Calling All Geeks: It’s Alleycon 2014!

Are you a gamer? Do you like comic conventions?

Whether you are a serious gamer and play roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons or your thing is video games, or you simply enjoy common board games, pay close attention: Alleycon 2014 is taking place this month and you do not want to miss it.

Alleycon is organized by the “Grey Council”, a group of 14 organizers working in coordination with the First Alleyway restaurant for which the convention is named and Kwangju Women’s University, the site of this year’s event. Alleycon began when the Council’s original members tried to organize a small gaming meet last September. Making a Facebook event and sending out invitations, they expected 15 to 20 participants, but got 70.

“It was great to see so many people coming together to do what they love to do most,” said Louis Mynhardt of Alleycon 2013. “It was a symbiotic energy of various people from various countries and backgrounds.”

Mynhardt is coordinating a new endeavor of this year’s event, the Alleycon Anthology. The anthology will be collection of sci-fi and fantasy stories written by those in the Korean geek community as a way of getting involved with Alleycon. Mynhardt enjoys writing and has written several works during National Novel Writing Month. He wrote a piece for the Alleycon Anthology titled “The Broken Umbrella”, a piece he says was inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Mynhardt says, “The Alleycon Anthology is for any writer to share their creativity with the geek community.”

The Grey Council strongly believes philanthropy through charity to be one of humankind’s highest callings, so all profits of Alleycon 2014 will not only fund Alleycon 2015, but also be distributed across several charitable organizations, including Adopt-a-Child for Christmas and the Michael Simning Ndwara Scholarship Fund.

Alleycon 2014 will take place on September 26 and 27. An icebreaker event will kick things off on Friday, September 26, from 7 p.m. to midnight at The First Alleyway restaurant located in downtown Gwangju. Along with great food and atmosphere, participants will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with each other before the main events of the following day.

The gaming will get underway on Saturday, September 27, at Kwangju Women’s University. Starting at 9 a.m., there will be a three-tiered board game tournament with four six-player games in the first tier. The next two tiers will begin at 2 p.m. with two six-player games in the second tier, and a Game of Thrones showdown in the last tier. A video game tournament will be held every hour, offering attendees the opportunity to compete on every major console – the PS3, XBOX 360, Wii and Wii U.

A cosplay contest will also be held. Short for ‘costume play’, the cosplay contest is free and open to those who want to dress up as their favorite character. The cosplay parade will start at 6 p.m. and will be followed by the announcement of winners. If you are interested, send a photo of your character to contest coordinator Sean Stanley, at spindlethin@gmail.com before September 27.

Participants will have the opportunity to hear from several great authors throughout the day via Skype call-in panels. Attending authors include Myke Cole, Jack Campbell, Robin Hobb, and NK Jemisin. Starting at 10 a.m., webcomic artist Lar DeSouza will share some stories and an instructive seminar on erotic origami. At 2 p.m., there will be a panel with Korea-based artist Ryan Estrada, and at 7 p.m. attendees can participate in a Skype conversation with musical duo The Doubleclicks.

Alleycon 2014 will wrap up at 8 p.m. but Alleycon attendees will be able to attend the special screening of a film, to be chosen by a vote among the attendees, at the Chungjangro Lotte Cinema, located downtown near the First Alleyway. The screening is at 10:00 p.m. and seating is limited to the first 100 ticket purchases.

For more information about Alleycon 2014, please visit waygeek.me.