Ever feel like there just isn’t enough anime at the Wisconsin Film Festival? Looking for a place to show off your Guitar Hero skills? Do you make AMVs? Do you know what it means to be pwned? Are you tired of not having a place to hang out in costume? Do you know the right time to throw an Alpha Strike? Want to prove that you are the king or queen of board games? Are you a LARP?

If you answered any of these questions in the affirmative, then Geek-Kon is the place to be. One of the most ambitious conventions of its type to come to Madison, Geek-Kon will feature anime, sci-fi, roleplaying (online and off), cosplay, video games, Guitar Hero, and more. Over the next few months leading up to the October 6 and 7 free event at the University of Wisconsin Dane101 will be interviewing the organizers of each event to help you navigate your way through the land of geektacular goodness. We start with the following interview with Geek-Kon’s PR co-chair Sarah Eichhorst (a.k.a. Sari, host of WSUM’s Wednesday morning Japanese rock and pop show Mitae Mitae – tune in at 8 a.m.)

Dane101: Is this a University event?

Sari: This is a University event. We (Geek-Kon) are a registered student organization (or in the process of being one) AND we've got the backing of the East Asian studies department. They reserved our rooms for us and are taking care of a lot of the logistics and politics at the University that a simple student organization or group of student organizations just don't have any pull in.

Dane101: What organization is putting Geek.Kon together?

Sari: Geek-Kon itself IS a student org, but we're made up of members from a lot of other student organizations on campus. The big 2 are UW Anime Club and UW Sci-fi club, but the MAGES group is involved, as well as the Tolkien Society and the SCA in minor representations. Many of the Geek-Kon planners are members of several of these organizations, so we've got a tremendous amount of crossover.

Dane101: How did you come together?

Sari: I think my answer to question 2 covered this a bit. All of us are active members of either UW Anime Club or UW Sci-fi Club, and in many cases both clubs. I think that a fair number of us knew each other or at least knew a good portion of the people involved in the planning before we even came together. The way it worked is that the President of Sci-fi Club and the President of Anime Club (who happen to conveniently be roommates) generated this idea and then posed it to their respective organizations. From there, the rest of us got involved, and that's how we're all here today.

Dane101: Why do you think Madison is a good place to host Geek-Kon?

Sari: There's no convention of this sort in Madison at all, and with the removal of GenCon from Milwaukee, we're missing a lot of geek activities in general. There are a few anime conventions in the surrounding areas (Twin Cities, Chicago, Eau Claire), but definitely no comprehensive geek gathering. As proven by representation in both of our clubs and in the population of gamers, etc. in this city, we're ready for some geek gatherings. Honestly though, since this convention is the brainchild of one of our co-con chairs, I think I'll have her answer this question. I'm pretty sure she'll do a better job than I will.

Dane101: What type of experience do the organizers have with conventions?

Sari: Most of us have absolutely no experience organizing conventions at all. That said, I think we're doing a fantastic job, and our academic adviser in the East Asian studies department seems to be continually impressed at how organized we are and how well we're facing the challenges. I believe it helps that the majority of us at least have moderate experience attending conventions, and I know that each time I attend a convention (I've been to 2 since we started planning ours) I get more ideas about what we could do and what we should avoid in order to make our convention better. Some of us have experience helping out with planning at Anime Central, and we've gotten a bit of advice from the planners of No-Brand convention in Eau Claire as well. But, generally this is the first time we've taken on anything like this...which I think makes it even more impressive that we're going to pull this off.

Dane101: What type of guests do you hope to bring?

Sari: Guests is an area we're still working out the kinks in. The biggest concern we have is that we have no money to pay anyone since we're first year and the convention is free for now. This means we're pretty limited in who we can ask to be guests, since most big-name people will probably at least want us to pay for their travel. I believe that the route we want to pursue for right now is talking to proprietors of local geek businesses and assorted other folks working in the game development or webcomic industries around Madison. In addition, in order to generate more support from the University we're also planning to ask several academic faculty or graduate students in relevant departments to appear as guests. This is all still in the works, but as it falls in my jurisdiction as promotions and public relations officer I'd prefer if we could solidify something soon. I'll try to let you know so you can talk about the guests and what they do, etc.

Dane101: Do you have names for your robot and anime girl?

Sari: The robot and the anime girl DON'T have names yet. I believe we were discussing holding a contest to name them at the convention this year.