If you missed the Doctor Who Prom this summer, don't worry — the BBC will air highlights on New Year's Day. And if you think the BBC was the first to put "Doctor Who" and "prom" in a sentence together, you'd better get hip to Geek Prom: the adult superparty for Trekkies, Einsteins, space cadets, and all other "Spastic Americans."
2002 was the first year of the annual Geek Prom in Duluth, Minnesota. Since then, it's been going strong, serving as the official festive gathering for — as founder Paul Lundgren intended — people who were too geeky to attend their high school prom, or people who were too cool to properly enjoy it (this writer fits solidly in the former category). Over the past six years, themes for the dance have included "We Are Through Being Cool," "Cubed for Your Pleasure," "The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth," and "We're Bringing Geeky Back." Best of all, the 2008 King and Queen are a Presbyterian minister/former Mathlete/BASIC enthusiast and a landscape architect/Photoshop guru/geometry teacher.
You'll be glad to know you've got time to prepare your costume for the next Geek Prom, in April of next year. The organizers suggest "out-of-style formal wear, superhero outfits, futuristic ensembles designed for casual space travel, or uniforms from any marching band, Girl Scout troop or other such geek activity." Leave your date and your dancing shoes; bring your They Might Be Giants tapes and Dungeons & Dragons paraphernalia.
Princess Leia (from Geek Prom 2008) image from starfire.