2009 Guest Reccomendations - Official Thread

[Rathany]

Kumoricon has a history of inviting many different types of guests, like voice actors, artists, musicians, directors, editors etc.  Here is the official thread to reccomend guests.  Please reccomend more than one type of guest, and not just your dream guest. 

Thanks. 

[TanisNikana]

First, steal back The Slants. Second, book Sachibelle for a concert. She'll do it for free if you ask. Third, get Piano Squall. Fourth, go get Nobuo Uematsu if you can. (Fat chance, I know, since he said no to Sakura, but why not?)

[Sugarlat]

I'd love to see Crispin Freeman [/drool] Although I'm not sure how possible that is XD
The slants is a must. Their super awesome.
Sachibelle is so awesome, I would bask in her awesomeness.
Toshihiro Kawamoto, Monica Rial. The anime hunters would be awesome to have back.
Um....That's really all I can think about right now XD
OH and Cristina Vee....I love her XD

[Cassiopeia]

Third, get Piano Squall.

PLEASE. I'm still upset that I missed him when he was at K-con. I had no idea what I was missing then, and have since been hoping for a chance to see 'im play.

[Sugarlat]

Wait...
Piano squall was at K-con!?
And I missed him?!
Oh what a dissapointment!!

[Cassiopeia]

He was at K-con '06. My first con... Like I said, I had no idea what I was missing. >___>

[Sugarlat]

Oh..I thought you ment this year XD
That would be awesome to see him at Kumoricon then!

[DancingTofu]

The Slants will be on tour.  Unless there's a cancellation in their tour, they are already scheduled to perform elsewhere during Kumoricon.

[oslapedo]

I'd love to see Crispin Freeman

This notion is seconded! Any of the major VA's from .hack would be amazing... Kari Wahlgreen, Yuri Lowenthal, Bridget Hoffman, Jamieson Price, Johnny Yong Bosch, Erin Fitzgerald, Daran Norris, and Liam O'Briam. My two most anticipated would be Crispin and Kari 

[DancingTofu]

I will sleep with whomever i need to in order to get Matt Groening (Simsons, Futurama) at Kumoricon.  I know he's not Anime/Manga, but he's one of the biggest names in animation on the west coast, and I think he still lives in Beaverton.

[BlackjackGabbiani]

Jamieson Price

SECONDED OH MY GOD SECONDED (and someone other than *me* brought him up?). He's an incredible actor, doing an absolutely mind-blowing job from the very beginning (his first VA role was Oikawa from Digimon and he was phenominal!)

I'd also like to see Cathy Weseluck and Maddie Blaustein--two of the most versatile VAs out there. Weseluck has been everyone from Shampoo on Ranma 1/2 to the title character and her alter ego on CyberSix (and if you know the series you know how different just those two voices are), and Blaustein...well honestly, could *you* tell that Lezard from Valkerie Profile had the same VA as Meowth?
(Weseluck would probably be the easier choice though, given that she's based out of Vancouver BC while Blaustein is in New York, but hey).

[TomtheFanboy]

These voice actors sound good, and I'm not even that interested in those sorts of panels.

I would like to have the Foglios back at the convention. They brought in a couple dozen people that might not have come otherwise.

And because they'll be mentioned by somebody eventually

Gackt
Joss Whedon
Bruce Campbell
Mark Hamill (at least he did VA work on Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles)

[Higuma]

I second bruce campbell

[TanisNikana]

Short of, what was it, $2.5 million, Gackt won't show. Forget about him. Joss Whedon, if we can get him, should be a huge draw.

Also Matt Groening.

[superjaz]

Gackt

aw thanks tom

but yeah anything that is japanese, singers, voice actors, manga ka
you should get komiz sensei to do a talk on the roots of anime in kabuki

[Rathany]

Gackt

aw thanks tom

but yeah anything that is japanese, singers, voice actors, manga ka
you should get komiz sensei to do a talk on the roots of anime in kabuki

Kominz-sensei is more under Jaki than me, but I would love to see him do more stuff at Kcon 2009. 

[Jamiche]

Y'know, you're pawning off a lot of stuff as being under me   So, what.. you get all the bigwig out of town people, and I get the locals?

[Rathany]

Y'know, you're pawning off a lot of stuff as being under me   So, what.. you get all the bigwig out of town people, and I get the locals?

Errr... yes?  Isn't that kinda the definition of our respective directorships?  I'll be in charge of talking to Kominz if you want me to.  I see him a couple times a week anyway

[LiLd3vil4u]

And because they'll be mentioned by somebody eventually

Gackt
Joss Whedon
Bruce Campbell
Mark Hamill (at least he did VA work on Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles)

Joss....Whedon...?
*dies*

If we could get him or ANYONE from the Firefly cast...I would weep with joy and scream at the same time.

A few I would like to see are:
The cast from Red vs Blue. (I can give you the list of names if necessary) I dunno how much they would be...but we would get sooo many nerdy gamers to show if we brought them in.
Fred Gallagher from Megatokyo.com
Chris Hazelton from Misfile.com
Gabe & Tyco from Pennyarcade
The VA Eric Vale ^^

[superjaz]

well here is a thought, who was in charge of getting the dark horse speaker carl horn?
because I dont see much differnce between the two as both are professionals

the roots of anime in kabuki was an idea Kominz tossed out when I first talked with him about k-con back in 2006, its just a shame to have him come and preform but not do a lecture.

(and how is it that I suggest komiz being a great guest idea looooonng time ago but its not followed up until some one from programing takes his class  )

[Trumby]

My list:

Chris Patton. I already know that he wants to come to a west coast con. My girlfriend actually talked to him on Saturday night about that very thing.
Yuki Kajiura. She's probably too expensive but if a con I went to ever got her it would be amazing. I love her music.

LiLd3vil: The problem with Gave & Tycho is that they have PAX, which is probably going to be the same weekend as us as long as it is still around, unfortunately. Though they haven't released a date for 2009 yet, it's still probably going to be labor day weekend. I believe the same problem happens with the RvB guys as they've been at PAX every year since it started?

[Cassiopeia]

Hahaha, as much as I'd love to have Joss Whedon (and that's a LOT)... This isn't exactly the right type of convention for him, is it? It's primarily for anime and related Japanese things. Yes, he does have some comic book series but still I think it'd be nigh impossible to get him to come.

Anyway~

Svetlana Chmakova!
- I know there are many who would like to see her at K-con.

[melchizedek]

KOKIA!!!!

[TomtheFanboy]

You guys are all downers! This isn't a thread for saying who NOT to invite.
Save your elitism for your blogs.

Katsuhisa Ezaki, President and CEO, Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd.
Or his associate at Ezaki Glico USA Corporation. that'd be cool for me.
They'd probably just send some marketing guy though.

[RemSaverem]

About Joss Whedon....first of all I'd really have to call my Assistant Steve and warn him of the likelihood I would faint! and/or otherwise go missing for all the Whedon programming hours....***LOVES*** Creation Station has run Whedon-related programming (e.g. fanfic contests themed on anime/Whedon crossovers; Toni Levi's keynotes on the Whedonverse....). Dark Horse has been integral *giggles; having been Integra at KC '03* to KC for a few years, and publishes Whedon's comics...Buffy and now Serenity...Whedon's new series, Dollhouse, comes out next year, so undoubtedly there will eventually be some level of comic tie-in and con promo circuit....if he couldn't make the con there might be someone from the new series who could....but if nothing else remember he as well as most of the cast of Firefly/Serenity were awesome about appearing in(giving special interviews and much more for)  Done the Impossible: The Fans' Tale of Firefly and Serenity (some such title). This is a fan-made movie about the fan community that basically resurrected Joss's baby and led to the apparently unprecedented (?) making of a full-length feature film out of a cancelled series...if nothing else I've actually thought of if there were any downtime in the Creation Station, showing this film, which is released under Creative Commons, some rights reserved. During the showing of the DVD it reads on the screen that we can feel free to tape or even edit the film (though not the special features on the DVD-ROM, which I haven't seen.) ....So I **think** that means that the film can be shown without paying royalties or getting permissions??? Anyone know???

Oh and of course DH are going to be in the spotlight next year with the mangettes...involving CLAMP **dreams**

[Cassiopeia]

Creation Station has run Whedon-related programming (e.g. fanfic contests themed on anime/Whedon crossovers; Toni Levi's keynotes on the Whedonverse....).

Why wasn't I informed!? -is now upset-

[Higuma]

Anyone from firefly would be great! also I would like to see a Japanese voice actor at next K-con.(although that might be too expensive)

[LiLd3vil4u]

LiLd3vil: The problem with Gave & Tycho is that they have PAX, which is probably going to be the same weekend as us as long as it is still around, unfortunately. Though they haven't released a date for 2009 yet, it's still probably going to be labor day weekend. I believe the same problem happens with the RvB guys as they've been at PAX every year since it started?

Your true, but I can hope can't I? lol

[oslapedo]

Jamieson Price

SECONDED OH MY GOD SECONDED (and someone other than *me* brought him up?). He's an incredible actor, doing an absolutely mind-blowing job from the very beginning (his first VA role was Oikawa from Digimon and he was phenominal!)

I love him! His voice is so deep and nice... mmm... I replay .hack cutscenes sometimes just to hear him! I'm kind of thinking about maybe doing a .hack panel next year, and if one of the GU voice actors was at the con I'd be totally inspired too.

[DancingTofu]

The next time PAX and Kumoricon conflict weekends will be 2016 or 2017 IIRC.

[RemSaverem]

Creation Station has run Whedon-related programming (e.g. fanfic contests themed on anime/Whedon crossovers; Toni Levi's keynotes on the Whedonverse....).

Why wasn't I informed!? -is now upset-

These were at Sakuracon and Anime Evolution a couple years ago....Toni Levi, who used to be a professor at PSU and at that time keynoted for Kumoricon, now lives in British Columbia, so we've only been able to get her to the cons up north. I'm sorry about that. Feel free to join the_creation_station@yahoogroups.com, which is where the group, largely by consensus, designs our niche of programming for our cons and mini-events.

[VampireFangs103]

It'd be amazing if we could get Quinton Flynn. He's amazing. Eric Stuart would be fun too. lol. Or Wendee Lee. lol. Feels like I'm shoot for the stars here. x.x Sorry. >.> Meh. Too bad we can't get An Cafe over here. XD

[Hazuza]

Too bad we can't get An Cafe over here. XD

]8

This makes me sad.

[lychee-twist]

Vic Mignogna usually goes to Sakuracon. If one of the admins goes, maybe they could talk to him? There's a lot of voice actors that perhaps they could get a hold of there.

A mangaka from Japan would be cool.

[RandomCosplay]

lets have
1. The out Mods
      They Played In Anime Vegas 07
      and rocked the place ^_^
2. my friend DJ Jinnai now known as Katsuhiko Jinnai
       who to had played at anime vegas 07
       his myspace page
       http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=150865405
3.Bonnie Pink
       I love her she has made some great music for games like Tales of Vesperia
       http://www.myspace.com/bonniepink

thats about all I think would vary much be up for it
just tell Jinnai if you ask him that Daniel AKA Neko Ichigo Sent you ^_^
he wanted me to hand out CDs at This years Kcon but I forgot so I think he should show up

Daniel AKA Neko Ichigo

[BlackjackGabbiani]

Eric Stuart would be fun too. lol.

'twould be doubly awesome if he did a concert too.

It's very amusing to hear him sing because most of his songs are about either gettin' some or unrequited love, and his singing voice is Brock.

[lychee-twist]

Katsuhisa Ezaki, President and CEO, Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd.
Or his associate at Ezaki Glico USA Corporation. that'd be cool for me.
They'd probably just send some marketing guy though.

EPIC POCKY CLUB OF DOOM-PANEL! That's what that would make.

Vic Mignogna usually goes to Sakuracon. If one of the admins goes, maybe they could talk to him?

I've had too many bad experiences with Vic Mignogna working as staff up at Sakuracon. He has a very elitist attitude and a VERY inflated ego. He is rude to other guests and panelists (he ran into my friend Brian's panel and told everyone to come across the hall to his panel), is passive aggressive, and is certain that his events are the most important and that he should get special treatment.

I've always though that he's pretty creepy too... I know that he just "does it for the fans"... but I think it's crossing the lines in quite a few ways... (Examples by videos on YouTube: link, link, link)

I'll trust you on that one. That does sound bad. It's cool. There are many other guests to ask. Johnny Young Bosch, maybe? He was a Power Ranger!

[AnimeMatrix]

... so no one has anymore guest suggestions? In that case, Dawn and I shall assume that there are no more guests that people want to see/meet at con and therefore will ignore further guest requests.

(This is of course meant in jest... the assistant is wondering why no one has made a guest request in over a month...)

[Toxikon]

I second Bruce Campbell!  He lives right outside Grants Pass, if I'm not mistaken.

Some people I'd like to see:
Yoko Kanno - I don't know how hard it would be to get her, and according to Wikipedia she speaks very little English, but her music is SO AMAZING.
Doc Hammer (Eric Arthur Hammer) and Jackson Publick (Christopher McCulloch) - Most famous for The Venture Bros.  They've made multiple con appearances before, and though they're not really anime, they're still awesome.
Guillermo del Toro - Amazing filmmaker.  He's the genius behind Pan's Labyrinth, as well as Hellboy and Hellboy II.  He lives in California, but he was just announced as the director for The Hobbit (YES!), so he's moving to New Zealand, and I don't know if he'd be in the states around K-con time.  Still, if he could come, it would be absolutely fantastic.

[lychee-twist]

Toxi, if we got any one of those people we would probably surpass Sakuracon's attendance. I say go for it! Whoo!

[Deviant Spider]

Tee hee hee. I just would love to have a reason to make a button that says "I glomped Bruce Campbell"

[Rathany]

I second Bruce Campbell!  He lives right outside Grants Pass, if I'm not mistaken.

We actually tried really hard in 2006 and 2007 to get him. The problem is that he's in Burn Notice and they start filming the week before con and he can never make it.

And if we did get him we'd have to worry about all the dead-heads... >_>

Since Burn Notice is awesome, I will have to forgive him

[Simon Young]

These are the guests that I've worked with that have been the best - in attitude, the way they treat others (attendees/staff/other guests), and who bring a lot to the table:

Voice Actors:
Greg Ayers
Kara Edwards

Artists:
Robert & Emily DeJesus
Steve Bennet (though he'll most likely be in Japan at the time)
Sonnie Wright

General Actors:
James Kyson Lee (Ando from Heroes)

Bands:
Notorious MSG
Peelander Z
Last Stop Tokyo (shameless plug for The Slants' side project)

In the 40+ conventions that I've been involved with, I've had my share of negative experiences with guests as well (both personally as well as just seeing how they treated attendees/staff/other guests). I won't mention them on here, but I'd be willing to help warn Guest Relations for K-Con about them (though they most likely know).

And The Slants will most likely be around the area, but we probably won't be doing three consecutive appearances in a row ^_^

[Higuma]

I second Bruce Campbell!  He lives right outside Grants Pass, if I'm not mistaken.

We actually tried really hard in 2006 and 2007 to get him. The problem is that he's in Burn Notice and they start filming the week before con and he can never make it.

And if we did get him we'd have to worry about all the dead-heads... >_>

Since Burn Notice is awesome, I will have to forgive him

I get to meet Bruce Campbell on Dec. 14

[Deviant Spider]

I get to meet Bruce Campbell on Dec. 14

How???

[kalira]

Since the slants may not be able to make it back what about the minibosses =^.^=  They do awesome guitar versions of video game level music.  I got the chance to see them at PAX in 2005 and it was awesome. 

[AnimeMatrix]

The next time PAX and Kumoricon conflict weekends will be 2016 or 2017 IIRC.

I hate to burst your bubble, but PAX announced their dates for 2009~

http://www.pennyarcadeexpo.com/

Though I don't think this'll affect guests that Kumori Con gets. Gaming guests will go to PAX and anime/manga guests we'll try our best to get to come to us ^_^.

[Deviant Spider]

totally second Minibosses. They are awesome!

http://www.minibosses.com/

[Higuma]

I get to meet Bruce Campbell on Dec. 14

How???

He has a new movie coming out and he is going to be at a total of 4 screenings on Dec. 13 and 14 at the Fox tower theater in Portland. He will be at the 7:30 and 9:20 shows on both days you can get tickets on fandango or at the box office. The Movie name is "My name is Bruce"

[Deviant Spider]

He has a new movie coming out and he is going to be at a total of 4 screenings on Dec. 13 and 14 at the Fox tower theater in Portland. He will be at the 7:30 and 9:20 shows on both days you can get tickets on fandango or at the box office. The Movie name is "My name is Bruce"

Thats pretty cool. Ill have too look into that. Thanks!