I picked up an issue at Sushiland today, and was happy to find an article about K-con! I've taken the liberty of typing it out for you guys to read.
Attack of the OtakuKumoricon 2007 is the Anime Convention's Biggest Year Yet
Article and photos by John Thomas
Can you name a convention where the main attraction is … the attendees? At an event like Kumoricon with dozens of panels, concerts and attractions, the biggest pull for participants is definitely the “socialization,” according to Kumoricon chair, Meg Uhde.
What is Kumoricon?
Kumoricon, named for the Japanese word for “cloudy,” is a Portland convention held every Labor Day Weekend. The three-day event is routed as an anime convention, but really includes a celebration of Japanese manga, and gaming, but also including karaoke, J-pop, Japanese language…and, oh yes, the costume play. Over the three days the all-volunteer staff and guests present up to 18 hours a day of programming in multiple venues along with a crowded exhibitor’s area full of artists, publishers, and retailers large and small trying to get their names out and grab a piece of that valuable otaku (super-fan) dollar.
“A majority of people are dressed up,” said Uhde. “Cosplay is one of the bigger reasons people come…nothing says more than I am a [fan of a certain character] than wearing the outfit. Then I have people that come up to me that know who I am, and now we have something in common.”
And the participants take it very seriously Uhde herself has spent more than a year making a single costume. “Most costumes are made by the person wearing it,” Uhde told us. “A lot of people learn how to sew just to do this…it’s about doing it yourself, and then showing it off to people who appreciate it.”
Kumoricon had over 3000 participants this year (an impressive jump from 2257 last year and just over 500 in 2002, the first year of the convention), so making original costumes gets more difficult. “Last year I was the only me,” lamented one costumed attendee, “and this year there are at least ten of me.”
“You definitely want to be the one to do [a character] first,” said Uhde. “…and people are getting more elaborate with what they do. People are really going for the more challenging outfits. Accuracy was always a big factor, but that’s actually starting to wane a bit.” She buys into the idea of “enthusiasm over accuracy.”
And one thing not lacking at Kumoricon is enthusiasm. With programming from 8 a.m. workshops to dances and anime screenings going to 2 in the morning, it wasn’t uncommon to see a cat-eared cos-player taking a catnap in the Vancouver Hilton lobby between events. This year’s location and timing coincided with Vancouver’s 150th Anniversary, at Esther Short Park, putting two very different events right across the street from each other.
Away from the convention itself, “you are going to get funny looks,” commented Kumoricon Vice-Chair Rian Mueller. “But then you have thirty people in costumes coming over, and any problems just face away,” interjected Uhde. “I actually talked to Vancouver’s Mayor Pollard and he told me he loved the participation of our attendees in the Vancouver anniversary celebration. He said it added so much.”
What this writer saw was an extremely excited and happy group of attendees. Although most participants were probably aged 15-25, all age groups were represented with babies dressed in character as well as a few costumed revelers old enough to be grandparents. It was common to see several characters from popular titles like “Death Note,” “Naruto,” or “Full Metal Alchemist” posing together for pictures. Mario and Luigi might have been two middle-aged guys who were actual plumbers on the side of the ballroom, or two teenage girls presenting their own interpretation of Nintendo’s most popular brothers. A group of pink and blue haired nurses walked around together, and this was the first year of the Lolita tea party, attended by participants in Lolita or maid-type get-ups.
For a group of people that sometimes has the reputation of being non-social, indoor types, there was no shortage of positive social interaction to be seen. Fingers pointed and cameras flashed as another elaborately costumed group entered the many lobby. The only time people weren’t smiling was when they were coolly posing for pictures in character.
With nearly a dozen event spaces, not including the exhibitor’s alley, organizing an all-volunteer staff is a full-time job, and it is no wonder that the original five founders of Kumoricon participate mostly as volunteers or attendees, but not in the busy staff positions. “Every hour I am awake and not at my day job, I am working on Kumoricon,” said Uhde, and Mueller agreed that it took about as much time for the Vice-chair position.
With barely time to catch their breath, organizers have started planning for 2008, and a few changes and additions are being tossed around. What we know for sure is Kumoricon 2008 will be held at the Portland Doubletree Inn at Lloyd Center. As much as they liked the Vancouver Hilton, it won’t be large enough for next year’s convention.
The increasing growth in popularity of manga, anime and games from Japan, as well as the decreasing number of sci-fi conventions, will mean Kumoricon will grow too big to be a hotel convention in not too many years. Uhde would like to see Kumoricon in Portland’s Convention Center, but the lack of nearby hotels is a big disadvantage. “40% of Kumoricon participants are from out of town,” Uhde informed us. “We had one person come in all the way from Yonkers, New York, just to attend Kumoricon.” But as problems go, it is an exciting one to have.
In preparing for Kumoricon 2008, Uhde and Mueller hope to include more mini-events leading up to next Labor Day weekend, including a masquerade ball to be held in December. These sorts of events help generate buzz as well as act as rewards for volunteers and staff. Returning to the Lloyd Center Doubletree has advantages; since Kumoricon and the hotel have a history, glitches that occur from not knowing each other should be eliminated. Programming will be decided after the elections are held in the first week in October.
Interested in participating in Kumoricon? Go to
www.kumoricon.org for information on volunteering, staffing, general meetings and everything else you need to know.
