The Sioux Empire's very own fan convention, SiouxperCon, is coming up fast. The event will be at the Best Western Ramkota Hotel in Sioux Falls on April 15, 16, and 17. It's a fan convention celebrating comic books, anime, board games, video games, science fiction and fantasy. There's going to be panels, vendor booths, artists, cosplay and a video game tournament.

I asked Brian Broekemeier, one of the creators of your friendly neighborhood con about what we the geeks, nerds and superfans of the Sioux Empire can expect at SiouxperCon.

With SiouxperCon just a few weeks away, how is the convention shaping up?

Things are falling into place in a great way! I got to see a sneak peek of our comic book by Marc Wagner. We have a 3D logo that...was printed by Robby with Futurscape 3D. [We are] finishing up some touches for Shopping for Hope on 4/9, a nerd run with 605 Running Co. on 4/13, and we have our upcoming SiouxperMetal show on 4/3 at Bigs.

We are very busy, but things going nicely. If it seems like I am name dropping, I am. These businesses and events and community members are helping us put this on and I cannot express how amazing it is to see our community come together like this!

Are there any new additions to the lineup since SiouxperCon was first announced?

We just confirmed that Brandy Jensen, a consultant with Jamberry, will be at the event with some SiouxperCon nails among many other kinds of nails.

We also picked up Ashley Von Burtz, a local artist, and Lost Carpet Comics and Toys. Ashley actually had one of our biggest responses when we announced her last week on Facebook. It was really cool to see a local college student be so well received. This will be Lost Carpet's first con, I believe.I am excited to have him on board - he has an insane amount of collectibles.

We haven't announced it yet, but Jamie with Indie Events will be showing two movies. One for B-movie Bingo on Saturday night, and the other is a big Anime title on Sunday. He got the rights for the weekend for those - stay tuned on that!

And Jennifer Cihi, the original singing voice of Sailor Moon, will be doing a concert in conjunction with Nerd Idol. Jennifer also did the Hot Pockets jingle. When I read that in her bio, I thought she may be the most famous person in America.

What would you like people to know about SiouxperCon before they come out?

Come to have fun. Not many people know this, but we are just a group of nerds who want to put on something memorable. There was a rumor that we were tied to a bigger con, which is somewhat flattering, but not true.

We strategically priced our tickets so that they are affordable and our attendees can have some extra cash to spend on our vendors, local artists, and guests. We are also hoping the ticket prices draw families, kids 10 and under are free, and draw more people overall so we can cover expenses and send our net proceeds to REACH Literacy and the JY6 Foundation.

We are still a way from hitting our budgeting goals - but getting closer. It would be fantastic if we could raise enough money to cover our budget - people keep telling me that first year conventions don't get out of the red. I would love to prove them wrong. We are 100% volunteer, and officially non-profit.

Our guests have been great to work with - Tom Nguyen, Gordon Purcell, Phil Hester, Sean Williams, Eric Gapstur. If you read comics, you've probably read something by these guys or have seen their work. Shane Gerlach, our talent coordinator, reached out to these guys and they were gracious enough to give us a shot. I should also mention that Nathan Hultz and Dan Bublitz Jr, our MCs, are comedians. And actually funny.

Where can you get tickets, and how much are they? 

Tickets are available at SiouxperCon.com/tickets. We are also fundraising at youcaring.com/siouxpercon. Tickets range from $10 a day to a full weekend VIP at $60 (includes Friday's game tournament venue charge), and our top tier is $150. We pretty much give you all of our merch and you get dinner with our guests on Saturday at the top level. We gave a few tickets away through findthegoldenegg.com and I guess it has been one of the most popular prizes so far.

I should probably mention that we have lanyards, but if you don't preregister, you might not get one. And they are cool. You can also volunteer a set number of hours and get into the con. We are filling up fast, but I think there are still a few spots open. Dani and Joe Ektnitphong are coordinating our volunteers and doing fantastic with that.

Can people dress up/cosplay at SiouxperCon? Will there be a contest?

If you aren't in costume, your heart isn't in it! I have been in one cosplay contest, and took Judge's Choice for my Commander William Riker costume. It was at DargonCon, and it was a blast. And so from experience, I can tell you that cosplay is a ton of fun. Who doesn't want to dress up when it isn't Halloween? Creations3 has actually donated some pretty awesome prizes for our cosplay contest - and one of them will be a 3D printed statue of the winner.

We also have prizes from Brookings Book Company and Flashbax out of Aberdeen. We'll being doing some fun stuff with those prizes throughout the con. Josh Jurgens with Jurgens Digital Media will be taking photos with green screen and doing prints you can take home. We are also working with a group that will be doing video of the cosplay contest- we'll be announcing that soon. I have to give Cassandra Nixon "props," pun intended, for all of her hard work here. She has been putting this all together and brought on our guests VDR Cosplay and Funky Cosplay.

How can someone get in on the video game tourney that kicks off the Con on Friday the 15th?

I think the theater room can hold 88 people at a time. There will be different games going on all day. The best way to ensure your spot is to preregister by buying "Level Up" passes at SiouxperCon.com/tickets. The winner(s) get a cash prize. Brandon, our gaming head, has been practicing at other local tournaments... so watch out. I don't think he knows he doesn't qualify to win...maybe he is just in it for the glory. I have to give Brandon kudos as well. He was the first person to volunteer to help, and this Con wouldn't be happening if he hadn't.

SiouxperCon Cast
Photo courtesy of SiouxperCon.com
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Ben is on Twitter: Twitter.com/BenSFSD


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