More than 600 self-proclaimed geeks plan to attend the first Geek.kon science fiction and anime convention at the Humanities building this Saturday and Sunday.
Louise Behnke, who is one of the heads of Geek.kon, said the convention is a combination of every single geek thing we could think of.""
The PG-13 rated convention will feature anime and sci-fi viewing rooms, a costume contest and masquerade, live action roleplay, local area network gaming and other activities, according to Erin Burke, a Geek.kon public relations representative.
Three participating UW-Madison student organizations - o - othe Sci-Fi Club, the Anime Club and the Madison Academics' Gaming Enthusiast Society - o - obegan planning for the event in March 2007.
Featured guests include Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda, directors of the online ""Chad Vader"" series, Luke Ski, a comedian, and Monte Cook, designer of ""Dungeons and Dragons,"" among others.
""Anybody is welcome, even the public,"" said Carolyn Hoggs, chair of Geek.kon guest relations and panel programming. ""This is going to be pretty popular.""
According to Behnke, pre-registration for Geek.kon closed in mid-September due to 609 entries, but individuals are still allowed to register on the day of the event.
""When we saw that 600-plus people had pre-registered, we were quite surprised,"" Burke said.
Since the event reached a certain number of expected attendees, Burke said, the university had to publicize the event to the community.
The three main sponsors for the event are the UW-Madison Center for East Asian Studies, Lynn's Craft Shop and Four Star Video Heaven.
Richard Miller, associate director of CEAS, said the student organization needed the department to act as the university sponsor to reserve classroom space outside Memorial Union.
""We haven't really donated any money,"" Miller said in reference to the funding usually given by sponsors. ""They've done any sort of fundraising or anything they've needed to do on their own.""
Geek.kon will be held Saturday, Oct. 6 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 7 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Humanities building. The event is free to the public.
