Geek Getaways

Looking for a weekend getaway that takes you to another world? Welcome to the world of cons, where gadgets, gamers and droids take center stage.

By Sean Mahoney for MSN City Guides

From gadgets and video games to comic books and the Klingon language, there’s a con—geek speak for conventions—to satisfy every one of your nerdish leanings. Not so sure?  If you’re less inclined to dress as your favorite Jedi but still like whiling away the hours in front of your Xbox, cons host plenty of competitive events offering hefty cash prizes that might just make attending worth your while.

Here’s a look at a few of the country’s top cons, which are not only meetings of similar minds, but also great opportunities to explore some of America’s coolest cities.

Suffering from gadget envy?
Card-carrying members of the high-tech industry head to Las Vegas every January for the International Consumer Electronics Show, the glitziest convention of its kind in North America. While industry types have been privy to the debut of the VCR, the DVD player, and many other electronics named with acronyms, actual consumers are mostly shunned. Fortunately, the much friendlier Digital Life event rolls into New York City each October, just in time to kick off the holiday shopping season. The four-day event draws about 60,000 people and gives visitors a chance to play with the latest smart phones, the fastest home computers, incredibly expensive home theater equipment, and a bevy of other devices.

If you’re more of the do-it-yourself type, you’ll probably fit in better at the ultimate anti-establishment meeting of hardcore tech-heads—DefCon. Be warned—before heading to Las Vegas in August, you’d best prove the quality of your computer kung fu in the con’s online forums. Once you’ve earned the respect of these individuals (whose online aliases show off their technological prowess and anarchic leanings), your days at the con will be spent establishing your reputation in a series of hacking competitions and late-night dance parties. Most of all, be sure to keep an eye out for lurking Federal agents—spotting one could win you a coveted “I spotted the Fed” T-shirt.

Wanted: Professional video game players
If there was one conference that had every obsessed video gamer gearing up this year, it was E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo. As of 2007, this king of cons for video game fans admitted only press and industry folks. In response to a wave of angry protests, the event organizers fractured off a whole new con dedicated to those everyday joystick jockeys willing to travel to Los Angeles in October. E for All, the newest but largest coming-together of gamers in the country, offers seminars on breaking into the industry, a preview of anticipated games and gadgets, and competitions pitting gamers against one another on the digital battlefield.  

The competitions are one of the greatest draws, with the number of participants steadily increasing as more games offer multiplayer options and online arenas. Still, there’s nothing like staring your competition in the eye before heading into the fray, and a number of leagues have sprung up to cater to this desire for “contact”. The big three are the Cyberathelete Professional League (CPL), Major League Gaming (MLG), and the World Cyber Games, all of which sponsor regional events throughout the year, with top players making it through to the national championships in Dallas, Las Vegas, and Orlando, respectively. And it’s not just honor on the line; there are big cash prizes for the winners. CPL’s Extreme Winter event in December features a $1 million Halo 3 tournament, while MLG doled out nearly $500,000 at its Las Vegas tournament last October.