Welcome to SiouxperCon

SiouxperCon is a fan convention that celebrates several mediums: Comicbooks, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Anime, board games, and video gaming.

SiouxperCon has quickly grown into the most anticipated annual Siouxland nerd event. From its humble beginnings as a question posed on Facebook, SiouxperCon morphed into an event that aims to celebrate all nerdoms in a safe, educational, and inclusive environment. Brought to you by a group of local customer service professionals, SiouxperCon is your friendly, neighborhood fan convention.

SiouxperCon celebrates several mediums – comic books, cosplay, anime, board games, video games, science fiction and fantasy. A non-profit event, net proceeds from the convention benefit REACH Literacy and the JY6 Foundation.
Events include South Dakota’s biggest Cosplay Contest, celebrity entertainment, numerous panels, video and board game tournaments, vendors, local artists, comic book creators and artists, and more!

Siouxpercon is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit organization.

Shane Gerlach

Chairman

Shane Gerlach is a lifelong geek hailing originally from Flandreau South Dakota by way of Ft. Carson Army Base, Colorado. He has given geek talks on radio and at South Dakota public libraries bestowing the virtues of sequential storytelling as a way to engage young people in reading. His love of comic books began with his father buying him comics from Rexall Drug in Flandreau South Dakota. When not reading comics he splits his time being a father, husband and drug and alcohol counselor. Shane books the talent for SiouxperCon.

Dani Franseen

Treasurer

With a love for gaming, anime, and adventure, Dani will stop at nothing to assemble the ultimate SiouxperCon volunteer team! Without our volunteers, our convention would not be possible!

Dani enjoys spending her spare time with her fiance and two children. She has fun watching anime, playing video/board games, traveling and watching movies. Some of her current favorites include all of the Star Wars movies, Left 4 Dead, D&D, Attack on Titan, and Sushi Go.

Joseph Ektnitphong

Secretary

You know him, Everyday Joe, Pokehon himself, Joseph Ektnitphong! Joe has done everything in his power to help make SiouxperCon a success. He started helping with the convention in the very beginning, is Secretary, and has been a great person to have on the team. Being a nerd is what Joe does best. He loves collecting memorabilia of his favorite shows and movies. He is currently building up his epic collection which mainly consist of Pops, Masterpiece Transformers and Pokémon cards. Joe also likes to show his nerdy side under the alias “Pokehon” on YouTube. When Joe’s not working he enjoys spending time with his fiancé and two beautiful children. Joe also loves photography, attending cons, seeing movies in the theater and going to concerts. He is very outgoing and loves the growing nerdy community very much.

Stay nerdy guys!

Derek Magnus

Director

Derek stared with SiouxperCon as a volunteer in 2016 and has graduated to the head of Exhibitors in 2017. Derek has been a geek his whole life. He started reading comics at the age of 6 and collecting them at the Middle School age. Started watching Dr. Who (4th doctor) and Star Trek on Saturday afternoons on PBS about the same time and Star Wars in the theaters. He even had a comic store in the early 90’s in Brookings and one of the original members and contributors of Geekville on Facebook.

Unfortunately, Derek has acquired the collecting bug for Funko POPS and playing Pokemon Go recently and is seeking a cure. Welcome to the team, Derek!

Josh Jurgens

Management Consultant

It’s 2017 and no organization can function without a business consultant, tech guru and photographer. Josh has been doing it all to help SiouxperCon be Siouxpertastic! You may catch him taking pictures around town and at high school sporting events under the guise of Jurgens Digital Media. Jurgens Digital Media is a one stop shop for photos, computer tech, website design and more. Josh is an avid Star Wars fan and loves spending time with his wife and two kids. Above all else, he knows Han shot first.

Tyson Wharton

Attendee Relations

Tyson Wharton started with SiouxperCon as a volunteer in 2016. His love for comic books and superheroes started at a young age and never stopped. He now joins the organization as Head of Attendee Relations.

As a Sioux Falls native, Tyson knows the community very well. He is heavily involved in the childcare industry in Sioux Falls as a Director of a local child care center and in numerous organizations. He is a proud husband and father of two children.

Tyson enjoys geeking out over a good comic book or movie, playing board/strategy games, playing video games, collecting Funko Pops, and loves professional wrestling.

Casandra Joseph

Cosplay Coordinator Co-Chair

Casandra enjoys anything that allows creative expression and unique inspiration. She enjoys drawing, fanart of her favorite shows, comics and books, as well as making things with all sorts of crafting materials. She is a big collector of anything that peaks her interest and involves, World Of Warcraft, Dawn, Guardians of the Galaxy’s Groot, RWBY, Red VS Blue, Pokemon, and Zelda just to name a few. As of recently she has also allowed her husband’s passion of Star Wars to grow on her.

Cosplay has been something she has always watched with great enjoyment, and eagerness to learn more about it. Although she hasn’t yet cosplayed anything of her own, it is a passion that she keeps up on. Watching Cosplay contest through youtube, shows, documentaries, and live at the cons she can make it too. She started off as a volunteer at SiouxperCon 2016.

This year she will be joining the staff as the SiouxperCon cosplay coordinator, a responsibility in which she couldn’t be happier to take on. She hopes to make the event as wonderful of a success as it was last year.

Matt Holbeck

Gaming Boss

Whether it’s building a castle, plundering dungeons, roaming the wasteland or cleansing a nightmare back into a dream, you can be sure to see Matt. He of course enjoys spending his time either gaming, reading books, or watching anime and movies.

His love of gaming started at an early age with Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid. These interests later included all sorts of video games along with playing pen and paper RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, Shadowrun, World of Darkness, and many others.

He started off like some of the other new staff members as a volunteer at SiouxperCon 2016. However, this year he is joining the staff as the SiouxperCon gaming coordinator. Which is he happy to be apart of. So grab your controllers, roll a 20, and make the Sioux Empire great again!

Kaitlin Holinka

Panel and Scheduling Boss

Hailing from small town Minnesota, Kaitlin has made Sioux Falls her home for the past 5 years. She had always felt a little different from everyone else with her passions in music and nerd culture. She is excited to start becoming a part of the growing nerd community here and to play a part in planning SiouxperCon!

When she isn’t working her banking job, Kaitlin enjoys playing videogames, watching anime, going to concerts, planning cosplays and trips to cons, and playing music. She also has started a few collections of figures and memorabilia, with her biggest being her collection of Nintendo Amiibos. She enjoys spending her time with her friends, family, and annoying cat. She also will be returning back to college in the near future to study Elementary Education, with a goal of becoming the nerdiest teacher the Sioux Falls community has seen so far.

Kaitlin started as a volunteer and strong supporter for Siouxpercon’s inaugural year. She has now joined the staff as the Events Chair and will be the one to bring you the schedule of events.

SiouxperCon Gives Back

This is a great chance to give back to the community, and specifically, to raise funds for JY6 and REACH Literacy, two great local charities with wonderful causes.

Check it Out