍️ Vendor Marketplace and Job Fair

💃🏾 Hip-Hop/Rap/R&B Dance Party

🦹‍♀️ Cosplay Contest

🎮 Open Play Video Games

🍸 Delicious Food & Themed Cocktails

📷 Photoshoot

🎤 Local Hip-Hop Music Showcase

The Venue

This event will be held at Ignite Gaming (Skokie) where there is no shortage of gaming available with your selection of over 80 PCs, VR stations, numerous Xbox and PlayStation consoles, dedicated RockBand rooms, racing sims, and more. There are two full bars that sell a number of cocktails and great food including pizza, wings, sandwiches, milkshakes, etc.

Transportation and Parking

• Ignite Gaming is just 4 minutes walking distance from Oakton-Skokie station (Yellow Line).
• The building has a dedicated parking lot with free parking. There are also plenty of other parking options within a short walking distance. Please drive responsibly!
• Ignite Gaming is approximately 15-25 minutes away from downtown Chicago by car (depending on traffic).

Gaming

• The gaming lounge will be open from 2:00 pm – 12:00 am (please note, the gaming lounge will be closed for the last two hours of the party which ends at 2:00 am).
• Access to gaming stations is available on a first-come, first-served basis and is subject to availability.
• Gaming is NOT included with the general admission ticket but can still be purchased on-site. Combination tickets are available online which offer the best rate for both admission to the event and access to the game stations.
• Game time does not have to be consecutive. For example, if you purchase the two-hour package, you can start playing at the couch console co-op for an hour, pause to go to check out the vendor marketplace for an hour, grab a bite to eat at the bar, and then come back and play on PC for another hour. Your time will be paused when you are not at a game station.

Open Play Gaming

Come hang out at THE best gaming lounge and esports center in the country! Enjoy your pick between numerous games across Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and even PC. Or perhaps you want to jam out in one of the private RockBand rooms. Gaming is available at an hourly rate but our combination ticket packages offer a discount when you bundle game time with general admission. Open play gaming will be available from 2:00 pm – 12:00 am.

Vendor Marketplace & Job Fair

Visit our vendor marketplace and support local brands related to anime, video games, comics, hip-hop culture, and other related topics. Job seekers, be sure to bring your resume and be prepared to speak to recruiters from businesses involved in gaming, tech, animation, and other relevant industries. The vendor marketplace and job fair will be available from 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm.

Party

The party really starts when the sun goes down! The vendor hall will shut down at 8:00 pm and the room will reopen again at 10:00 pm for a huge dance party. Our live DJ will spin some of the best hip-hop and R&B songs from old-school classics to modern-day hits. Stick around for our cosplay contest and support local music artists gracing us with their performances during our music showcase. Gaming will still be available throughout the lounge until 12:00 am and there will be limited gaming available inside of the party room.

Age Restrictions

• From 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm, all persons under the age of 14 inside the vendor marketplace and job fair hall (the main event room) need to be accompanied by an adult.
• The gaming lounge is a separate space and will be available to the public of all ages up until 10:00 pm.
• After 10:00 pm, no person under the age of 18 will be permitted into the building, this includes both the main event room and the gaming lounge.

Important Note

Please note there are two hours allotted (8:00 pm – 10:00 pm) to reconfigure the room for the party event. During this time, the vendor hall (the main event room) will be closed and all attendees must move over to the gaming lounge. These are two rooms in the same building connected by a short hall (where the bathrooms can be found) and a kitchen and bar. The bar and kitchen will still be available for enjoyment during this time (the food is really good!) It is not required that you leave the premise but if you choose too, re-entry is allowed when you show event staff and security your wristband.

Get Involved

For performance slots, vendor booths, sponsorships, media, and press, please fill out our application here.

About H.A.G Entertainment

H.A.G Entertainment is the leading media and entertainment company dedicated to urban nerd culture. We help creators, small businesses, and global brands connect with pop culture fans in a meaningful way through memorable experiences.

Find out more about us:

• Join the Blerd Business Network professional networking and resource group on Facebook.
• Join “The Official Hip-Hop/Anime/Gaming Community” on Facebook.
• Check out our services.

As the digital age continues to advance technology, making it more affordable and accessible to the public, it’s never been easier to learn the art of film-making.

Our YouTube course is for kids who want to learn how to create an awesome YouTube channel. This course will give them the skills to create engaging videos. Kids will learn how to write scripts and storyboards, and how to create a brand that builds fan engagement. They’ll also develop production skills and discover the ways they can make money with their own YouTube channel!

Through this class, students will complete a variety of projects working in pairs and teams to learn various aspects of film making and editing. YouTube class empowers students with technical skills in video filming and editing while exploring the historical significance of film and the unique elements of storytelling.

Students will work on a number of popular video projects.

Course Requirements:

• Headphones with microphone
• BYO camera/smartphone. The class will teach students to use the equipment that is available to them without investing in expensive pro-tools. PC, Editing software, lighting, green screen all provided.
• Students must bring the correct cables required to connect their device to our computer.

This course is one of our premier Tech Camp experiences, infused with hands-on, project-based learning, designed to equip students with 21st-century technology skills.

Code, test and then publish your own Roblox games. From building your own Obby to launching a tycoon game, we will teach you all the skills you need to build games in Roblox Studio. The safe way to code and play Roblox.

Campers will learn how to make their own versions of their favorite Roblox Games.

Online safety is at the core of what we do at Skill Samurai. We’re completely compatible with Roblox’s parental controls, including disabling chat capabilities, publishing moderation, and identifiable information restrictions. While coding with us, you test your games yourself in Roblox Studio, and only friends who have been invited can join to test your games.

This fun mix is a great mix of on-screen learning and off-screen fun challenges.

Every afternoon students will work on a collaborative STEM building challenge.

Students will be creating games that they can publish and play with friends.

Campers will work through the following lessons:

• Prison Break
• Barrel Roll
• Ninja Obby
• Snow Clones
• Alien Attack
• Wrestleball
• Game Dev Tycoon
• Zombie Smash
• Stranger Hill
• Terrain Tools

Course Requirements:

• Roblox Account. Students should come with account and passwords.
• Headphones with microphone

This course is one of our premier Tech Camp experiences, infused with hands-on, project-based learning, designed to equip students with 21st-century technology skills.

Code Minecraft Mods

Programming your own Minecraft mods has never been easier. We provide all the tools and tutorials to write Java code to create Minecraft games, we then host for you on your own private server which your friends can join.

This fun mix is a great mix of on-screen learning and off-screen fun challenges.

Every afternoon students will work on a collaborative STEM building challenge.

Students will be creating multiplayer games that can be used by up to 25 of their friends!

Campers will work through the following lessons:

• Sheep City
• Blockly Races
• Minecraft Builder Tools
• Egg Wars
• High Noon Saloon
• Haunted Mansion
• Hungry Games
• Lucky Blocks
• Rise of the Werebunnies
• Spartan School
• Spleef

Course Requirements:

• Minecraft PC license, Java Edition
• Headphones with microphone

This course is one of our premier Tech Camp experiences, infused with hands-on, project-based learning, designed to equip students with 21st-century technology skills.

Students will learn both the basics of 3D game development and fundamental programming concepts using the Lua programming language.

This camp is designed for beginner to intermediate students who are interested in both programming and game development.

Online safety is at the core of what we do at Skill Samurai. We’re completely compatible with Roblox’s parental controls, including disabling chat capabilities, publishing moderation, and identifiable information restrictions. While coding with us, you test your games yourself in Roblox Studio, and only friends who have been invited can join to test your games.

This fun mix is a great mix of on-screen learning and off-screen fun challenges.

Every afternoon students will work on a collaborative STEM building challenge.

Students will be creating games that they can publish and play with friends.

Using the power of Lua Programming and the Roblox Studio, in this course, you will create a Fortnite-style Roblox game filled with custom weapons of your own design.

It’s you against every other Robloxian in this game as you have to avoid the incoming storm and fight to the #1 spot.

In this course, students can:

• create their own Fortnite-style Battle Royale
• learn Lua programming
• use animation, for-loops, global scripts, and client/server events
• embark on 6 epic quests
• complete 32 coding challenges
• create deadly weapons and a dangerous storm

Course Requirements:

• Roblox Account. Students should come with account and passwords.
• Headphones with microphone

This course is one of our premier Tech Camp experiences, infused with hands-on, project-based learning, designed to equip students with 21st-century technology skills.

This action-packed camp will teach the students everything that goes into making a stop motion animation movie…. which is of course a lot, but we will teach them the fundamentals of character, set and story development and how to incorporate sound and music to their stories.

Students will work in pairs or small groups to storyboard, build their characters, sets and props, create the action, film, and voice-over these exciting movies.