My Best Ever Star Wars Day!
Are you a Star Wars nerd? I sure am!
This week marks the 11th anniversary of Star Wars Day--a holiday I observe somewhat religiously every year on May 4th. Â This year's Star Wars Day was pretty low key as Disney/Lucasfilm didn't release any new movie or TV show and my wife had tickets to an off-Broadway show and I had plenty of work to do. BUT, I did the baseline of what I do every year, which is wear a cool Star Wars shirt and take a moment or two to really appreciate all of my cool Star Wars stuff (my equivalent to praying to a shrine, I guess).
However, on May 5, 2015, I celebrated a LOT more than I did this year. In 2015, Verizon was doing a publicity stunt with Motorola to hype the new Droid Turbo smart phone which boasted fast charging, 4k video, and a 23 megapixel camera censor. Crazy cool phone! Anyway, so the "stunt" part came in the form of them announcing on social media that Jawas had kidnapped R2-D2 and were somewhere in Manhattan--would you believe the odds?!? I live in Manhattan?!?  (OK, so the odds aren't that crazy.¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
#CaptureTheDroid was the official hashtag and name of the event and all you had to do was follow clues on Twitter, figure out where R2 was and then go find R2 somewhere in Manhattan before anyone else and say the secret phrase "These are the droids I'm looking for!". The secret phrase was included in the tweet. I was a little under the weather that day, but I figured this was an adventure worth having! So, I got out of bed, put on my favorite Star Wars t-shirt, clued in my wife who was already out and about in midtown, grabbed my Google Glass and headed out.
There was a bit of confusion as Verizon tweeted out that the Jawas had taken R2 someplace else. I think this happened a couple of times, but then they tweeted a photo of R2 at the top of these particular stairs that have a particular roof over them. I recognized that roof as one I've passed under many times in Union Square down on 14th street. My wife, Sierra, and I met up there minutes later and found R2!
Only, he was surrounded not only by Jawas, but also a bunch of fellow fanpeople. So, the ringleader of the event announced there would be a trivia contest and who ever won it, would win, not only a brand new Motorola Droid Turbo but also two tickets to San Diego Comic Con!
You can see where this is going right?
I won and Sierra and I got to go to the quintessential comic con in the world and the photos and videos I shot there looked great! I also got a few other things…
Wondering what the questions were like? Well, it was a mix of in-and-out-of-universe trivia. So, it helped to know your fictional facts as well as facts regarding how the film was made. In fact, there were a couple questions that I got that no one else did--one was "Where was principle photography for The Phantom Menace?" and the other was "Which was the first Star Wars movie to be shot entirely digitally?" I wasn't the first person to answer either of them but I was the only person who got those questions right.Â
The winning question was such an easy one. So easy that I feel sad for everyone else. Every Star Wars nerd worth their salt knows the answer to this question. Want to know what it is? Watch the video below! Since I took my Google Glass with me you can experience the final question just like I did!
FYI: the Motorola Droid Turbo was a truly GREAT phone. It absolutely lived up to the hype and it still works to this day. I do need to replace the battery (helloooo, ifixit.com!), but it's still in good working order.Â
San Diego Comic Con ended up being a blast, but was not without its weirdness. I'll save that story for a future Nerdy Pete post!Â
I hope you enjoyed reading! Please let me know what you think in the comments or tell me your own favorite Star Wars Day or just tell me how you like to celebrate the Galaxy Far Far Away! You can also find me on Twitter or contact me directly if you don't want to share publicly.