At 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, I was frantically driving to the far East side to make it to my bank before closing time. The bright orange demarcations of construction were everywhere on East Washington, mucking up traffic and adding to my frustration. I drove past the Big Lots and the Wendy’s and the cell phone stores galore, finally reaching the sprawl of asphalt that contained my bank, everyone else’s banks, any suburban franchise restaurant one could dream up, and all the big box stores. I found myself thinking, with glee, how lucky I am that I live with my daughter in Madison, Wisconsin, where countless modern “necessities” are just a stone’s throw away from a couple of beautiful lakes, a jewel of a capitol building, the University, the world’s best farmer’s market, State Street… needless to say, after my transaction we turned right back around and headed downtown.

Geek.Kon got off to a great start yesterday. Here are some photos from the event by me, Chris Norris, including the Costume Masquerade. The Con runs until 4pm today.

After spending the day at Geek.Kon, Madison's first (hopefully annual) gathering of the geeks, there's plenty to write about. A weekend wrap-up is coming soon, including a photo gallery, but for now let's just say we were wowed by geek couture. The costumes were ace. The shoes, occasionally mind-boggling. Wigs were plentiful, snarky pins and badges abounded, and we think there may have been a dress entirely held together by a chain of Swingline staples. But the t-shirts? Priceless. Here's a list of t-shirt slogans we saw. We left out the ubiquitous Geek.Kon shirt, though it boasted perhaps the best phrase of all, "Get your geek on." We also left out the equally eyecatching slew of No Brand Con tees, and of course the nudge, wink "Talk Nerdy To Me"--both were everywhere. Did you see one that stood out? Leave it in the comments!

1. Music Pirate
2. I Heart Thor
3. Zombie Killer
4. +1 Shirt
5. Geek Orthodox
6. Reduce, Reuse, Reanimate
7. Geeks Rule
8. Don't Think Twice: You Didn't Get It The First Time
9. Swordplay!
10. Wingman
11. Let's Make Biscuits
12. The Big Cheese
13. Schrodinger's Cat is Dead
14. Perfectionist
15. You're Unique, Just Like Everyone Else
16. Better Off Undead
17. It's A Legitimate Exit Strategy
18. Paladin: Property of the Gaming Dept. (thought it was a Badger tee for a moment)
19. Danger: Rabid Fangirl
And the ultimate geek t-shirt:
20. roses are #FF0000, violets are #0000FF, all my base are belong to you

The bride and groom who were married at Pres House at approximately 1 pm this afternoon will not be lacking intriguing background scenery for the pictures they were snapping outside the church. To their left, Logarhythm was rocking out on Library Mall surrounded by bobbing heads and "Legalize It" banners. To their right, a steady stream of eager costume-clad, tail-wagging geeks headed towards the Humanities Building, computers, swords, and robots (yep, I saw a robot on a leash) in tow.

We were told at the registration table that the turnout was already creeping over 1000 registrants-- far more than the potential 200 that Kon planners had envisioned back in February. Way to go! This is sure to be a boon to Madison in the future. More to come about Geek.Kon, but we'll leave you with this choice echodrop:

Geek-Kon is just two days away! According to organizers before they closed pre-registration they had been averaging 30 new registrants a day - wowza! That's a great deal of geekitude. There is plenty to do at the - what is sure to become - annual Geek fest and Dane101 has been digging deeper into some of it with interviews of organizers. We also hope to be shoulder deep in the Geek throughout the weekend. The best place for information is at the Geek-Kon website, but we also bring you this list of previews from various media sources:

Dane101
DDR, Guitar Hero, J-Pop, and Yaoi - an interview with Brian Hagen

Geek.Kon is only nine days away here in Madison, and they already have more than 600 registered geeks. Of course, who knows how many people will just show up on the day of this free two day geektacular (October 6 and 7). Dane101 has been slowly highlighting various aspects of Geek.Kon (click "Geek-Kon 2007" above to read our other articles) leading up to the Geek oasis. Today we bring you an interview with Jonathan Bolte who will be heading up the roleplaying portion of the event. RPGs being played at the kon include Colonial Gothic, Scion, Obsidian, Battlelords of the 23rd Century, Legacy of the Blue Wizards (A J.R.R. Tolkein based adventure), and BESM (Big Eyes, Small Mouth - a game designed to imitate the action found in anime and manga).

Geek.Kon is only 17 days away here in Madison, and the organizers can already call it a success. As of today they have more than 600 registered geeks, a solid turn out for an event on year one. Of course, who knows how many people will just show up on the day of this free two day event (October 6 and 7). Dane101 has been slowly highlighting various aspects of Geek.Kon (click "Geek-Kon 2007" above to read our other articles) leading up to the Geek oasis. Today we bring you local anime artist Laura Anderton. She not only designed the Geek.Kon logo, but she also put together Artist Alley. We asked Anderton some questions concerning the Alley, the Kon, and her own work as an artist (her personal website is www.laura-anderton.com).

What is "Artist Alley" and what can one find when they walk down the alley?

As mentioned before on Dane101, Geek-Kon seems to have a little bit of everything. Brian Hagen is in charge of the Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero rooms and will also be featured on two panels, one concerning Japanese Pop music and another concerning something called Yaoi. Dane101 sat down with Hagen to find out what can be expected.

DDR/GH

Everyone has that one friend. The friend that truly can rock out with Guitar Hero or all of the beats of Dance Dance Revolution down like riding a bike. You sit there watching and wonder one of two things - “Wow, I wish I didn't have a job and could play Guitar Hero all day” or “Jimmy is so good he must be the leader of the Dance Dance Revolution!” Or maybe that GH/DDR pro is you? Are you?

It's not easy being a geek with a diverse palate. Every branch of the geek hierarchy (and there is an actual geek hierarchy with published sci-fi authors sitting comfortably at the top) pretty much has a convention every year in some form or another. However, a hard look at the list of conventions targeted toward geeks reveal one major omission – there appears to be no convention that brings RPGers, anime lovers, cosplayers, Guitar Hero Masters, LARPers, video gamers, DDR Champions, Magic the Gathering pros, and J-Pop fans together in one place. Madison's Geek-Kon aims to change that – and why not? Wisconsin is, after all, the birthplace of one of the largest “geek” conventions in the world – GenCon. Starting with 12 attendees in Lake Geneva in 1967 at the home of Gary Gygax (one of the founders of Dungeons and Dragons), the roleplaying game enthusiast convention has since grown in attendance, moved from Wisconsin, and is now split into multiple conventions around the world. The U.S. Convention in Indiana hosted more than 20,000 attendees in 2006. Still, GenCon pretty much focuses on roleplaying games and some video gaming – and all of those geeks with a diverse palate – left out in the cold.

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.)