In nearly two weeks time, this year's annual Summer of Sonic convention will be held in Hove (a small town on the south coast of England). Initially curated by fans and longtime Sonic stalwart Svend 'Dreadknux' Joscelyne in 2006, the first Summer of Sonic was simply an excuse for like-minded individuals to get together in a small pub. But it wasn't until 2008 when Svend Joscelyne really got serious and decided to scrape together a "couple of hundred quid" to see if there was any longevity in the event. Luckily, the convention was a success and since then, Summer of Sonic has grown to become an internationally recognised gaming event - with the resultant success being that it's attracted official sponsorship from Sega, as well as a number of high-profile gaming celebrities gracing its convention halls each and every year.
To celebrate this, and to find out a little bit more about Summer of Sonic's history, I decided to interview Svend Joscelyne and also took the opportunity to discover out as to what Summer of Sonic 2012 has in store for Sonic fans this year.
First off: what inspired you to set up your own Sonic themed convention, and did you ever consider broadening the convention's appeal by incorporating a less exclusionist l...