Nerd HQ is the brainchild of actor Zachary Levi of Chuck fame, business partner (and former Chuck props guy) David Coleman and Courtney Coleman, David's wife. (Levi also provided the voice of Flynn Rider in Disney's Tangled and his singing on "I See the Light" garnered a Grammy award, as well as an Academy and Golden Globe nomination.)
The Nerd Machine In this video, Zachary Levi explains why Nerd HQ has to be crowd funded this year. Donations are being accepted at the Indie Gogo site (click to view).
Together, they run a company called The Nerd Machine, which produces apparel and accessories that allow fans to express their nerdiness in a loud and proud way.
For the past three years, Nerd HQ has offered, free of charge, a place for pop culture fans to hang out during San Diego Comic-Con. (It is in no way affiliated with the convention.)
Speaking from personal experience, being with more than 125,000 people in a convention center for four and a half days gets on your nerves after a while. Nerd HQ has been a haven. It's an ideal place to chill out, see some exhibits from companies like Intel, have a beer and get a bite to eat while not taking yourself completely out of action. While you're there, you can also get an official Nerd HQ photo taken and try out one of dozens of video games on display -- again, all for free.
If you were lucky enough to score a ticket, you could attend one of the several "Conversations For a Cause" panels. A panel lasts an hour and fans get to ask questions of a celebrity or group in a fairly intimate setting. No more than 300 people can attend the panel and the venue is about the size of a big classroom. With fans asking the questions, it gets a whole lot more interesting than a late night talk show interview. Tickets were an extremely modest $20 and all proceeds went to Operation Smile, a charitable organization that funds surgeries to fix cleft palate deformities for underprivileged children.
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