About Bits & Pixels

Bits & Pixels is a little get-together for designers and developers based in Newcastle and the Central Coast of New South Wales Australia. We meet up at a particular venue and just hang out for a few hours, chatting about life, work and everything in between.

It's a friendly and casual event, so don't expect anything too serious. It gives you a chance to get away from the computer, network with people in the industry and talk about the latest news, technology and everything else about the industries we work in.

We get people who have been in the industry for years, and some people who are still at University. We all have one thing in common - a passion for the industry. So don't be shy, come along. You don't need to sign up, you just need to show up. Any questions? Contact us.

When’s it on?

Bits & Pixels is usually held every third Saturday, and it's usually at the Grand Hotel. This might change from month to month, so grab the RSS feed, or the iCal subscription, so that you're always up to speed.

The next event is on Saturday 21st June.

How it all started

Bits & Pixels was the invention of Leevi Graham and Wayde Christie, who just wanted an excuse to get away from work and to the pub. It also gave them the opportunity to link up the local people in the industry. Leevi and Wayde are the head honchos at Newism, a newly established Newcastle web design and development company.

The Founders

Leevi Graham

I graduated fom Newcastle University in 2005 with a B. Visual Communication (Graphic Design). After working at a local web development company for a couple of years I packed up my things and travelled through Europe with my girlfriend for 12 months.

While in Birmingham I semi regularly attended Multipack - West Midlands Web Meetup which I enjoyed greatly. When I arrived back in Australia I decided to try and get something similar up and running. Bits & Pixels (otherwise known as “Beer & Schnitzels") was born.

Currently I am one of the partners at Newism a Newcastle web design and development company. My current professional related interests include improving ExpressionEngine through custom plugins and extensions and improving general business processes.

Wayde Christie

Wayde, or “Wayde” as his friend likes to call him, is the creative genius at Newism.

According to his six year old daughter, his life consists of work and watching TV. He became a modern day hero to his two children recently after successfully gathering 120 stars in Super Mario Galaxy. Oh my!

He cut his interweb teeth at Webqem in Sydney (back when table-based layouts were hot), then due to his total contempt for authority decided to go it alone and live the rockstar life as a freelancer.

He recruited young Leevi in 2007 and started Newism.

He is a fan of the rock music, and was once a face-melting guitarist in a few local Newcastle bands.

He now spends his days designing and building websites and creating silly Flash doo-dads.