GeekWire Gala 2017 recap: Scenes from our annual holiday bash with the Seattle community

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Thanks to more than 1,000 of you who joined us for another fantastic GeekWire Gala at MOHAI in Seattle. (GeekWire photos / Kevin Lisota)

Seattle knows how to party.

That much was evident Wednesday evening at the Museum of History & Industry, where we had so much fun welcoming more than 1,000 of you who joined us for our seventh annual GeekWire Gala, presented by Wells Fargo.

Geeks, techies, entrepreneurs, engineers, artists, musicians, celebrities, and everyone in between from the Seattle community gathered for another awesome holiday celebration. Attendees had a chance to tour MOHAI’s exhibits as they networked, ate, drank, and danced the night away at one of our favorite events of the year.

Continue reading for tweets, pictures and highlights from the night.

(Thanks to our video partners at iamonlocation for producing the sizzle reel)

The evening kicked off with a special VIP pre-party for GeekWire members, sponsors, and Seattle 10 startups aboard the Steamship Virginia V, a historic wooden-hulled vessel. Thanks to Regence BlueShield for sponsoring this fun gathering, and be sure check out ALLtech, the health insurance trust that provides fast-growing Seattle area tech companies with affordable health coverage through the GeekWire membership program.

We also had a chance to honor the Seattle 10, a group of 10 up-and-coming Seattle-area startups who are looking to change the world. Each of these innovative companies — chosen through a judging panel — sketched their business concepts on giant six-foot by six-foot cocktail napkins, and those napkins made their public debut at the Gala on Wednesday.

Seattle 10 giant napkins hang from the rafters at MOHAI at the GeekWire Gala. (GeekWire Photos / Kevin Lisota)

As for best-dressed of the night, there were so many good candidates. Certainly in the running were Daniel Robbins and Teresa Konopka, the two lucky geeks who arrived in fashionable style as part of the first-ever Geek Style Reboot, presented by Nordstrom.

Daniel Robbins and Teresa Konopka in the beauty department at Nordstrom. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

We also welcomed Wells Fargo on stage for a toast and holiday poem:

“TOAST” FOR THE GEEKWIRE GALA

12/2/2017

On behalf of GeekWire and Wells Fargo (your hosts)
We invite you to join in this holiday toast
To reflect on events of the year that has passed
And look toward a future of success sure to last.

We’ve seen start-ups & mergers, plus a few IPOs
And GeekWire news kept us all in the know.
Our tech community keeps growing, and yes it is true
Even GeekWire is searching for a new HQ2

We have VCs, PEs and seed capitalists to thank
(…don’t forget accountants, attorneys and even the Bank)

All partners who are such a valuable part
Of launching tech companies right from the start

But Credit is given where credit is due
We would not be here if it were not for you
Visionaries, Engineers, Entrepreneurs and your teams
You’ve inspired us all as you pursue your dreams

So raise your glass & to each other say “CHEERS”!

Thank you all for coming
And we’ll see you next year!

A big thank you to everyone for coming out on Wednesday. And of course, this holiday tradition would not be possible without our wonderful GeekWire Gala Sponsors. They are:

Presenting Sponsor: Wells Fargo

Gold Sponsors: Regence, OfferUp,  Perkins Coie, Northeastern University-Seattleand JayMarc Homes.

Silver Sponsors: EY, Moz, MOHAI, Alaska Airlines, Foster School of Business, and Nordstrom.

Supporting Sponsors: UPS Connect, First Tech Federal Credit Union, RealSelf, Bader Martin, ALLtech, AMLI Arc and Sharp.

Check out more photos from the event below.

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