Thank you to our attendees, volunteers, and staff for making Kumoricon 2007 the most exciting year yet. From the new registration system, to the wonderful support we received from the Hilton, to our larger gaming room and new manga library, we’ve come a long way in five years.

A few facts demonstrating our growth:

Paid attendance: 3003 (up 33% from last year)
Charity auction money raised for p:ear: $2776 (up 13%)

In 2008, Kumoricon will be returning to our most popular past hotel: The Portland Doubletree at Lloyd Center, our home in 2005. You, the attendees and staff, asked for this, and we heard you. We were very happy with the Hilton in Vancouver this year but we’ve already outgrown it and the Doubletree will nicely accommodate our expected growth for 2008.

General elections for the 2008 officers will be scheduled and announced shortly on the front page right here, and the nominations will be posted in the forums.

Look forward to the Kumoricon 2008 website, opening in less than a month featuring a new design and our 2008 mascot as voted by the staff and announced at closing ceremonies.

Kumoricon will have a booth at the Uwajimaya Festival Japan this weekend, located at the Beaverton Uwajimaya store. This festival runs for two days: Saturday and Sunday, September 15-16, from 11am to 5pm each day.

We’re selling registrations for 2008 at the lowest pre-reg rate of $25! If you register at this event, we’ll mail your badge no later than just after the end of the first tier of pre-registrations (roughly the end of 2007).

A-Key Kyo, a guest of honor at Kumoricon 2006 and 2007, will be performing here. Come see them again! Their two performances are scheduled for Saturday, Sep. 15 at 3:15pm, and Sunday, Sep. 16 at 1:45pm. Each is about one hour long.

The festival also features Japanese cultural activities including taiko drumming, koto, martial arts, and Japanese children’s games.

We need volunteers to help with this! If you are interested in volunteering, please post in this forum thread, and please specify which days and times you are available.

We’ll see you there!

If you lost (or found) any items at Kumoricon, please email lostandfound@kumoricon.org with a description of the item. We have several items, many with no personal identifying features, waiting to be claimed. If you found any items and didn’t turn them in to Lost and Found at the convention, please let us know with a description of the item as soon as possible so we are able to confirm to the owner that we can return it to them when they inquire. Thank you!

Update: An itemized list of the lost and found items will be available at the next three general meetings.