Hope you didn’t have any plans (like sleeping or going to your job) starting Friday, April 29th, because Philly Tech Week kicks off and it’s going to be huge this year. There is going to be over 50 events ranging from coding workshops and robot fights to dance parties, performance art, professional networking and retro gaming competitions, there’s something for absolutely everyone.

Keep an eye out for the free PTW magazine that is available in 100 locations around Philly so you can read about each event. But we’ve gone through the schedule and picked out a few events that the crew at Video Game DJ are most stoked about. We’ve also thrown in some shameless self promotion because this is America, damnit.

Friday, April 28: Philly Tech Week Kickoff—the Friday night kickoff event for PTW in the gorgeous new Dilworth Plaza will start your tech weekend off right. The app arcade will have games by TooManyGames, Cipher Prime, Ghost Crab Games and over a dozen other game companies. Plus there’s a Maker Corner where you can play with 3D printers and there will be booze and food provided by Rosa Blanca.
Most importantly, DJ CUTMAN will be providing the tunes from 7:30 to 10 pm, so come out and support the Video Game DJ gang! We love you.

Saturday April 29-Sunday May 1 : Electric Philly—This is our kind of party! Kick it with musical performer CHIPOCRITE and the finest of retro games. They’ll be bringing out all the classics, all the hits: Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Pac Man and more. Get ready for them to set a new Donkey Kong world record. And if you think that you’ve got what it takes to make a synth and a game Boy sing, sign up for the Electric Open Mic.
Monday, May 2: BEEP, Blops and Bloops—Music Tech Concert and Demo –The Boyer Electroacoustic Ensemble Project (BEEP) are partnering with Temple University’s Center for Preforming and Cinematic Arts for a one-day exploration of electronic music. BEEP is a “laptop orchestra” collective and they’ll be playing music and doing demonstrations of emerging musical technology. Attendees will get to play with analog modular synths and try out a collaborative big-screen game, using new gaming technology developed by Temple University students.

Tuesday, May 3: Hive76’s Retro Gaming Night—You might know Hive76 from previous Tech Weeks, or maybe you’ve spent some time at their recently reopened South Philly based hackspace/workshop. For this year’s PTW, they’re bringing retro gaming to life. They’ll be providing all the classic (and some more obscure) systems. Expect to see Commodore 64, MAME cabinets, Game Gear, Atari Lynx…the list goes on. This one is free and no registration is required to attend.
Wednesday, May 4: Dev Intro Workshops—You’ve dreamed of programming ever since the first time you saw Hackers but maybe you didn’t know where to start. Register for one of the five three-hour long intro workshops into some of the most popular and commonly used programming languages like JavScript, Ruby, and Python.

Check out the page on PTW’s website to see what each workshop specifically requires and make sure you bring a fully charged laptop to work on. Coffee will be provided, because programmers need their caffeine.

Saturday, May 7: The Hacktory’s Robot Universe Showdown—Local makerspace The Hacktory will help wrap up Philly Tech Week with a day-long celebration of robotics. They’re encouraging beginners, young makers and people who just want to watch little robots fight to stop in and learn how to make your own robot. Then you get to send your new friends into combat! And if you take your robot fighting very seriously, you can enter the heavyweight round and compete for sweet, sweet cash.