Wondering what to wear to the Battle of the Geek Bands party this Friday night at the Showbox Sodo?

As with all GeekWire events, the term “business casual” is relative. Dress for whatever mood strikes you!

If you’re excited to rock out with the bands, perhaps Ziggy Stardust or Devo might be your inspiration. (More on the Geek Bands and our celebrity music judges here).

Or, if you’re getting ready for Halloween next week, it’s the perfect opportunity to take your costume for a test drive!

Even if you’re just looking forward to relaxing with a beer and celebrating that you made it through the awesomeness of Startup Week, why not add a wig and some rock-n-roll spikes?

Either way, you could win prizes!

That’s right.

There will be a costume contest during the Battle of the Geek Bands, with doors to the event opening at 5 p.m. I will be on the lookout — along with two other local cosplay celebrity judges — to select our top five favorite costumes of the evening. The top two ghouls, goblins or geeks will receive some fun prizes, including tickets to the GeekWire Gala on December 4th!

I’m honored to introduce my fellow costume contest judges:

Crystal von Oy is a distinguished member of both the 501st Legion and the Rebel Legion, and has won numerous awards and honors over her more than 10 years in professional costuming:

Also, joining our costume judging panel is the fabulously fun SonYong Yu, who has served as a director and a judge for SakuraCon’s cosplay competition, won countless awards over the past decade, in addition to founding and co-owning her own company of cosplay accessories and plush decorations, NiceRice. She’s the perfect mash-up of Startup Day and a costume contest!

I am also honored to announce that we will be joined by the professional Star Wars costumers from the 501st Legion and the Rebel Legion!

Some of you may remember the troop from the GeekWire Gala 2011, but what you may not know is that both organizations are LucasArts-sanctioned and raise money for charities through their costumed events. Talk about geeks who give back!

Whether you’re a member of the KISS Army, or a member of Vader’s 501st Legion, Friday night is going to be an evening of pure geek heaven.

ROCK ON stormtroopers!

Tickets are still available for the Battle of the Geek Bands and Costume Contest. They are just $5, so we hope to see everyone join us for this rockin’ good time.

See everyone tomorrow for Startup Day and the Battle of the Geek Bands! Tickets are still available for both events here or below.

A big thanks to our sponsors for helping to make Startup Day and the Battle of the Geek Bands possible: Wave Business Solutions, Moz, Knoll, Double Down Interactive, the Museum of History and Industry, Avalara, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Budweiser, Amazon Web Services, Hughes Media Law Group, Perkins Coie, Car2Go, Cobalt, 9Mile Labs, Ticketmaster and TechStars.

Startup Day is part of Startup Week, presented by GeekWire and taking place from Oct. 18 to Oct. 30. It features more than a dozen events.

Lisa Weeks has accumulated 20 years of XP points in her career as a marketing director for companies including FilterDigital and Nordstrom, alongside a career as a cosplay judge and panelist at SakuraCon. She was named “Lisa Weeks, Epic Cosplayer” as GeekWire’s Geek of the Week in 2011, and recently gave a TEDxSeattle talk about the intersection of her personal cosplay passion and her professional marketing career, entitled “The Economy of Weird.” Lisa is serving as interim marketing director for GeekWire.