Here are a few things to expect at Kumoricon:
• LOTS of cosplayers of all skill levels. From people who simply find the pieces for their outfits to people who have them custom made, and all are definitely welcome.
• Panels, panels, and more panels. We even had a guest speaker who did work on Inu Yasha this year. Tack on the knowledge of dozens of volunteers, staff members, and even professors who show up to field questions on anything from cheap & fast costuming to cultural differences between Japan and the US, and you can fill up an entire day just running around taking classes you WANT to take for once.
• Did I mention cosplayers? Well, I didn't mention the cosplay competition. The backbone of any anime con is the congoers themselves acting out their characters in skits on stage that can make for some of the most bizarre situations anywhere. We'll also be bringing back the "Mega-Cosplay" this year, allowing scads of characters from all sorts of different shows and games to interact.
• If we're lucky, the great cosplay troupe Bakazoku will be back again. They've been with us for our first three years, and they're both some of the funniest and nicest guys you'll ever meet. I didn't even know who Bakazoku Chris was when I drove him over to McDonald's the night before Kumoricon 2003, and that brief trip was one of my funnest memories from that weekend.
• Gaming! There's a video game room open pretty much the whole con, and it's not so overcrowded that people won't get to play, either. Console game tourneys abound. And for the RPGer, tabletop sessions will go on as well, so dice throwing is encouraged.
• Dance! The second night of the con holds a lovely dance which always gets quite the review. Last year we had a screen playing many AMVs from the selected songs, which made it that much cooler.
• Dealer Room! Buy stuff! Lots of stuff! Make our vendors happy so they come back with MORE stuff! You can get stuff ranging from cute to quite racy, and everything in between. And more Pocky than even I could eat is there!
Price this year was $35 before the con, and $40 at the door. I expect that the prices will at least be comparable. Hope that helps!
PezCat