“The Japan-America Society of Oregon, Uwajimaya, and NW Natural will be presenting the eighth annual Festival Japan on Saturday and Sunday, September 27-28, 2008 (11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.) at Uwajimaya Plaza in Beaverton, Oregon. This exciting community event has been organized to bring about awareness and appreciation of the Japanese culture. It showcases a wide variety of performances, exhibitions, cultural demonstrations and Japanese children's games, everything from taiko drumming and ikebana to martial arts and cooking demonstrations. Festival Japan is focused and designed for family entertainment.”

We will be selling pre-registrations to Kumoricon 2009.

Any volunteers who would like to help staff the booth, answer questions, and take registrations, please email publicity@kumoricon.org.

A huge thanks to those people, staff, volunteers, and guests, who built an environment for fun that exceeded everyone’s expectations!

The biggest thank you goes to every person who was at Kumoricon this year for having a part in making this the most fantastically fun weekend in Kumoricon history!

Our paid attendance was 4470, nearly 50% larger than last year.

We also raised $4550 in the charity auction for p:EAR—double the amount we raised last year!

This year saw an amazing amount of entries into the mascot contest. The staff cast their votes to determine the winner and we are pleased to announce our new mascot for 2009:

Chevelle Abad – Be sure and thank her for an awesome job!

We are also excited to announce our new hotel for Kumoricon 2009 and 2010:

The Hilton Portland and Executive Tower

This venue, located in the heart of downtown, with plenty of food options and easy MAX access, will allow us to grow main events by roughly 50% and have a better stage arrangement using the Grand Ballroom. We will also have several more options that haven’t been possible in the past due to space constraints in previous hotels.

The dates of Kumoricon 2009 and 2010 are:

September 5-7, 2009 – Labor Day Weekend
September 4-6, 2010 – Labor Day Weekend

We are looking forward to continuing to provide opportunities for cosplay and anime fans to get together and have fun over the coming year. Keep an eye on the website for outreach events that will be happening during the year. We will be working with many college campus clubs to help sponsor events on campus.

Watch for announcements on 2009 guests and we look forward to seeing you at the next Kumoricon!

Elections

The Kumoricon 2009 elections and October general meeting will be held at our new hotel:

Hilton Portland and Executive Tower
Pavilion Room

921 SW Sixth Avenue
Portland, OR 97204

Saturday, October 11, 2008
11:00am-6:00pm

Nominations opened for Kumoricon 2009 officers at the Rant and Rave at the con, and remain open in the forums. As the date gets closer, more details will be posted including question and answer threads for the candidates and details on the agenda for the elections meeting.

Download it here [PDF, 2.2MB], or browse past newsletters.

Here’s what you need to know to make the most of your weekend.

When you show up for registration, you must have photo ID (whether registering at-the-door or checking having already pre-registered). If you pre-registered and your badge was mailed to you, you must bring the badge also.

If you are under age 18, you must either bring your signed parental permission form [PDF] or have already mailed it.

Registration hours:

Friday: 6:00pm-10:00pm (pre-registration check-in only; no at-the-door registrations)
Saturday: 8:00am-7:00pm
Sunday: 8:00am-7:00pm
Monday: 8:00am-3:00pm

Convention programming runs from 8am to 2am on Saturday and Sunday, and 8am to 5pm on Monday.

All attendees need to familiarize themselves with the convention policies. It’s mostly common sense, but it’s important information to know to be sure everyone is safe and in compliant with our rules.

There’s been one important policies change: The midnight curfew for minors has been extended to 1am for only the dances on Saturday and Sunday night. The curfew remains at midnight for all other events and convention space.

For the full schedule and pocket guide download, complete list of events, room hours, and a highlight of major attractions on all three days, check out our schedule page.

Want a map of the event space? Looking for nearby food? Check out our new maps page for all the info you need on the hotel and the nearby area.

The fun starts in just 3 days!

We have had several last-minute hotel room cancellations. If you need to cancel a room that you have previously reserved at the attendee rate, please email hotel@kumoricon.org first to cancel, and please send from the email address you used to pre-register and provide a phone number for verification. We will transfer these rooms to those on the waiting list.

Doubletree Portland-Lloyd Center
Adams-Jefferson Room
1000 NE Multnomah St
Portland, OR 97232

In addition to the usual department reports and opportunities for staff and volunteers to meet up, there are two other notable events:

Swag bag-stuffing. Fill 4500 bags with the program book, pocket guide, and goodies!

Changes to the bylaws have been proposed and the amendment details are being discussed in this forum thread. Changes to the bylaws require a 2/3 vote of the staff and a 2/3 vote of the board. We’ll be voting on one or more proposed bylaws amendments at this meeting if any staff member makes a motion to vote on it.

Doubletree Portland-Lloyd Center
Broadway Room
1000 NE Multnomah St
Portland, OR 97232

There are two general meetings in August, and then the con is right around the corner! Both of the remaining meetings before the con will be held at the hotel.

All general meetings until the convention will be held at the hotel.

Doubletree Portland-Lloyd Center
Broadway Room
1000 NE Multnomah St
Portland, OR 97232

Important announcement for potential staff: To be assured of having your name and staff position listed in the staff list in the con book, you must register as staff no later than at this meeting. Registrations within a few days after the meeting might make it in, but not if it would risk causing us to delay printing.

We hope to see you on the evening of Saturday the 19th!