The winner of our contest for the 2012 mascot is:

Winning mascot artist: suarhnir

Kumoricon proudly announces that for 2012, it will be returning to the same place, the Hilton Vancouver Washington and the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay. Look forward to Labor Day weekend, September 1-3, 2012 for another great year!

It is very likely that the parking information will be updated with additional detail in the next day or two, so please keep checking the page if you would like more parking information.

You can now use the Guidebook app for iPhone, iPod touch, and Android to view the Kumoricon schedule, maps, Twitter, alerts, exhibitors hall, artists alley, and more. Mark events to create a personalized schedule, search event titles by keyword, browse events by date and time or by category, create a personal to-do list, and see all event titles, descriptions, times, and rooms. Contains maps of both hotels, the exhibitors hall, and local restaurants.

After you install the app, search the guides for “Kumoricon”.

If you have a phone or device other than iPhone, iPod touch, or Android, you can use the web version: http://m.guidebookapp.com/296/ (For computers or tablets, you can also try: http://www.kumoricon.org/schedule/)

At the end of the convention, the app will contain an optional survey. We would love if you could complete this to help tell us what we did well and what we can improve!

Fillable At-Con Registration Form [fillable PDF] – Download this form if you want to type and print your information. (Faster at the reg desk!) All fields are required except “Badge Name”.

Blank At-Con Registration Form [PDF] – Download this form if you want to print a blank form and then handwrite your information. All fields are required except “Badge Name”.

Check-in for Kumoricon on Day Zero and you can join us as FUNimation presents the West Coast Anime Convention premiere of the English version of Trigun: Badlands Rumble! Vash the Stampede is back and on the big screen! See it at the Hilton Vancouver Washington at or shortly after 8:00pm (room will be determined and posted on day zero).

But only if you have your badge and holder! You must be pre-registered for the convention to attend!

(1) So much more goes into getting everyone's badges orchestrated than I had previously imagined. Could you walk us through what it takes for one person to get a badge, from the moment they decide to pre-reg to the moment they pick it up?

Hi Ellen, thank you for your compliments! I'd be happy to go over all of what it takes for attendees to get their badges. First, the attendee has to have ordered their badge through the website or the mail-in form available on our website. Once we get that information, either online or through the mail, we enter it all into a database, in which we run a program that pastes that information onto the badges attendees receive. We have "reg meetings" every couple of weeks or so, where we print out anywhere from fifty to several hundred of these badges, as well as envelopes for them. We then package the badges onto the letter they come with ourselves, pack them into the envelopes, stamp them, and deliver them to the Post Office. Within a few days, attendees who pre-registered before the deadline will then have received their badges in the mail. If they selected will call, which is the option to pick up your badge at the convention, cull those and sort them before con, so they can be picked up easily.

(2) What led you to select Reg as your department? How long have you been there? What's your title this year, and what tasks does it involve? What other roles have you had in the department?

Registration actually became my department because my friend, who was the Assistant Director of Operations at the time, said that department needed more help, and asked me if I could help out there. After that, I just sort of stuck with my department. This is my third year in Registration, and the second year as the Assistant Registration Manager, whose job it is to answer emails and questions from attendees, assist the Manager with anything he needs done, and help with Registration at con, particularly in tricky situations in which the Reg worker might not know what to do.

(3) If someone is considering being Reg staff next year, what entry-level roles are available, and of whom should they inquire? If someone would rather be a volunteer, what kind of volunteer positions help you with Reg?

Registration pretty much has two types of positions: Pre-Registration and At-Con. Pre-Registration involves checking people in when they have their badges (or want to pick them up at will call), and At-Con involves taking payments for registrations, reviewing the paperwork that they fill out, and giving them paper badges. Both of them are entry-level positions, and we tend to have people alternate between the two depending on need. If we need more Pre-Reg, we'll try to grab some At-Con workers who aren't busy, and put them in Pre-Reg, and vice-versa.

Anyone interested in joining Registration as a staff for next year, you can talk to me, or to my Manager, Brandon De Vore, at one of the General Meetings. If you're hoping to volunteer for this year, if you're looking for a way that helps Reg, check in with the Volunteer Manager, David Reynolds, for a referral to the Maid Squad.

(4) What are some handy tips to help smooth the badge pick-up process, both for those who have pre-reg'd and for those paying at the door?

Excellent question! Here are a few tips that help make the pick-up or check-in process move more smoothly.

1. Have your photo ID ready by the time you're next in line.
2. If you have your badge and are just checking in, also have it ready before you're being helped.
3. If you are paying at the door, please do not wait to fill out your registration form until you are in the front of the line.
4. Above all, please be patient with us! Remember that we are volunteers and that we are trying to do our best. We want you to enjoy your con just as much as you do, and we are doing everything we can to make sure you get to do so quickly.
5. If you aren't sure of something before con whether something will work (such as not having a valid form of photo ID, having lost your badge, or anything you might have a question about), do not wait until you are at the front of the line at Registration to ask about it. Instead, please feel free to contact us through the Registration FAQ thread on the Kumoricon forums, or feel free to email us at registration@kumoricon.org, for which I usually am the one to answer, and we'll be happy to answer any questions you have before you get to the convention.

(5) Do we have an attendance cap for this year, even with two hotels? If so, what is it, and are we close to maxxing out? Is it important for those buying passes at the door to come early?

We've currently sold about 2800 pre-registrations, and our attendance cap this year is going to be 6000 attendees, so we are just under half the way there. I would never suggest not coming early, because at-con registration is going to be first-come, first-served, and when we're out, we're going to be out. We start selling at-con registration at 7am on Saturday, and I would recommend arriving as close to that time as you possibly can.

(6) What aspect of working for Reg is the most challenging? What would make it better?

One of the most taxing aspects of Registration is really just the time commitment. Registration is definitely one of the more involved departments, since we are working constantly the entire year before Kumoricon starts, and then working long shifts during the convention, as well. I think the solution is very simple: We need more staff working in our department, and then we wouldn't exhaust ourselves nearly as much as we do.

(7) What is your favorite experience you've had working with Reg?

I'm not sure I can pick just one! I've had so many great experiences working in Registration. That's part of why I keep coming back every year. A general favorite of mine has to be when a lot of people do show up for a reg meeting. This is our chance to get to know each other and who all we'll be working with before the convention actually starts, and it's always a ton of fun. We are very, very silly people and will go on about geeky things for hours while we work.

Since that's not an experience at-con, I'm going to cheat and give you two. I love how appreciative some customers and attendees can be once they get through the registration process, and how they'll show us that they are. At one point, we checked in a couple of attendees who were very impressed with how their situation was handled, and had nothing but nice things to say. About two hours later, right when we were closing, they came by with a bunch of pizza boxes, and said they bought them for us, because we looked hungry.

We were hungry. That was such a nice thing for them to do, that they totally did not have to do or weren't pressured towards in any way. It just blows my mind how nice a lot of the attendees can be.

(1) Hi, Andie! As Cosplay Coordinator, what do you see as the highlights of this year's contest? What do you personally most look forward to with each year's contest?

This year, I'm really looking forward to having our Guests of Honor, Todd Haberkorn, Chris Cason, and David Vincent, judging the skits. Since all three of them are voice actors, they bring with them a tremendous amount of experience and acting knowledge, which they will use in assessing the skits entered this year.

Another highlight is that this year is the first year that we will have an "Audience Choice" winner for Cosplay. The Cosplay Ticket that we traditionally use to control the number of people entering the Main Events hall will double as a ballot. At the end of the skit presentations, we'll allow a few minutes for the audience to write down the name of their favorite skit, and then have the ushers collect those ballots. The data will be tallied, and the winner will be announced at Closing Ceremonies.

The best part of cosplay every year is, of course, the participants who get better every year we see them. We have many groups who return year after year to compete, and their costuming and performance improve every time. It's also exciting to see first-time competitors take the stage and really shine.

(2) How did you get Todd Haberkorn, Chris Cason, and David Vincent involved? Is this the first year that anime industry professionals are involved in judging cosplay at Kumoricon? Is this unique to Kumoricon?

We have ways of making people do things…

Actually, I just asked our Guest Liaison and our Programming Director to ask them if they were willing to judge the cosplay competition, and they all said, "Yes!" This is the first year that we have anime industry professionals involved in judging cosplay at Kumoricon. In previous years, because of tight schedules for the guests, it wasn't possible for them to make the time commitment to helping out with cosplay, but since I asked well before we even knew who our guests would be, we were able to ensure that if they were willing to do it, that they would have the time available to do so.

Kumoricon may be the only convention that has its cosplay competition (or masquerade) judged by its guests of honor. Most other conventions fear overloading their guests and don't even think about asking. I figured that it wouldn't hurt to ask, and was pleasantly surprised to hear that they ALL accepted.

(3) What steps should an individual or group take to apply to perform a skit in this year's contest? What deadlines apply? Where can one find a complete set of rules, processes, content restrictions, etc.?

To apply, read the contest rules and fill out the form. The deadline for email entries was the 25th of August, but we will be accepting more entries at Kumoricon itself (until it's full or the Saturday night pre-meeting has occurred, whichever comes first). I post to the forums the number of slots still available. We would love to have more skits.

Cosplay contest rules are posted here and the entry form is available in both PDF and Word formats. Fill out and print either form, then bring it along to Kumoricon.

(4) For attendees who love cosplay, but would rather volunteer behind the scenes than perform on stage or showcase their sewing, are there volunteer positions available? What are some of the areas in which volunteers could plug in, before, during, or after the contest? Of those, in which do you have the greatest need for volunteers? How many hours would it best help you to receive from each?

There are always volunteer positions available. You can volunteer by signing up with the Volunteer Manager, David Reynolds, and telling him that you are interested in helping out with cosplay. The positions that we usually need to fill include:

"Stage Ninjas" – People who assist cosplayers walking onto and off of the stage, move equipment onto and off of the stage, and catch cosplayers or stuff that falls off the stage (usually someone drops something; we haven't lost a cosplayer yet).

"Ushers" – People who help with seating to ensure that seating is quick and efficient. They will also assist in collecting and counting the ballots for Audience Choice.

Volunteers are needed from about an hour prior to the start of the Cosplay competition until it ends.

(5) There are several other events and panels that comprise KC's Cosplay programming. You personally are involved in Cuddly Cosplay, aka The Plushie Kerade, and in Pattern-Making Software and Cosplay. What are some other highlights of your department?

Cuddly Cosplay, which is scheduled for Monday of the convention, is intended for those who would like to show off costumes that they've made for their dolls or stuffed animals. We usually see a few entrants who have made the costumes at Kumoricon in the "Dolly-Making Workshop", as well as some amazingly beautiful ball-jointed dolls and various cute stuffed animals dressed up as well-known anime characters.

There are various other cosplay-related panels that are scheduled, including one on making props and accessories and another on the basics of creating and performing a skit.

(6) How did you personally begin to cosplay? What were your earliest cosplays?

I always enjoyed dressing up. When I was a child, my mother would create costumes for me to wear for Halloween and for ballet. When I entered college, I joined the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) and decided to make my own costumes because I couldn't afford to purchase ready-made costumes. I also attended my first science fiction convention—Not Just Another Con 2—that same year, and so I "needed" to create a costume or two for that event, as well. It then just grew on me, and every year I create a few new costumes for various conventions, as well as sewing my own clothing.

(7) How did you first hear of Kumoricon? When did you first join staff? What lead you to make the leap? Had you attended or staffed other types of cons before? How did cosplay differ at them?

Back when Kumoricon first started, we heard about it because some of our friends from the NOVA (Northern Oregon and Vancouver Anime) Club planned to attend. They didn't tell us about it until it was very close to the weekend it was happening, so we missed that one. We attended the second Kumoricon and every one after that. Our first year (Kumoricon 2), I volunteered to help out judging Cosplay, and then the next year I joined staff.

I've attended many conventions every year since my first one back in 1986. I've always volunteered, been a panelist, and/or been staff at every convention, because it's more fun than being just a regular attendee: I have opportunities to meet the other staff, interact with the guests, and get to know a larger portion of what's really going on. Costuming at other conventions varies depending upon the convention type—science fiction, anime, steampunk—and the style of the convention. At some conventions, only a fraction of the attendees wear costumes; but at others, nearly everyone wears some sort of costume.

(8) If anyone is considering volunteering in Cosplay this year, or staffing in Cosplay next year, what would you say to encourage them? What have been the most rewarding aspects of your work therein, over these years?

Try it. You might find that it's more fun than just being a regular attendee.

I think the most rewarding part of being involved with Cosplay is the opportunity to be able to interact with many others who are enthusiastic about costuming.

For iPhone, iPod touch, and Android, use the Guidebook app to view the Kumoricon schedule on your device! This will become available in a few days. Watch the Kumoricon website or news feed for download instructions!

Hilton Vancouver Washington
301 W 6th St
Vancouver, WA 98660

Room: Heritage AB

Google Maps

General meetings are open to the public. This is the final general meeting to prepare for the con or find out how to participate. Although staff registration has already closed, we would love to welcome additional volunteers at the convention.

Ally will be appearing again on KBOO at 3am during the con, Monday morning (yes, the middle of the night), on the Them Young Hooligans show. Catch us then, if you’re up!

If you are an exhibitor not mentioned on this list, we are sorry to say we do not have the space available to accomodate you this year. But please feel free to apply next year as we are always looking for new and exciting vendors to satisfy our attendees. Thank you for being so patient with us. If you have any questions please contact exhibitors@kumoricon.org for information.

Kumoricon is just around the corner, but there are plenty of geek events happening in Portland to keep you busy in the meantime. Here are just a few highlights to add to your schedule over the next few weeks.

Ok, admit it. It's pretty rad to see Sonic the Hedgehog's crooked grin plastered on the OMSI home page. The exhibit Game On 2.0: More than Just a Game invites you to "play your way through the past, present, and future of global gaming". The interactive exhibit runs until September 18.

Among the many, many gaming events that are perpetually happening at Guardian Games, there's a little something called Pokemon Poke-Gym @ the Thunderdome that takes place Saturdays from noon-3pm. Beginners are welcome, and it's $1 to participate. (Thursdays from 4-6pm is the Yu-Gi-Oh! hobby league, which is $5 to participate.)

The all-ages Northern Oregon and Vancouver Anime club meets twice a month on Saturday evenings (newbies welcome). August's meetings take place on the 6th and 20th from 5-10pm in the Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue Community Room attached to the fire station on SW Burnham Street in Tigard.

On Friday August 12, kaiju will do battle in Sewallcrest Park. Gamera vs Guiron is being shown as part of the Portland Parks and Recreation's Summer Free For All Movies in the Park series. FILMUSIK will be on hand to perform an orchestral soundtrack and live voice dubbing. Unleash your inner Tom Servo or just sit back and root for everyone's favorite giant flying tortoise.

Elsewhere in the 'verse, the PDX Browncoats are holding a charity screening of their epic D-I-Y fanfic film "Can't Stop the Serenity" at the Hollywood Theater on August 20. For more information, including tickets, visit their web site.

And finally (as if all that wasn't enough), Geek Trivia Night happens every other Tuesday at the Kennedy School from 7-10 pm. It's free to attend, and those under 21 are welcome if accompanied by an adult. (Brought to you by Things from Another World.)

(1) How did you first hear about KC? What got you interested in participating?

I first heard about Kumoricon while I was helping around a gaming store in Portland. I was very excited about the fact that Kumoricon even existed. Attending an anime convention was a goal of mine for a while, because Asian cultures, anime, and manga had all been major interests of mine for a long time at that point.

(2) When did you first become staff? If you had been involved as an attendee and/or volunteer first, how did you decide to make the leap to become staff?

I actually just became staff for Kumoricon this year, even though I've been coming for a few years now. I was staff for other conventions, such as OryCon, beforehand and decided that I'd try my hand at helping Kumoricon, since it never seems to get enough help.

(3) What are your roles as staff this year? What are you most looking forward to about them?

I am helping Con Suite and the Yojimbo out this year. I am greatly looking forward to trying my hand at being a Yoji. I've helped Hospitality at GameStorm before, and I know Con Suite will be fun as well.

(4) What would you say to anyone who is considering whether or not to make the leap and become KC staff? Pros and cons, considerations?

I'm very happy to support all the conventions that I help. There are definitely a few good things to keep in mind when you are considering become staff for a convention. There's a lot of satisfaction in knowing you're helping make the convention you enjoy so much better for everyone. So if you like helping people, it's a great way to do it on a large scale. As staff, you can have a lot of input on the convention. It's been proven to look good on most resumes. And it's also cheaper to be staff for Kumoricon than it is to merely attend—which is some great motivation for those of us who are strapped for cash. If you're not sure what you want to do for the con, there are a lot of jobs, so you should look them over and find one that suits your interests.

(5) What would you like to see KC do to provide an even more comfortable and empowering work environment for staff?

I haven't been staff as long as a lot of the people I know, and I don't have enough experience to more fairly answer this one. But Kumoricon listens to it staff really well, though, and seems to consider a lot of its staff's needs, which is absolutely fantastic. It's another reason I plan to staff the convention for many years to come.

(6) What specifically would you say to encourage others to become Yoji, particularly other girls?

Becoming a Yoji was a decision I made after meeting several already, who had told me about being one and how it works. It sounded fun, so I decided to try it out. Other Yoji are very welcoming to newcomers, no matter who you are. And Yoji are an incredibly large part of whether or not people enjoy the convention, because we help make sure it's going smoothly for the attendees. Kumoricon always needs more Yoji, especially when it spans multiple hotels like this year. If your heart isn't set on a different job, I would definitely recommend considering a Yoji position.

Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay
100 Columbia St
Vancouver, WA 98660

West Rivers Room

Google Maps

This general meeting is the staff registration deadline for Kumoricon 2011. After this date, people who have not completed their staff registrations may volunteer at the convention but won’t be listed as staff.

After August 14, although staff registration will be closed, you can still volunteer at the convention.

Please visit the location page for full instructions on reserving discounted rooms at either the Red Lion or the Hilton, by web or by phone.

Also, we’ve pushed back the deadline for the Kumoricon 2011 Video Commercial Contest to July 24th 11:59:59 PDT, so you have some extra time! Please check the forum thread and get your submissions in ASAP.

The Anime Hunters are back for Kumoricon 2011 to bring you more cosplay-flavored entertainment! For those of who you do not know The Anime Hunters, they are a 4-person online comedy group made up of Yatta Dante (Dane), Yatta Cloud (Zach), Random Dancing Kid (Jeremy), and Chibiroth (Cassie). They have completed their first season, and will be showing their new episode of the second season at their daytime panel. Also, for those of you who are 18+, they have a special treat at their midnight panel… something they’ve never done before!

Slightly Anime is an anime convention-based entertainment group, starring members Keith, Amanda, David, and Tim. The group has won “Best of Show” at the very first Kumoricon, “Best of Show” and “Best Professional Skit” at Sakura-Con, as well as others. Slightly Anime has run major cosplay competitions, hosted panels about cosplay and life at conventions, and most notably, put together the “Slightly Anime Dating Game” for 7 years now. Slightly Anime will present the ever-popular Slightly Anime Dating Game, including a special 18+ version in the late evening, and host the Hall Cosplay Awards as they roam throughout the convention.

For over ten years, Chris Cason has participated in almost every facet of anime production. He has been associated with numerous projects (exclusively for FUNimation Entertainment) in a voice acting, ADR directing, or scriptwriting capacity. Some of his work has been featured on Spike TV, The Independent Film Channel (IFC), Nicktoons, The Cartoon Network, and The CW.

David Vincent is a voice actor / television producer based in Los Angeles, California. He has lent his voice to a variety of anime and video game titles, as well as numerous commercials for television and radio.

For more information, check out the guests page.

Woodmansee Park Shelter
4629 Sunnyside Rd SE
Salem, OR 97302

Google Maps

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, find out about joining staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

Central Library (link includes street map)
801 SW 10th Ave
Portland, OR 97205

Google Maps

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, find out about joining staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

Multnomah Arts Center
7688 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland, OR 97219

Google Maps

Update: We will be meeting in the gymnasium. Please be advised that in this room there is a strict rule against any food or drink (except water).

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, find out about joining staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

(1) Congratulations on becoming Volunteer Manager! Quite an honor, and well-earned, after not only working Info Booth, but having started as a volunteer, yourself. How did you get started? When did you first volunteer? What did you do, and how did it feel?

Thank you… I'll do my best. How I got started? It was actually by accident… I came down for K-Con 2004 with a couple of people after seeing a flier up in Jay's Anime [in Kent, WA] a few days beforehand. The con was sold out, but someone was kind enough to let the people with me in if I put in some time as a volunteer. I loved the feeling of being able to do something good for my friends and getting to help out behind the scenes.

And it definitely didn't hurt that we had a wonderful volunteer manager, Tammy, who was great at making people feel appreciated. (My secret goal is to be even half as good as she was.) I wound up putting in so many hours helping out at Info Booth that she actually had to kick me out from time to time, for my own good. The next year, I was happy to sign up for staff, as her assistant.

(2) In what ways would you like to see volunteering grow within Kumoricon? What areas of service, and what ways of integrating into the larger whole?

Just for a start, I'd love to see more people who want to help but don't know how come on board. I think sometimes we give the mis-impression that you have to jump through hoops to volunteer, discouraging people who have limited time or resources. I'd like to change that perception, because when it comes down to it there are only two requirements:

1. that you want to help, and
2. that you can have fun doing so.

The second part might sound strange, but it's actually pretty important. Kumoricon exists to bring people together to have a good time, to make great memories, and that goes for everyone. We don't want people to help because they feel obligated; we want them to help because they enjoy the experience and find it rewarding. That can mean anything from working in their favorite department, to helping only before con; or from volunteering only a couple of hours, to putting in so many hours that we make them honorary staff.

(3) Given our experiment this year with spreading across two hotels, volunteers are more essential than ever. What would you like to see Kumoricon do to support, recruit, train, and retain volunteers?

The Kumoricon Directors have actually been taking a good look at that, and we'll all be doing more this year to support volunteers who are putting in long hours by giving them some of the same perks as staff. Also, the Volunteer Coordinators and I will be doing our best to ensure that each volunteer can take breaks as needed, and to tailor each volunteer's schedule around any specific panels or events she or he is running or would like to attend.

As far as keeping people goes, much the same is true. We want people to get a chance to see what it's like behind the scenes, and find out whether they like the experience. If they do, then we'll try to provide an extra point of contact to help them get in touch or stay in touch with the departments they like best. And if they really like the experience and want to become staff, we'll help with that as well.

(4) That makes sense. Volunteering and staffing are both valuable ways to become involved in sustaining Kumoricon and its community. The efforts of each dovetail, and moving between the two avenues is possible and honored in either direction. What are some of your favorite experiences of volunteering, or of working alongside volunteers?

Some of the experiences that stand out most clearly have been simply getting to interact with the regular attendees. The enthusiasm and warmth they show reminds me of why I love doing this: It feels really good to help friends. And at Kumoricon, almost anyone you meet is just a conversation away from being a friend.

But the ones that keep me going have been when I get to work with staff who have a gift for bringing out the best in people. There are seriously too many to list, especially some of the people I get to work with most closely on a regular basis. I've been really lucky in that regard.

(5) Logistically, what are the steps someone should take who aspires to volunteer this year? Whom do they contact, and how? Are there age requirements or any other requirements? Papers to fill out? Meetings to attend? Hours commitments?

I'm glad this is one of the easiest questions to answer. There are a lot of ways to sign up to volunteer!

• Get in touch with us at volunteer@kumoricon.org.
• Inquire about volunteering in the "Get Involved" section of the forums.
  (After becoming accepted as a Volunteer, you will also gain access to a Volunteer section of the forums.)
• Private-message me on the forums (randompvg).
• If you are able to attend any of the Kumoricon General Meetings, find where Operations is meeting during breakouts and ask for me; and/or, participate in the breakout of any department for which you might wish to volunteer.
• Ask about opportunities within a specific department by emailing that department's KC address: e.g., publicity@kumoricon.org.
• Visit our booth at the events where we have a presence.
• At con itself, stop by the Volunteer Desk and offer your services.

As far as requirements, that's one of the benefits of volunteering: Compared to committing to a staff position, there is less paperwork, a lower age requirement, no set number of hours, and no mandatory meetings (though you're always welcome to come hang out with us). The more hours you volunteer, the more perks there are—but how many hours you sign up for is completely up to you.

(6) What opportunities are there for volunteers to be of service before and after con weekend? Do those hours "count", toward perks?

There are definitely opportunities to volunteer before and after con. Just for a start, no matter what city you live in, Publicity can always use help in getting the word out. Also, though not everyone knows, we have mini-events throughout the year. We can always use help at those.

Not just at the mini-events run exclusively by KC, but at those at which we volunteer, such as Oregon Asian Celebration, and those for which we collaborate with other cons, such as GameStorm and last year's Halloween event.

True. And certainly not least, we sometimes have work parties for a specific purpose—making buttons, creating goodie bags for registration, loading and unloading materials before and after con, and so on. Even if you don't think you'll have free time during con itself, there are lots of ways to help get ready beforehand—and they still count towards volunteer perks.

(7) What perks are available as rewards for fulfilling volunteer obligations?

Several new ones this year, actually. We're still in the process of working some of them out, but one that we are considering developing, in which people may especially be interested, is the opportunity to earn guaranteed tickets. Based on how many hours you volunteer, we'd give you tickets to make sure you get in to whichever available ticketed events interest you. No waiting in line, no head count, no sitting in the back behind the tallest person, hat, or prop in the room.

(8) Sounds like a nice potential perk. If someone is trying to decide which will be more comfortable for them, what aspects should they consider?

If someone is more comfortable taking direction in the moment, floating to the locations and tasks in which help is needed in the moment, and having flexibility in terms of the quantity and scheduling of their hours, volunteering could be a good fit for them. If someone is more interested in bottom-lining a specific niche of responsibility, possibly largely self-directed in the moment though accountable to coordinators and managers, and able to commit to the minimum of 16 hours of work (usually but not always conducted during con), staffing could be a good fit for them. Both are very valuable ways to contribute, and it's entirely possible and welcome to do one one year, and the other the next, in either direction.

Thank you! I'm really excited to be collaborating with you in getting the word out that Volunteering is a tradition that is alive, well, thriving, fun, and expanding within Kumoricon for 2011!

Kumoricon's big sister convention was a big party! Sakura-Con, each Easter weekend, is well worth the trip, as the Northwest's largest anime convention. Several Kumoricon Directors and members of our Registration Team had an amazing time, meeting all of the loyal attendees and interested first-timers who stopped by our booth to chat with us and reminisce. KC Con Chair Beau Gentry and I spoke with Mike Stark, the 2011 Sakura-Con Convention Chair, after Opening Ceremonies and had a chance to see just how fun working with the Sak team is!

Meanwhile, back at the Kumoricon booth in the Exhibitors' Hall, the Reg Team was busy taking pictures of all the fabulous cosplayers holding our poster! We had so much fun talking with all the great staff and attendees at Sakura-Con that we never wanted to leave. But, as is the case with every con, when the end came and we parted ways, we all made plans to see each other again at Kumoricon in the Fall. With all the special memories from this year's Sakura-Con, I am sure everyone who attended is excited for the next big event!

For our third glorious year in a row, Kumoricon ran Console Gaming at GameStorm, a four-day gaming convention in Vancouver, WA, run by OSFCI, the same folks who bring us OryCon. Every year our room gets busier and busier. We brought and ran six set-ups of console gaming in the Boardroom, the room we previously used as the Manga Library. The Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament was over capacity for the room. We'll need to figure out how to set that up differently for next year so we can let more people into tournaments. We kept the room open late most nights, but some people wished we'd kept it open even later. Maybe next year. Nextdoor to us, two fellow Kumoricon Board members were staffing the Collectible Card Gaming room. We also recognized some of our staffers who were there attending the con.

Interestingly, we ran into not one, but two people who have been Guests of Honor at Kumoricon. We knew that Jason Thompson was going to be here. Since we last saw him, the first volume of his manga-style graphic novel, King of RPGs, has been published, and it hit the New York Times Best Seller List for a few weeks. I helped at his booth for awhile as he drew maps for the D&D game he was running that night. Jason was excited to see some of the staff he recognized from Kumoricon. We also ran across Dark Horse Manga Editor Carl Horn, who was there to see Jason's panel on Anime in Gaming.

Like last year, I managed to not actually play any games. However, I did get a lot of work done and spent too much money in the Dealers Room. I am weak versus pretty dice. All in all, it was a fun and productive weekend, and I hope we are back next year!

Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay
100 Columbia St
Vancouver, WA 98660

Google Maps

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, find out about joining staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

Please visit the location page for full instructions!

The Kumoricon ♥s Japan auction will be held at:

Clark College
Gaiser Student Center (Gaiser Hall)
1933 Fort Vancouver Way
Vancouver, WA 98663

Friday, April 8, from 6pm to 9pm

Campus Map [PDF]
Parking Map [PDF]
Google Maps

Voice actor Todd Haberkorn has graciously donated a chance to play a best 2 out of 3 Magic: The Gathering game with him at Kumoricon 2011. Yes, Todd is coming back! Please note that you must be a 2011 attendee to redeem this prize. Todd Haberkorn plays Italy in Hetalia, and was a huge draw at our convention last year even though the dub of Hetalia had not even been released. You may also know him from his roles as Watanuki in xxxHOLiC, Death the Kid in Soul Eater and Hikaru in Ouran High School Host Club. We are very excited that he will be joining us again in 2011 and that he is helping us with our fundraiser.

Our friends at Copic are donating for auction two copies of the book Shadows & Shading: A Guide to Lighting Placement, and two Copic gift packs each containing a fancy Copic Marker carrying case and four markers of different colors.

We will be running three mini-auctions through the evening, so you don’t need to stay to the very end to win something. You will need to be present at the end of an hour to win. We can only accept cash and checks. If you would like to help with this event or donate items to be auctioned off, please email vicechair@kumoricon.org.

Please visit this forum thread for the latest information as details are planned.

Please help us make this event be successful. Even if you can’t attend, you can help us by spreading the word. You can join our Facebook event or invite your friends to go via Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=142393812493015 [account required]

We would like to thank Clark’s Manga & Anime Club for partnering with us to get space for this event.

Some of the items being auctioned:

GameStorm is a four-day con, starting on a Thursday: Thu-Sun, March 24-27—conveniently right during many schools’, colleges’ and universities’ Spring Break! And it’s at one of the 2011 Kumoricon hotels, the Hilton Vancouver Washington, so, a good opportunity to acquaint yourself with its layout (or refresh your memory from 2007) before we take it over Labor Day weekend.

Now in its 13th year, GameStorm is a project of OSFCI, the same 501(c)3 non-profit that runs OryCon. Like OryCon, GameStorm has a “sibling” relationship with Kumoricon, which is very reciprocal: GameStorm staff provide Kumoricon with Tabletop Gaming content and staff, while Kumoricon provides GameStorm with Console Gaming content and staff.

In addition to console and table-top gaming, GameStorm features board games, card-collecting games (CCGs), live action role-playing games (LARPs), and 3 “flavors” of role-playing games (RPGs):

1. an area for general RPGs, from old favorites to new offerings;
2. the official titles by Wizards of the Coast; and
3. materials provided by Indie Hurricane.

Indie Hurricane are a group of folks who independently publish RPGs. They provide workshops for those who are actively developing tabletop RPGs. (Presently these workshops do not address those modeling new software-driven RPGs.)

In fact, part of what makes GameStorm so unique and valuable to the gaming community is its fully-realized specialty track for game producers: Game Lab. Game Lab welcomes designers of new board, card, and dice-based games to have their materials play-tested. Developers can receive critiques from their fellow developers and from game publishers, as well as from beta testers. Game Lab has its own Guest of Honor, workshops, one-on-one sessions with industry professionals, and more! Spaces are limited, and pre-registration is strongly encouraged. For more information on Game Lab, see GameStorm’s web site.

Miniatures have a vibrant role at GameStorm, as well. For its 3rd year, GameStorm is holding a Miniatures Contest. Pick up your miniature on Thursday or Friday, paint it over the weekend, and turn it in Sunday. There are prizes for top 3 showing best workmanship.

While one room will be open 24 hours, and LARPing tends to run later, most areas of GameStorm will be open 8am-midnight. Sunday will specifically feature some “family-oriented” games and would be the day most suitable for bringing younger kids.

Whether you’re there as part of Kumoricon’s crews, for feedback on games you’re developing, or to get your tourney fix, it’s sure to be a splendid time!

Please join us in donating what you can to help Japan. Visit http://seattlejapanrelief.org/ to give back to the country (and people) who give us our fandom!

University of Oregon
Classroom 123, Living Learning Center North

The closest intersection to the building is E 13th Ave (or E 15th Ave) and Agate St in Eugene, OR. The building is located midway between Onyx St (to the west) and Agate St (to the east), and midway between E 13th Ave (to the north) and E 15th Ave (to the south). Classroom 123 is on the west side of the building.

Parking is available in both metered spaces, and in spaces marked as permit spaces. As the meeting is on a Saturday, you may park in any permit space except spaces marked “at all times”. Parking is available in the yellow, purple, and green shaded areas in the image below (click the image for a larger size version), subject to posted restrictions. Parking is available along E 15th Ave and also in two lots on the same block as the building (but check posted parking restriction signs to make sure).

Maps are available in the following formats:

• Google Maps
• University of Oregon Campus Map [Adobe Flash required]
• University of Oregon Printable Campus Map [PDF, 3.1MB]
• University of Oregon Printable Parking Map [PDF, 9.1MB]
• University of Oregon’s app for Apple’s iOS devices named UOregon contains a campus map

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, find out about joining staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

Before planning to attend a meeting, check the meeting details in the calendar and check to see if the date is still tentative, or whether it has been confirmed.

• Sunday, February 13 – Portland, OR (confirmed date)
• Saturday, March 19 – in or near Eugene, OR
• Sunday, April 17 – in or near Portland, OR
• Saturday, May 21 – location TBD
• Sunday, June 12 – in or near Portland, OR
• Saturday, July 16 – in or near Salem, OR
• Sunday, August 14 – in or near Portland, OR
• Saturday, August 27 – in or near Portland, OR

Always check back to the calendar for the latest member meeting information. Updates to meeting information will also be posted as news items.

Midland Library
805 SE 122nd Ave
Portland, OR 97233

Large Meeting Room

Google Maps

TriMet:

• Bus #20 – Stark St STOP ID#5425 (Easiest access; walk approximately 3 blocks south on 122nd to the library)
• MAX Blue Line STOP ID#8368 (Walk approximately 8 blocks south on 122nd to the library)
• Bus #4 – Division St STOP ID#1379 (Walk approximately 16 blocks north on 122nd to the library)

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, find out about joining staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

There will be a vote on a bylaws amendment to expand the allowable locations at which to hold the Annual Meeting of the Membership. Discussion of the wording of this amendment is being held in this forum thread [staff access required]. For a vote to be held, the meeting attendance must reach quorum, which is one fifth of the current membership of Altonimbus Entertainment. The membership, consisting of 97 staff and the 5 founders, is 102, which means the quorum is 21 members.

Salem Public Library (Central Library location)
585 Liberty St SE
Salem, OR 97301

Room: Anderson A

[Google Maps; nearest transit: Cherriots 1 [PDF], Cherriots 8 [PDF]]

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, find out about joining staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

At the end of the day of this meeting (11:59pm), Altonimbus Entertainment membership expires for people who were staff in 2010 but have not completed staff registration for 2011. To continue your membership uninterrupted, register as staff if you have not already by the end of day January 23. The $10 membership dues are waived for returning staff who register by the end of day January 23.

[Post updated Jan. 18 to add meeting location.]

Phoenix Inn
9575 SW Locust St
Tigard, OR 97223

[nearest TriMet | Google Maps]

It’s near the Washington Square Transit Center.

Although the following event in that room is restricted to current (2010 and 2011) members of Altonimbus Entertainment, general meetings are open to the public, and members of the public are welcome to stay until 5:00pm. Meet and plan with other staff, find out about joining staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

Note: There is not a November general meeting this year.

Well just in case anyone isn’t prepared for all the frightastic events we’ve got up our sleeves for you and your friends, here are all the details you need to know before you go haunting this weekend!

Spook Friday Night With Dark Horse! (21+)

Dark Horse Comics is hosting a FREE anime night at the Bagdad Theater, and we are all invited! Friday October 29th from 9pm-midnight they’ll be showing a preview of The Vampire Diaries, as well as Hellsing and Gantz! And Dark Horse isn’t alone in the fun! See NW 32 TV, FUNimation, and Things from Another World there with door prizes, contests, and all kinds of fun! Check out the Facebook event for more details.

Have A Ghoulishly Good Time At The GameDay/MiniCon All Day Saturday!

GameDay/MiniCon at the Hilton Vancouver Washington – 9:00am-10:00pm

Don’t let the howls stop just because the sun is up! Join the creatures of the night and Kumoricon’s team of goblins for a full day of tournaments, contests, raffles and fun! GameStorm and Kumoricon have joined forces to provide LARPing, RPGs, tabletop gaming, console gaming, a manga library, and a ton of giveaways!

The raffles and contests kick off around 4:30pm so be sure to be around for costume contests, a raffle to win tickets to OryCon and the Kumoricon Chair’s own best costume of the night award!

What do you mean, you didn’t know there were prizes to be won? Well then! Here’s all you need to know!

GameStorm and Kumoricon are hosting a joint cosplay contest with special guests including the chairs of both conventions! There are all kinds of prizes to be won for spooky costumes and cute costumes and so much more! Remember that this is different from a cosplay contest! We are looking for heart and creativity so come with your best ideas and prepare to scare the competition with your fabulous costumes!

As you know, Kumoricon’s Manga Library is always looking for more volumes and needs your help to make that happen! So we are working with our friends at OryCon—the science fiction convention that rocks Portland November 12th-14th, 2010—to bring you a chance to win an amazing prize for your manga. Everyone who comes to the GameDay/MiniCon and signs up at our raffle table will be given a raffle ticket for a chance to win a 2-ticket and 2-night-stay package for OryCon next month. That means you and a friend can go to the convention and stay at the hotel for free!* Want a better shot at winning the prize? Donate volumes of manga to the Kumoricon Manga Library and get more raffle tickets. The more manga you bring, the better your chance of winning! You must be 18 or older to win or have a parent or guardian represent you in the raffle.

And the Costume Contest wouldn’t be complete until Beau, our esteemed Chair of Kumoricon, gave his top prize for the event, Beau’s Costume Choice award! The winner of this contest will recieve tickets to the best party on Saturday night! Our friends The Slants are joining up with the Boom Boom Satellites for a Halloween concert that will certainly send chills down your spine. Join Portland’s favorite Asian-American band as they conjure up some great music and drive their fans crazy! The show starts at 8:00pm at the Roseland Theater, but the winner of Beau’s Costume Choice will recieve two (2) tickets to the concert.

There is tons of other fun to be had with all your friends from the convention, meet-ups and the forums so don’t forget to head up to the ‘Couve for more fun than your mortal bodies can handle! Start your Halloween with us and get the weekend of to a horrific start… this Halloween will be one to remember!

*Raffle prize includes 2 passes into the convention and 2 nights room charge and tax at the Doubletree Hotel Portland, where OryCon is held. Prize does not include parking or incidentals; these must be paid for by prize winner. Winner of the raffle must be 18 years of age or older, or prize is transferred to legal guardian and they become the recognized prize winner. This prize is transferable but must be done through Kumoricon. For all other information please contact publicity@kumoricon.org.

Kumoricon is hosting its annual MiniCon in association with our friends at GameStorm, a local convention for social and strategic gaming!

Several contests will be held with awesome prizes so make sure to sign up for the Munchkin tournament, and come dressed in your favorite costumes, as well as donate a volume of manga to be entered in a very special raffle!

One of Kumoricon’s long-time friends, The Slants, is sponsoring our own chair’s pick for best costume (Asian flavor) with a pair of tickets to their show on Halloween with the Boom Boom Satellites!

The festivities kick off for the GameDay/MiniCon at 9AM and run till 10PM! Gamers and anime fans unite for a day of fun and camaraderie! Don’t miss it!

For more information, check out the forum thread or visit GameStorm’s web site.

Vice Chair – Dawn Hewitt
Secretary – Jo Ayers
Treasurer – Barbara Hunt
Facilities Liaison – Phillip Koop

The board-elected directors join the member-elected directors elected at last month’s meeting to serve as the complete board of directors for Kumoricon 2011.

Central Library
801 SW 10th Ave
Portland, OR 97205

Google Maps

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

President and Chair – Beau Gentry
Director of Operations – Elias “TJ” Stinson
Director of Programming – Jaki Hunt
Director of Publicity – Ally Fields
Director of Relations – Sarah Paige

Festival Japan is presented by the Japan-America Society of Oregon, NW Natural, and Uwajimaya, and celebrates culture and community with music, dance, arts, crafts, food, and more. It is held from 11am-5pm, Sep. 25-26 (Sat-Sun) at Uwajimaya Plaza at the Beaverton location.

Full details and flyer

Red Lion Hotel Portland Convention Center
1021 NE Grand Ave
Portland, OR 97232

[Google Maps]

Agenda for the Annual Meeting

Establish Quorum
Ratify previous minutes
Reports

• Facilities Liaison
• Publicity
• Relations
• Programming
• Operations
• Treasurer
• Secretary
• Vice-Chair
• Chair

Unfinished Business (none)
New Business

• Elections (President, Operations, Programming, Publicity, Relations)
• Bylaws amendment (see here) (staff restricted link)
• Other new business (please email secretary@kumoricon.org if you have an item you’d like to present for a vote)

Good of the Order

• Suggestions for Board-Elected positions
• Staff Rant & Rave (if time permits)

Adjourn.

If you cannot make it to the meeting, you may designate someone as your proxy by using this form. Your proxy may use your vote however they wish, so choose with care. Also, a person can hold proxy for only two other people.

This meeting is open to the public. Voting is open to Altonimbus Entertainment Members (staff).

See this board for nominations, suggestions, and candidate question and answer threads.

Forum thread to discuss this meeting.

Kumoricon’s paid attendance was 4055 people.

Our charity auction, benefiting the Portland Police Bureau Sunshine Division, raised $3688.

The winner of our contest for the 2011 mascot is:

Winning mascot artists: Ha-Young Lee, Brenna Goche

Kumoricon would like to announce its location and dates for 2011:

Kumoricon will be held in Vancouver, WA in the Hilton Vancouver Washington and the Red Lion Vancouver at the Quay over Labor Day Weekend, September 3-5, 2011.

We hope to see you there!

For the average attendee this means that you no longer have to walk over to the Executive Tower during the convention! There will no longer be any programming occurring at the Executive Tower. What this also means is that you will need to know, before you arrive at the convention, how to get down into the Valet Level (sub-basement) event space.

Simply take the south stairwell (located near the elevators and front desk on the Lobby Level, or through the spa area on the Plaza Level) down to the sub-basement level where a yojimbo will be ready to let you in to the now over 6000 square foot gaming destination! This space is much bigger than our original location and that means more spectator space.

To exit the gaming level, simply take the far stairwell up to the dealers level and head out as you would from the Dealers Hall. If you need assistance in either of these (if you are wheelchair-bound or have trouble with stairs) please contact the hotel front desk or a yojimbo who can contact the hotel for you directly for special assistance. Unfortunately the elevators do not access this level.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact hotel@kumoricon.org and I will try to direct you to the correct information. This change will be posted at the registration desk, the
main lobby, the Executive Tower and in all the hotel rooms.

We appreciate your flexibility as we deal with these unforeseen issues and can’t wait to have a great convention this year!

Ally Fields
Facilities Liaison

Check-In

All attendees, both those who have pre-registered and those registering at the door, need the following to check in:

• Photo ID
• Parental permission form if under age 18

If you are pre-registered, then you also need:

• Your badge/membership card, if you opted to have it mailed

For those registering at the door, we will pass out registration forms in line. Please fill these out before reaching the front table to keep the line moving quickly.

Registration and Check-In Hours

Friday: 4:00pm-10:00pm
Saturday: 7:00am-7:00pm
Sunday: 7:00am-7:00pm
Monday: 8:00am-1:00pm

On Friday at 4:00pm, check-in begins for pre-registered attendees. On Friday at 6:00pm, we still start selling at-the-door full weekend badges. Due to space limitations, only a limited number will be sold, and they may sell out early on Saturday or even on Friday!

Update: The registration line for Friday night only will be located at the parking garage entrance on the corner of SW Taylor and SW Broadway (this is the NW corner of the hotel Main Tower block). This line starts at the door at the garage street level and eventually leads up to the registration desk on Level 2 (PL). This line starts at 4pm. Only pre-registered attendees may be in line from 4:00pm to 6:00pm. After 6:00pm, attendees who would like to register for the weekend at the door may also enter the line.

On Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, pre-registration check-in will be located at the SW entrance of the hotel Main Tower block, at the corner of SW Salmon and SW Broadway. This line starts at the entrance door, goes down a few steps and across the hallway, and up the short escalator. The check-in table is at the top of the escalator.

On Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, at-the-door registration (either single-day or weekend (if quantities still available)) will be located at the parking garage entrance on the corner of SW Taylor and SW Broadway (this is the NW corner of the hotel Main Tower block). This line starts at the door at the garage street level and eventually leads up to the registration desk on Level 2 (PL).

Check-in and registration for VIPs, industry, press, and those requesting disability assistance are available 24 hours. You may access Level 2 (PL) any way you wish, including the grand stairway or the elevators. Outside of normal registration hours, please see the Operations Office, located on Level 2 (PL) behind the elevators (opposite side as the escalators).

Pre-registration for Kumoricon 2011 begins on Monday at 11:00am. The line for this begins at the same place as same-day pre-registration check-in was (SW Broadway entrance).

Hours subject to change.

Full registration policies

Convention attendee policies

Forum Q&A for pregistration, pre-registration, will call, line locations, and times

Forum Q&A for registering at-the-door for the full weekend

Slightly Anime is an anime convention-based entertainment group, having won awards at multiple anime conventions. Slightly Anime has run major cosplay competitions, hosted panels about cosplay and life at conventions, and most notably, put together the “Slightly Anime Dating Game” for 7 years now.

Slightly Anime will present the ever-popular Slightly Anime Dating Game again in 2010, including a special 18+ version in the late evening, and host the Hall Cosplay roaming throughout the convention.

The performance starts on Friday at 8:30pm for attendees with full weekend badges. Attendees who have pre-registered can pick up their badges on Friday starting at 4:00pm. Starting on Friday at 6:00pm, we will sell at-the-door weekend badges for those who have not pre-registered. Only a limited number of weekend badges will be sold due to space limitations.

You can browse in three different formats.

The most comprehensive view is the events list. View all events grouped by category with a description of each one. New this year, the event’s date, time, and room are listed directly within the description, so you don’t have to cross-reference the schedule.

The tabular grid format lets you see at a glance when all the events are. Hover your mouse over the text (or on a touch device, touch the text) to see the event’s full description.

Both of the above will be updated in real-time up to, and duration, the convention, if events are added, moved, or canceled.

You can also download a PDF version of the printed pocket programming guide. It is available in full resolution [PDF, 58MB], and reduced resolution [PDF, 4.0MB].

Sonny Strait is a comic artist and voice actor best known as Krillin in Dragon Ball Z, the first voice of Toonami’s mascot, TOM, Maes Hughes from Fullmetal Alchemist, and the current voice of Usopp from One Piece. Sonny’s Kumoricon visit is presented by CNBookings (www.cnbookings.com).

Kevin McKeever works as a marketing coordinator at Harmony Gold. His first work relating to Robotech was analyzing ratings and viewer demographics. He has continued working in theater and television production on numerous projects.

Carl Horn returns to Kumoricon as a manga editor at Portland’s own Dark Horse Comics.

Check out their extensive backgrounds on our guests of honor page. In addition, we have updated information on guests that we previously announced.

Because one Kumoricon party is not enough!!

Ground Kontrol [Google Maps]
511 NW Couch
Portland, OR 97209

Free!!!! 21+

If you’re getting into town for Kumoricon early on Friday night, or live in town, Disko Warp is throwing an official Kumoricon pre-party at Ground Kontrol! This is a good chance to meet up with your friends and have a drink before the craziness of the con starts. Come show off your cosplay, play some classic arcade games, watch some crazy anime, have a beer with your friends and shake it to the sweet sweet sounds of these hardworking DJs:

Initial P (Disko Warp / Anime Love Hardcore)
Happy Cutecore/J-Core/Speed-Trance/Eurobeat/Gal Trance
http://www.diskowarp.com/
http://www.animelovehardcore.com/

Graz (Reactionary/Donut Nook/Breakpop)
Breakcore / Happy Hardcore
http://www.myspace.com/graz

Foxdye (Reactionary/Chickenhed)
Breakcore/Artcore/Heartcore/Fartcore
http://www.myspace.com/foxdye

Also check out the official launch of Disko Warp’s brand new CD “Anime Love Hardcore”, produced by Initial P!

See on:

Kumoricon forums
Facebook
NWTekno

Charity auction 2010 donations gallery [external link]

For a list of donors to the charity auction and to convention event prizes, please see our Charity Auction and Prize Donors page.

Hilton Portland & Executive Tower
Salon Ballroom
921 SW 6th Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Google Maps

The Salon Ballroom is in the Executive Tower, which is on the northeast corner of the 6th and Taylor intersection. (The address and address-based maps point to the Main Tower, which is kitty-corner from the Executive Tower.)

Following the meeting, there will be training sessions. Please bring paper and pen so you can write down your questions and hold them until the ending Q&A.

General meetings are open to the public. Although staff registration closed as of the previous meeting, you can still learn how to volunteer, and learn about future involvement with the convention.

Please be aware that these are the last of the rooms available to us at the Hilton Downtown Portland and once they are gone they are gone! There are many hotels around there area that may have rooms so if you cannot get into the Hilton Downtown Portland, check with hotel@kumoricon.org for more options.

Once again, we have used all of our Double Bed rooms and are now down to the single King Bed rooms. But there is still availability! Simply indicate “no preference” or call and request a King Bed room and ask for the Kumoricon rate (or insert the KUM code) and you’ll be good to go!

Due to demand exceeding room capacity, if you want to attend the following events, you must pick up a ticket earlier in the day at the info desk. Tickets are free (except for events where an additional cost is noted), but are likely to be all given out prior to the event:

• Cosplay Contest
• AMV Contest (correction: only the contest is ticketed, not the show afterward)
• Cosplay Chess
• Sake Tasting ($10 fee, ages 21+ only)
• Closing Ceremonies (contest winners, 2011 mascot announced, and 2011 venue announced)

We are having three dances this year. One of them is the semi-formal Kumori Ball, hosted by Ouran Host Club hosts. Be sure to review the dress code, as those not properly attired will be turned away at the door. Our other two dances feature multiple DJs and last into the morning hours.

Saturday DJ lineup: Jimni Cricket, Initial P, Graz, Kid Kaboom, Matt Terror, Mr. GnarGnarKillKill
Sunday DJ lineup: DJ DiscoSnake (request thread), Electric Pig, (TBA)

Help out a great cause, bid on one-of-a-kind items, and have a lot of fun at the Kumoricon Charity Auction! Donations from a variety of local and national businesses, as well as unique souvenirs, will be up for bid. All proceeds benefit the Sunshine Division, a local food bank.

Learn more about some of his roles on our guests of honor page!

Stay tuned! We’ll be announcing more guests soon as we finalize arrangements.

Learn more on our guests of honor page.

Hilton Portland & Executive Tower
Salon Ballroom
921 SW 6th Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Google Maps

The Salon Ballroom is in the Executive Tower, which is on the northeast corner of the 6th and Taylor intersection. (The address and address-based maps point to the Main Tower, which is kitty-corner from the Executive Tower.)

This meeting is the last opportunity to register as staff. Following the meeting, there will be brief training sessions.

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

The School of Lolita will also be presenting a workshop at Kumoricon 2010.

School of Lolita

Full information:

August 20th-22nd — $298 Full Weekend / $118 Single Day

School of Lolita is a 3 day Garment Construction Workshop feature sewing skill building classes for wardrobe building in a like-minded, community environment! Our first two days are oriented on skill building, and our last day includes seminars on styling, a tea party and an open-sew event for socializing, with lots of great goodies!

FULL WEEKEND INCLUDES:

• 17 Hours of Instruction + 4 Hours of Open Studio
• Individually Sized Patterns to Take Home and Re-Use
• 3-ring Binder w/ Informational Handouts, Worksheets & Pattern Envelopes for your custom patterns
• Lovely Lace Craft Kit & Surprise Ball w/ Supplies for “Bows & Wristcuffs”
• Exclusive Lolita Style Makeup Kit
• Portland Lolita Sewing Circle and High Tea Service on Sunday the 22nd
• You Will Make: A Personally Sized Cut-Sew Blouse, a Gathered Skirt w/ Ruffle Structure, a Cupcake Petticoat, Bows and Wristcuffs, A Complete Custom Lolita Look w/ Patterns to Re-Use!

Woodmansee Park Shelter
4629 Sunnyside Rd SE
Salem, OR 97302

Google Maps

As mentioned at the June meeting and in the nominations thread, we hope to elect someone to complete the current term as Director of Publicity at this meeting. The duties of this position are currently being fulfilled by the Assistant Director.

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

The “soft” deadline to register as staff is the July meeting, so don’t delay!

A staff barbeque will follow this meeting. Please see this forum thread for details.

Take a look at our contests page for full details, rules, and deadlines.

Some of these contests have deadlines in July or August, so don’t delay!

Have fun!

Kumoricon will be giving away two (now three!) pairs of tickets to the Saturday, June 19 concert. To enter, please email website@kumoricon.org, include “Miyavi” in the subject line, and include your name, email address, and phone number in the body of the message. Each winner may bring a friend! Update: To ensure that the second ticket is reserved, please include the name of the person to accompany you in your entry. If you omit this, we will contact you if you win and you should send us the name at that time as soon as possible.

Update: The contest has now concluded, and winners have been contacted by email. Entries were accepted up until Thursday, June 17, 8:00pm.

For more details about the concert, please see the full press release.

Location:

Eugene Water & Electric Board
500 E 4th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401

Google Maps

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

Artists, here’s your chance to make your work a part of Kumoricon.

Entries are being accepted until July 18. A staff vote to determine the winners will follow. The winning mascot for next year will be announced at Closing Ceremonies, and the winning book entries will grace the covers of the program and pocket guide given to every attendee.

Please read the full rules, entry instructions, and details in this forum thread.

Location:

Beaverton Resource Center
Large Community Room
12500 SW Allen Blvd
Beaverton, OR 97008

Google Maps

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

Saturday, April 24, 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, at:

Multnomah Arts Center
7688 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland, OR 97219

Casual dress or cosplay is expected (no flip flops, T-shirts, or ripped jeans). Wear your cat ears! Prizes will be awarded for best use of theme.

Refreshments will be served, and concessions will be available for purchase.

The age minimum to attend the dance is 14. Attendees age 14-17 must bring a signed and fully filled-out Kumori-Cat Ball Parent Permission Form. Photo ID is absolutely required for all ages.

Pre-registration is available online or by mail for $10. Anyone who pre-registers will be entered in a drawing for a door prize, and will be able to skip the registration line at the door. If you register at the door, it will be $15.

If you have any questions, please email the organizers at kumoricat@kumoricon.org.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Location:

Clark Community College
Gaiser Student Center (Gaiser Hall)

1933 Fort Vancouver Way
Vancouver, WA 98663

Campus Map [PDF]
Parking Map [PDF]
Google Maps

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

A social event for staff will follow the meeting.

Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB)
500 E 4th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401
[Google map]
The nearest transit is Lane Transit District (besides Amtrak), and their website refers us to Google Maps for trip planning.

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

This is the last meeting where 2009 members (staff) count—to maintain continuity of membership, please sign up for 2010 no later than this meeting.

Before planning to attend a meeting, check the meeting details in the calendar and check to see if the date is still tentative, or whether it has been confirmed.

• Saturday, March 6 – Eugene or Springfield, OR (updated and confirmed date)
• Saturday, April 17 – Portland, OR – followed by staff social event
• Sunday, May 16 – Portland, OR or Vancouver, WA
• Saturday, June 19 – Eugene or Springfield, OR
• Sunday, July 11 – Salem, OR – followed by staff social event
• Saturday, August 7 – Portland, OR
• Sunday, August 22 – Portland, OR

Always check back to the calendar for the latest member meeting information.

Salem Public Library
585 Liberty St SE
Salem, OR 97301-3591
[Google Maps, nearest transit: Cherriots 1 [PDF], Cherriots 8 [PDF]]

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

As usual, the tentative schedule of meetings for the year includes both Saturdays and Sundays, so if you can’t make this one, have hope!

With the start of a new year, Kumoricon has lots of great announcements to make, including a special Kumoricon Day at a local anime store, Anime Asylum. Check out everything we have to say, from registration to hotel reservations, in the January 2010 newsletter.

Table of contents:

• Welcome from the Convention Chair
• Kumoricon Day – 20% Off at Anime Asylum, January 16th Only!
• Registration Update
• Messing About With Other Conventions
• Our Next Big Event – Oregon Asian Celebration
• Hotel Update & General Meetings

[Newsletter in PDF format; Previous newsletters]

North Portland Library
512 N Killingsworth St
Portland, OR 97217-2330
[nearest Trimet, Google map]

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

Applications will be available for those looking for new opportunities, whether new to Kumoricon/Altonimbus Entertainment or exploring options for continuing contributions. Directors may or may not request applications at individual discretion.

As usual, the tentative schedule of meetings for the year includes both Saturdays and Sundays, so if you can’t make this one, have hope!

Midland Library
805 SE 122nd Ave
Portland, OR 97233

Google Maps

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

This meeting, we will announce any significant changes to the org chart for 2010 and open staff registration. Registration forms will be available for those who have discussed their 2010 position with their 2010 director.

Applications will be available for those looking for new opportunities, whether new to Kumoricon/Altonimbus Entertainment or exploring options for continuing contributions. Directors may or may not request applications at individual discretion.

Activities include cat-ear making. Cosplay is encouraged!

“Keep Portland Weird! A Community Festival: Portland is a place of passionate people pursuing interesting, and sometimes strange, pastimes. Join us for a day of discovery as a wide variety of organizations share what they do and why they do it.”

Calendar entry / Flyer download [PDF]

Your elected directors/officers for the 2010 year are:

Convention Chair and President: Beau Gentry
Director of Operations: Brandon De Vore
Director of Programming: Jaki Hunt
Director of Publicity: Cassie Richoux
Director of Relations: Dawn Hewitt

As previously announced, Kumoricon 2010 will be held on September 4-6, 2010, at the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower.

Online pre-registration starts at $30. Save money by registering early! This price remains in effect until December 31.

For full registration details, options, and policies, please see the registration page.

Preceding the meeting will be a “Hotel FAQ” led by Dawn Hewitt, at 12:00 PM. This will be a one-hour educational session about the relationships between conventions and hotels and why we do or don’t do certain things. There will be a 30 minute break between this session and the meeting.

At the Membership Meeting, elections for the 2010 terms of the member-elected positions (President/Chair, Director of Operations, Director of Programming, Director of Publicity, and Director of Relations) will be held. Nominations and discussion of the candidates is online in the elections section of the forums.

Please see the calendar event page for full details on the Hotel FAQ and Membership Meeting, with detailed agenda.

We know, most of you are at home right now, sad that another year of fun, games, events, and friends has passed.

We’d love to thank all of our attendees, who came once more (or for the first time) to join in our weekend festivities.

Some of the highlights of this year included our international AMV contest, the extremely popular sake tasting panel, live yaoi readings by Jason Thompson and Carl Horn, and of course the marriage proposal during closing ceremonies (she said yes!). Also, this was the first year that we went 24 hours, so we hope you stayed up late and checked out some of our new events!

As always, the staff were absolutely amazing. Many staff members worked sixteen hour shifts, slept for a few hours, and then got right back to work. Kumoricon would never survive without its dedicated staff.

Lots of charitable attendees showed up for this year’s charity auction and we have raised another $3787 for p:ear! We can’t wait to give them their check.

We are still tabulating our final attendance for this year, but we appear to show a small growth from last year. So don’t forget to pre-reg early, because we may need to cap again! We’re simply too popular for locations in Portland.

This year was a learning experience in our new location, challenging us with a new layout and capacity limits on certain floors, but we’re working very closely with our staff and with the hotel to take what we’ve learned this year and make big improvements for 2010.

And if you’re sad another year has come to a close, be sure to check out all our mini-events this year as well as come visit us at other events, like the Festival Japan at Uwajimaya on September 26-27!

We’ll be back next Labor Day Weekend, September 4-6, 2010.

See you next year!

http://www.kumoricon.org/schedule/

If schedule changes occur during the con, they will be updated on the live schedule. Also follow our Twitter feed for live announcements of schedule changes: http://twitter.com/Kumoricon

With the con just a day away, remember, registration opens Friday at 4pm! This applies to both pre-registration and at-the-door registration. Show up before the crowds!

Remember to bring your photo ID (regardless of registration method or type), parent permission form if under age 18, and, of course, your badge, if you pre-registered and had it mailed.

Finally, we have another quick installment of our KumoriContent newsletter: Download [PDF]

First, the entire schedule has been posted online. Download the pocket guide, and view online descriptions of every convention event. Check out the event map, hours, exhibitors, artists, a map and index of local food and stores, and everything else you want to know about the convention. The number of event rooms is huge this year, with more to do than ever before.

Schedule page (Download the pocket guide here!)
Hotel page (Find event and food/area maps here.)

Second, for the first time, Kumoricon is a 24-hour convention. The fun never stops with things to do every moment of the day. Panels and dances run late, viewing rooms are open 24 hours, and several gaming rooms are open 22 hours a day.

Third, our registration hours are longer than ever before. Arrive as early as 4pm on Friday, the day before the convention, to either check-in if you pre-registered, or to register at the door. That’s right—for the first time this year, even if you didn’t pre-register, you can arrive on Friday to register for the weekend. Show up early to reduce your wait! Be ready and checked in when the events start at 8am Saturday morning! To help move the line, registration opens at 6am on Saturday.

Please see the registration page for very important information on what you need with you to check in, and details on our policies.

Mascot 2010 entries
Program book cover 2009 entries
Pocket guide cover 2009 entries

The mascot contest winner will be announced at Closing Ceremonies. The book cover contest winners will be announced when those books are published (pocket guide online, and program book at con).

Also, our photos from Dance Dance Kumoricon in July have been posted. Enjoy!

The exact room is still being determined. To check the room, please see the hotel event listing when you arrive which is posted on a wall near the lobby elevators.

Hilton Portland and Executive Tower
921 SW 6th Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Google Maps with aerial view

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

This meeting, we will put a revision of the Altonimbus Entertainment bylaws to a vote of the staff. Any bylaws amendment or revision requires both a two-thirds vote of the members (staff), and a two-thirds vote of the board, to pass. The bylaws committee has been working on this revision for months, and after incorporating some of the suggestions which were posted in the public comment thread on the forums, feels it is ready for a vote. To read the revision which will be up for vote, as well as comments, please see this forum thread.

Carl Horn is a local manga editor at Portland’s Dark Horse Comics.

Toshi is a voice director, producer, and manga translator, and his voice directing work includes Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha.

The Anime Hunters are a cosplay skit and parody group who will be performing in our opening ceremonies.

Central Library Block Party (event page and location)

Walt Disney Pictures’ PONYO, the latest film from world-renowned Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki, will be released in theatres August 14, but you have a chance to see it sooner. Kumoricon is hosting a drawing to give away 10 admit two passes to a special advance screening on Monday, August 10 in Portland. This is your chance to bring a friend to see an early showing of PONYO.

Please note: All winners must pick up their passes at our general meeting on Sunday, August 9, between 1pm and 3pm at the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower (follow link for address, map, and information). We’re sorry, but winning passes cannot be mailed.

Entries must be received by Saturday, August 8, at 8:00pm.

To enter, please email publicity@kumoricon.org, include “Ponyo” in the subject line, and include your name, email address, and phone number in the body of the message.

We will hold the drawing as soon as the entry period ends on Saturday, August 8, 8:00pm, and email the winners as soon as possible.

Walt Disney Pictures’ PONYO
In Theatres August 14

Disney.com/Ponyo

The exact room is still being determined.

Hilton Portland and Executive Tower
921 SW 6th Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Google Maps with aerial view

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

Cynthia Martinez has voice-acted in numerous anime series. Jason Thompson is a comic writer, artist, and editor.

For full information, please visit our guests page.

Kirk Thornton has voice acted in nearly 200 anime roles, video games, and other projects, and voice-directed several series. Kirk returns to Kumoricon for his fourth year as a guest.

Kaja and Phil Foglio are writers and artists currently most known for the comic Girl Genius, returning to Kumoricon for a second year.

For full information, please visit our guests page.

Salem Public Library – Central
Anderson A room
585 Liberty St SE
Salem, OR 97301

Google Maps
Directions

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

Dance Dance Kumoricon is a celebration of gaming culture. Join us for an evening of video game and video game-inspired music spun by a live DJ from CMD Productions.

Cosplay as one of your favorite game characters to compete in our costume contest. Social gaming in the lounge is encouraged—bring a Magic deck, Pokémon deck, or a DS. There will be snacks provided, and also concessions.

The dance will feature new tracks from The Slants’s upcoming album Slants! Slants! Revolution.

The dance event will be held the evening of Saturday, July 18 at Norse Hall. For information on pre-registration, age policies, and dress code, visit our Dance Dance Kumoricon invitation page.

Kumoricon will be running stage activities and an exhibitor table at the Dragon Moon Festival the weekends of June 6-7 and August 1-2.

We have a half-hour cosplay skit planned Sunday afternoon but are looking for more skits. If you are a cosplay skit group please contact us as we’d love to have you.

Kumoricon also has the opportunity to bring artist tables to the festival. If you would like to host a table during the weekend and sell your work, please contact us. Another possibility, if you are unable to staff a table for the weekend, is for Kumoricon to sell prints of your work and pass on the proceeds. Talk to us for arrangements.

The Dragon Moon Festival is a three-weekend Asian cultural festival this summer in Portland’s Old Town Chinatown. Check out our forum thread for complete event details, and our meet-up thread if you’d like to come in cosplay and meet with other attendees.

Eugene Water & Electric Board
Training Room
500 E 4th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401

Google Maps
Driving directions (EWEB web site)

Please note that the date has changed. The meeting has been moved to Sunday, May 17, from its original date of Saturday, May 16.

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

Clark Community College
Gaiser Hall
1933 Fort Vancouver Way
Vancouver, WA 98663

Campus Map
Parking Map
Google Maps

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

As a special Kumoricon offer, we’ll be giving away four tickets in a drawing this week. Email publicity@kumoricon.org and include “Change the world” in the subject line by Friday, April 24, 11:59pm, to be entered in a drawing for a free ticket to the subtitled showing on Wednesday, April 29 at 7:30pm, at the Lloyd Center 10 theater. Please include your name, phone number, and mailing address in your email so we can mail your ticket immediately once we select a winner. We will notify winners and all entrants as soon as possible after midnight on Friday so you can decide to buy a ticket online if you are not a winner.

For a list of theaters, to buy tickets online, or for more information about the screening, visit our information page on the Kumoricon calendar.

Hilton Portland and Executive Tower
921 SW 6th Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Google Maps

The meeting will be on the 23rd floor.

At this meeting there will be special elections to fill vacancies in the positions of chair, and director of operations. Discussion about these elections is continuing in the forums.

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

Gresham Library
385 NW Miller Ave
Gresham, OR 97030

Google Maps

The meeting will be in the main meeting room.

At this meeting we will open nominations for candidates to the Director of Operations position. After the meeting, nominations will continue online in the forum. There will be a special election at the March 22 general meeting to fill the vacancy in the position.

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

Kumoricon’s activities run from 11:00am to 5:00pm on each day.

Address, map, and details

The staff retreat has been moved to June 12-14, from its previous dates of April 24-26. Because of this, we have added a general meeting in April, and canceled the general meeting on June 7. The April general meeting will be on either Saturday April 25, or Sunday April 26, depending on location availability.

In addition, we have decided on the cities for each general meeting, though the exact locations have not yet been reserved.

Here is the current general meeting schedule. The schedule and details will always be kept up-to-date on the calendar.

Saturday, February 21 – general meeting – Portland, OR
Sunday, March 22 – general meeting – Vancouver, WA
Saturday, April 25 or Sunday, April 26 (TBD) – general meeting – location TBD
Saturday, May 16 – general meeting – Eugene, OR
Friday, June 12 – Sunday, June 14 – staff retreat – details TBA
Saturday, July 11 – general meeting – Salem, OR
Sunday, August 9 – general meeting – Portland, OR
Saturday, August 22 – general meeting – Portland, OR

Soul Candy – an “otaku rock” cover band consisting of talented musicians who are also otaku—big anime fans. As such, they specialize in playing songs and music from your favorite anime series. Hailing from the Seattle/King County area in Washington, Soul Candy is quickly being recognized as a formidable performer in various conventions, rock shows, and festivals. They look forward to get a chance to play for fans of similar interests at events such as Kumoricon.

Last Stop Tokyo – founded by current members of The Slants, who also happened to be former members of San Diego pop punk heroes The Rockaway Teens: Simon Young and Johnny Sars. Joined by AC Slayer (of The Gentry and also formerly of The Slants) and Aaron Sixxx (of Stranger’s Six fame), they are Last Stop Tokyo, a straight up punk rock & roll machine with catchy hooks, driving guitar riffs, and an in-your-face attitude.

Svetlana Chmakova – born and raised Russian, and came to Canada at the tender age of 16. She finished high school here, then graduated Sheridan College with a three-year Classical Animation Diploma and is currently a freelance artist, as well as a fledgling North-American equivalent of a manga-ka. She has been in a love-hate relationship with comics and manga for several years now because she is too weak to break it off. Popular titles include Nightschool and Dramacon.

Watch our Guests of Honor page for more announcements as the con approaches, as well as more details and photos of our current guests.

Borderlands Games
546 High Street NE
Salem, Oregon 97301

Google Maps

The meeting runs from 1pm-5pm. General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open positions.

Kumoricon’s next mini-event will be held on Saturday, February 7th, at the Milwaukie Community Club.

This dance is a casual event, with cosplay acceptable (no flip flops, T-shirts, or ripped jeans) and an optional black and white theme.

Take a break in the Monte Carle gaming room, with light concessions for sale.

Pre-register online or by mail for a discount.

Please visit the themed Winter Ball area of the web site for full details including how to register and policies.

We look forward to seeing you there!

“We (The Slants) got the green light to invite a limited group of friends to the filming session on January 31st in Portland for “Oregon Music Live” (which will be broad casted across a few Comcast Access channels).

This will be a fun, intimate setting where you can watch the Chinatown face-melting action up close and personal. Crazy, excited behavior such as singing and dancing strongly encouraged. Cosplay, Lolita, or whatever you like—be yourselves and represent who The Slants rep!

If you want to attend, filming will take place on Jan. 31st at 4pm. Just let us know if you want to come and how many so we can reserve a spot for you! Email theslants@theslants.com ASAP!!!”

Mail-in pre-registrations must be postmarked (not necessarily received) by December 31. Online registrations have until midnight. (We recommend not waiting until the very last minute, though!)

To pre-register, please visit our registration page to find everything you need.

This festival features taiko drumming, mochi (Japanese sticky rice cake) creating, folk dance, storytelling, Japanese food specialties, calligraphy demonstrations, and a cultural fair featuring organizations like Kumoricon with hands-on crafts and activities.

Stop by our table to pre-register for the con or participate in cosplay crafts including cat-ear making.

In addition to the cultural fair, Mochitsuki features stage performance shows at 1:00pm and 3:15pm. Tickets are $12 for adults, $9 for students and seniors (age 62 and up), and $5 for children age 3 to 11. Children age 2 and under are free. The deadline to purchase tickets directly from Kumoricon has passed. However, you can purchase tickets online from Mochitsuki directly for a small service charge. Also, most likely tickets will be available on the day of the cultural fair, or if not, Kumoricon has a few extra tickets which may be available at its table.

We’re looking for volunteers to help setup the table, handle registrations, and create crafts and activities for the booth. If you are interested, please post in this forum thread or contact publicity@kumoricon.org.

Mochitsuki has had an attendance of over 2500 and this year will be its 13th year. Kumoricon returns to the festival after a very successful event last year.

For full details, including activity descriptions, background, and a map and address to the location, please see the Mochitsuki 2009 calendar entry.

Mail-in pre-registration forms are also available, as is information about all types of registration for Kumoricon 2009: Registration Page

The attendee and staff hotel rates are available as is the attendee discount code: Hotel Page

General meetings are open to the public and intended for potential and current staff and volunteers.

Staff registration for 2009 opens at this meeting. Please see the Get Involved section of the forums for staff position openings, and talk to the director of the department for any positions you are interested in.

Maps and location details are on the calendar entry.

Presented by the Portland State Anime Club and Random Select, Kumoricon Lite features gaming, viewing rooms, a costume contest, manga library, and more.

Admission is free!

Bring a volume of manga to donate to our library, and receive a free raffle ticket.

Update: Unfortunately, due to changes in what the PSU campus will permit, we will no longer be able to host vendors or sell concessions at this event, nor will we be hosting karaoke due to reduced space available. We are very sorry for the change. However, attendees can bring food informally to share.

See the calendar entry for the Kumoricon Lite flyer, location, maps, check-in information, and contact info. Please visit the calendar details page again as the check-in room has changed. Discuss in the forums.

See you there!

Your elected directors/officers for the 2009 year are:

Convention Chair and President: Michael Andrews
Director of Operations: Kenton Cook
Director of Programming: Jaki Hunt
Director of Publicity: Jeff Tyrrill
Director of Relations: Dawn Hewitt

“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!

Clark Community College
Foster Auditorium
1933 Fort Vancouver Way
Vancouver, WA 98663

Full details including maps and parking are located in the calendar entry.

Kumoricon is giving away 4 tickets to the June 11, 7:30pm screening of Bleach: Memories of Nobody, courtesy of VIZ Media. The movie will be showing June 11 and June 12 at the Cascade 16 Cinemas in Vancouver, WA.

Hurry! This giveaway is running until Monday only! Tickets will be given in a random drawing. To be eligible for the drawing, you must enter the drawing by the end of Monday, June 9 (11:59pm), and you must be pre-registered for Kumoricon, or you must pre-register by June 9.

See our Bleach event page for full details on how to enter the drawing, and the Cascade 16 Cinemas location. The Bleach movie will also be playing at other theaters in Oregon and selected theaters nationwide. On the event page, there is a link where you can search for theaters near you.

Tickets will be sold to the public for both the June 11 and 12 showing at the Cascade 16 Cinemas. If you attend, be sure to stop by Kumoricon’s promotional table in the theater lobby and say hi!

Saturday, July 19th
6:00 PM to 11:00 PM
at
Norse Hall
111 NE 11th Avenue, Portland, OR 97232

Tickets are available for pre-order online here for $12, or you can buy them at the door for $15.

Cosplay, Western or Asian attire is acceptable. For guidelines on acceptable attire, please read the Summer Swing Dress Code. Prizes will be awarded for Best Attire and Best Cosplay, and there will be a dance contest as well, so brush up on your dancing skills.

For those looking to take a break from dancing, you can try your luck in the Monte Carlo gaming room. Light refreshments will be served, and concessions will be available for purchase.

Please see the Swing Dance page for full details on the night’s schedule, registration, and our wonderful new Swing Dance mascot!

We look forward to seeing you there!

If you are still having problems with the hotel code JPA, please contact the hotel directly to be sure they apply the code to your room or to place a room reservation by phone. Also if you let us know at hotel@kumoricon.org we can check in to any difficulties you might be having.

If you registered on or before March 22 and have not received your badge, please email registration@kumoricon.org and we will make sure you get your badge.

Badges registered after March 22 will be mailed out in groups approximately once per month until the convention.

It is from 1pm to 5pm and held at PSU in the same building as Kumoricon Lite:

Portland State University
Smith Memorial Student Union
Rooms 327 and 328
1825 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201

Please see the calendar item for full details.

Tier Two (January 1 – March 22) should be in the mail by next week!

The early Tier Three badges will be following Tier Two soon.

If you registered in Tier One (anytime before or on December 31) and do not get your badge by the beginning of next week, let us know at registration@kumoricon.org and we can make sure your badge was mailed.

Thanks for your patience and we look forward to seeing you all Labor Day weekend!

Activities Include:

• Gaming
• Anime Viewing Rooms
• Karaoke
• Manga Library
• Potluck Style Snacks—Bring your favorite treats and drinks to share.
• Raffle—Receive a raffle ticket for each volume of manga that you donate to the manga library. Prizes include a full weekend membership to the convention.
• Concessions will be available.

Email questions to psuevent@kumoricon.org.

See you there!

Free admission. Runs from 12noon to 9pm.

Location:
Portland State University
Smith Memorial Student Union
Check-in: Room 296
1825 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201

Calendar Link

May meeting notice: Our May meeting was previously scheduled on the same day, May 10. We will likely move this meeting to avoid the conflict, but have not settled on a definite date yet. When there is any change in the May meeting date, it will be announced in a separate news post and updated on the calendar.

Let the world know what you love about Kumoricon in an article between 400 and 800 words. The staff will vote on the winning entry at the staff retreat in late April. Hurry—you only have until midnight at the end of the day of Thursday, April 24.

Please see the full rules and details in the forums. Good luck!

Borderlands Games is just a few blocks away from the library in Salem where we have frequently met in the past. Please see the calendar entry for the address and map, and visit the Borderlands Games web site for more information on the venue.

Come to our table to register for the con and pick up flyers. Visit our events in the Youth Room:

Much thanks to COPIC Marker for helping to arrange this special opportunity with Kumoricon!

The Asian Celebration will be held at the Lane Events Center at the Lane County Fairgrounds.

796 W 13th Ave
Eugene, OR 97402

Maps and Directions

Google Maps

Admission:
$4 for Adults and ages 13 and older
Free for Children ages 12 and under

Update: The meeting will be in the Foster Auditorium.

Kumoricon will be hosting a table at Mochitsuki, a Japanese American New Years celebration and cultural fair.

This festival features taiko drumming, mochi (Japanese sticky rice cake) creating, hula dance, a sushi bar, and a community stage featuring organizations like Kumoricon and hands-on crafts and activities. The event organizers will be showing the anime film Nitaboh.

Stop by our table to pre-register for the con or participate in crafts—we’re working on activities that will show what Kumoricon is all about.

As part of our involvement as a Community Partner, Kumoricon is selling tickets to two stage performances during the event. Shows are at 1:00pm and 3:15pm. Tickets are $12 for adults, $9 for students and seniors, and $5 for children age 2 to 11. We have extended the original deadline to buy tickets online! Because the event is now very close, tickets can only be purchased online and there is a $1.25 fee. Please purchase tickets online here. We recommend choosing the will call option due to the short time until the event.

Our involvement in the Mochitsuki festival is made possible by selling tickets, so if you are planning to attend, please buy a ticket to the stage performance! If you would like, please stop by our booth and let us know if you bought a ticket, or tell us at publicity@kumoricon.org, so we can get an estimate of the number of ticket sales we have promoted.

Online ticket orders

We’re looking for volunteers to help setup the table, handle registrations, and create crafts and activities for the booth. If you are interested, please post in this forum thread.

Mochitsuki has had an attendance of over 2500 and this year will be its 12th year. Kumoricon joins it for the first time in what promises to be an exciting event!

Saturday, February 2nd – 6:00 PM to Midnight – Milwaukie Community Club

Tickets are available for $15 ($10 if you attended Kumoricon 2007 or have pre-registered for 2008) here.

Come join us for a night of music and dancing. This is a formal, masked event—formal dress and a mask are required. Formal Western or Asian attire or formal cosplay are acceptable. For guidelines on acceptable attire, please read the Masquerade Ball Dress Code. Prizes will be awarded for Best Formal Attire and Best Formal Cosplay.

Please see the full invitation, schedule, and details.

• Saturday, January 12
• Sunday, February 10
• Saturday, March 16 [Note: This is changed from the previous date of March 15]
• Saturday, May 18 [Note: This is changed from the previous date of May 10]
• Sunday, June 22
• Saturday, July 19
• Sunday, August 3
• Saturday, August 16

All meetings are from 1pm to 5pm. The locations of the meetings have not been determined yet, but they will be announced once they are set. The calendar contains an entry for each meeting and will be kept up to date with details for each meeting.

There is no general meeting in December or April. In April, there is a weekend staff retreat, but the details and dates have not been determined yet.

All general meetings are open to the public. They are intended for potential and current staff and volunteers. The meetings provide an opportunity to give news updates on the progress of planning for the convention, and for staff to meet in small groups to plan work and projects.

Pre-registration for the full weekend is only $25 until December 31. You can pre-register until August 15, 2008, or register at the door, but the earlier you register, the lower the cost.

In addition to online pre-registration by credit card, you can pre-register by mail and pay with a check or money order.

Please review the full registration and convention policies, and all registration options, on the registration page.

Those of you looking for the royal treatment can opt for our special VIP Registration. Only a limited number are available. For $200, you will receive no line at the door, priority seating to all events, a ticket to the limited admittance guest dinner, a free Kumoricon 2008 T-shirt, and a special VIP-only badge.

Second update: The street address of the library on the calendar entry was incorrect and has been corrected. If you already viewed the page and wrote it down, please check it again. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Board-elected
Facilities Liaison – Rian Mueller
Secretary – Ryan Stasel
Treasurer – Eric Teitzel
Vice Chair – Dawn Hewitt

Membership-elected
Director of Relations – John Krall
Director of Publicity – Jeff Tyrrill
Director of Programming – Jaki Hunt
Director of Operations – Jess Shelton
Chair – Mike Andrews

We’ve already been working hard to make the next convention the best yet. We will also be hosting smaller events during the year so keep checking back to stay informed on current happenings!

The first general meeting will be in the Salem area on Sunday, the 11th of November. We will announce the exact location here shortly. General meetings are open to the public and intended for potential and current staff and volunteers. On this date, we will open online pre-registration for Kumoricon 2008, and open staff registration at the meeting.

10:00am – 12:00noon
Social Hour and Poster Signing

12:00noon – 2:00pm
Informal Election Debates and Closing of Nominations

2:30pm – close
General Meeting
Elections

Attendance at the general meeting and elections is open to the public. Anybody may participate in discussion, but only staff for Kumoricon 2007 may vote.

Nominations are currently open. Nominations may be made, and discussion of the candidates may be held, in this forum area.

The hotel address and map are available on the calendar entry for this event.

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.

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!

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

Download it here [PDF], and browse past newsletters here. This issue features tonight’s kickoff party at Backspace, a sampling of Kumoricon 2007 expectations, a look back at Mini-con (with photos!), and, of course, news on our favorite snack—and more! Enjoy it while you wait the remaining two days for Kumoricon to start!

If you pre-registered, and opted to have your badge mailed to you, then you need to bring it! We will charge a fee for replacements.

Regardless of whether you already pre-registered, or are registering at the door, you need:

• Government or school issued photo ID
• Signed parent permission form [PDF], if you are under age 18. If you have already mailed this, then you don’t need to bring it. If you have not already mailed it, or if you aren’t sure, then please bring it with you!

If you are under age 13, then you must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian who is also a paid attendee of the convention.

We’ll see you in a few days!

Backspace, Portland’s entertainment hub, presents a night of nerdcore, with performances by three local artists featuring techno and hip hop set to otaku and Japanese themes. While there, check out previews of Kumoricon content playing on a large screen along with open Wii gaming—plus the usual LAN gaming and cafe at Backspace.

See performances by Ultraklystron featuring otaku ryhmes, Rai with nerdcore/electro in Japanese, and Gradual Meltdown featuring Wii-mote/Guitar Hero-controlled techno.

The party runs from 8:00pm to around midnight, and is open to the public with free admission. Kick off Kumoricon early at this special party. For con staff who will be showing up for prep on Friday, this party is the perfect gathering the night before. We’ll see you there!

As a special incentive, we’re offering one last opportunity to pre-register for Kumoricon. From 8:00pm to 10:00pm only at this party, you can pre-register for a weekend membership at Kumoricon for the $35 price.

Please refer to the entry on the Kumoricon calendar for full details, performer details, and maps.

On the schedule page, you will find: A download of the pocket programming guide; con hours for each day; a list of always-open rooms (things to do between scheduled events); Exhibitors Hall and Artist Alley hours; a quick reference for times for major events and concerts; the entire event and video schedule; a hotel map; and descriptions of nearly all scheduled events. These pieces of information will be in the program book and pocket guide, but the latest, most up-to-date information will always be on the web site.

Important check-in information, including registration hours on Saturday-Monday, and pre-registration check-in hours on Friday, has been added to the registration page.

We’ve also posted a map of local restaurants including approximate open/close times for some of them. See the hotel page for this information. It will be included in the printed pocket guide for your convenience, so you don’t need to print it out.

We promised the galleries for the mascot and cover contests before the con, and here they are! Mascot, program cover, and pocket cover. Staff have voted on the entries in all three contests. The cover winners are revealed; the mascot is still shrouded in mystery until Closing Ceremonies. View the gallery, get your hopes up for your favorite, let the suspense build, and find out if your favorite won on the last day of Kumoricon 2007!

We’ll see you in 9 short days. And the clock is ticking down…

There’s still time to register! You can do so online until 11:55 PM tonight, or at the Kumoricon Minicon Event tomorrow. If you register now, you can receive your badge in the mail next week!

VIP slots are limited, so be sure to act now if you’d like to receive your invitation to the guest dinner, free tee shirt, priority seating, and NO LINES!

The official end count will be posted shortly after pre-registration closes to give us time to count the remaining mail-ins.

Note: Staff or volunteers involved in Mini-con setup or the envelope stuffing may still need to arrive earlier.

We have received over 900 pre-registrations so far, which is more than 50% higher than at the same time last year. This number includes the 28 who have chosen our special VIP membership.

Pre-registration closes on Friday, August 10, at 11:55 PM for online registrations. Mail-in registrations must be postmarked by August 10. (Those received by August 10 will be mailed slightly sooner than those received afterward, but postmarked on time.)

After pre-registration closes, registration will be available at the door for $40.

Kumoricon is just a little over a month away. We look forward to seeing you!

For us this is a chance to to work the kinks out of our untested systems before the con, so please be patient if anything goes wrong. For you, we hope this will be a chance to relax and have fun and enjoy what we can offer.

Anyone who already has a badge or is registered as staff can attend this little event for $5. Anyone who doesn’t have a badge or isn’t signed up as staff as of before the meeting can get in for $10. We are accepting manga for a generous discount of $5 off your entrance—that means if you have your badge and you have a manga you get in at no additional cost, or if you don’t have a badge but you brought two books, you get in free!

(We are only accepting manga to supplement our library for Kumoricon so please bring some cash just in case we already have too many of whatever manga you bring and cannot accept yours. Please no NewType or Monthly Shonen Jump.)

We will be deploying our new registration system at the door, but we will only be able to accept cash or checks (or manga).

You can attend the general meeting and the envelope-stuffing at no charge, but we will be asking to see your admission at the doors of any other room.

Please see this forum thread for news, updates, and questions.

We hope to see you there! Bring your DS.

We’re featuring local clubs in the Kumoricon program book and on the web site. If you are nonprofit, meet regularly, and your membership or at least some of your events are open to the public, then you’re eligible to have your name and blurb printed in the program book, and we will feature your meetings in the Kumoricon web site calendar.

Please contact us soon, as the book must be printed shortly. Email us at publicity@kumoricon.org.

We’re still working on our schedule for 2007, but until then, if you haven’t attended Kumoricon before and want to get an idea of what it’s like, this is a great way to explore what we’re all about.

Enter this page in the Kumoricon gallery to begin browsing. Enjoy!

Separate reminder: The mascot and cover contests have only a little bit over a week remaining until entries are due, which is at July 15, 11:59:59 PM. Please see this forum thread for complete rules and instructions for entry.

The date and time of the meeting have not changed. The meeting remains on Saturday, June 16 from 2pm to 5pm.

Artists, here’s your chance to make your work a part of Kumoricon. The winner of the mascot contest will receive a free Artist Alley booth at Kumoricon 2008!

The mascot will be prominently used in Kumoricon art and publicity material for the 2008 convention year, including but not limited to the web site, promotional flyers and posters, advertisements, merchandise, and badges/membership cards. It should be an immediately attractive, original, anime-style character or characters reflecting the “cloudy” theme of Kumoricon, typically with an umbrella. We need two versions: one adult or teen, and one chibi.

The cover of the 2007 convention program book introduces attendees to the convention upon arrival; every attendee receives one. It is full color and letter size. Fully detailed, colorful backgrounds and foregrounds work best.

The cover of the 2007 pocket programming guide is a smaller, simpler design. It is grayscale, possibly with lower resolution than the main convention book. Lightly detailed and shaded or all-white backgrounds, with strong, contrasting shades, lines, and geometric patterns work best.

Entries must be received by Sunday, July 15, 2007, at 11:59:59 PM, Pacific Daylight Time. [Update: This has been extended by one day so that entries can be turned in at the July 15 general meeting.]

Please read the entire rules and instructions for entry in this forum thread.

We have also just posted galleries of entries from the last two years’ mascot contests, and last year’s cover contest (as well as photo galleries from recent events at which Kumoricon has appeared).

Good luck!

A-Key Kyo is a J-pop and anime cover band formed in Portland, who plays at Japanese cultural festivals and events.

Kirk Thornton has voice acted in over one hundred roles for anime and video games and has voice directed many series.

Please visit our guests page for full bios and photos of all our guests!

Please visit our forum thread for detailed information and showtimes and to discuss meet-ups with other forum members.

You can also visit the NW Film Center’s website for information. Here is a Google Maps link to the Portland Art Museum.

Quick reminder: On a separate note, the current tier of registration ends tonight at midnight! Until then you can pre-register for $30. After that, the price goes up to $35.

We’ve just passed 400 preregistrations. With so many registrations at Sakura-Con, Sakura Fest, and online in the past few weeks, we can see increased excitement this year over last.

So register today! Let’s shoot to get 600 registrations by Monday, 11:59 pm!

Update: The day of week was previously incorrectly stated as Sunday. The last day of the tier is actually Monday, April 30. We apologize for the error.

As a special surprise, two new guests of honor are announced in the newsletter. We’ll post their info in the guests area of the web site shortly, but until then, the newsletter is the only place to find out the new guests we have planned for Kumoricon!

The newsletter is primarily distributed online. Here is the direct download/viewing link [PDF].

We’ll have sample printed copies on display at our booth at the Uwajimaya Sakura Festival on Saturday, April 21. Stop by to take a look! (Due to printing costs, we can’t hand out copies, but you can read it at our table.) Along with the articles, the newsletter features important details about Kumoricon including the dates, registration details, location, and a general meeting schedules, so those browsing at the festival can quickly learn the important info.

This is a great volunteer opportunity to help out Kumoricon. Earn volunteer hours by manning the table, helping with registrations, and answering questions. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact volunteers@kumoricon.org.

The festival runs from 10am to 5pm on Saturday, April 21. If you are volunteering, setup starts a bit earlier. For the address and directions, please see the event in the calendar.

Kumoricon will be in attendance, with at-con registration. Those who register for Kumoricon at Sakura-Con will have their badges printed on the spot! Be sure to stop by, as the $30 tier will end April 30th.

We wish great attendance, round-the-clock fun, and all the best to Sakura-con. Special thanks as well for their cooperation in our April Fool’s fun. The color may be in jest, but the con is no joke! Follow the link in our sidebar for more information.

Update, April 2: If you missed it, see our gallery for screen shots.

If you have not received this email, it might be because of one of the following reasons:

• Your email address has changed since you submitted your registration form.
• Your email address was written incorrectly, or we transcribed it incorrectly.
• There is a problem with your mail system receiving the message. (The message will be sent from wordpress@kumoricon.org.)
• You have not actually registered as staff. (You are not considered official staff until submitting the form signed by your director.)
• Forms submitted after the February meeting might not have been entered yet. We will create accounts for these shortly after the March meeting.

If you have not received the message about your staff account but are registered staff, please email webmaster@kumoricon.org and include your name and the email address that you want to use with the staff account (if you don’t specify, we’ll assume it’s the email address from which you sent the message). If you know that your email address has changed, please include the old address also. Thank you!

Update: The room is Anderson B.

Kumoricon had a successful booth presence over the last two weekends at two Asian-themed events: The Asian Celebration in Eugene and the Chinese New Year Cultural Fair in Portland. These were great opportunities where we reached out to new audiences and promoted Kumoricon to potential attendees and vendors. Thank you to all the staff and volunteers who manned the booths over these two events. Kumoricon extends a special thank you to Copic Marker for sharing their booth with us at the Asian Celebration.

Visit our gallery for photos of the Chinese New Year Cultural Fair.

The information page has been updated with our new Kumoricon 2007 promotional article, written by Maura Lydon, the winner of the contest to re-write the info page.

An update on general meetings: All previously-announced general meetings that were to take place in the Salem, OR area have now had an exact location set: The Salem Public Library, which was the location of the January meeting. (The Salem general meeting are those in March, May, and June. All meetings after this until the con are at the hotel.) Please refer to the calendar for full details on meeting dates, times, locations, and maps.

DIVA classroom (Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts)
110 W Broadway
Eugene, OR 97401

Google Maps
Mapquest

(enlarge photo)

The meeting will be from 2pm to 5pm and is open to the public.

Thanks to Copic Marker for arranging for us to use this space! The meeting directly follows a manga character drawing class from 12noon to 2pm.

Update: Those interested can attend the Manga Character Drawing for Teens class from 12noon to 2pm before the meeting. The cost of the class is $25.

We will be taking registrations at the booth. As a promotion, badges will be mailed out on Monday for registrations taken at the Chinese New Year Fair!

Any staff are welcome to help us behind the booth, and volunteers will earn hours by doing so.

The fair is located at the Oregon Convention Center, Exhibit Hall C (address and maps). Admission to the fair is $3. Last year, this fair had 10000 attendees, so this is sure to be a popular event. For more information, including a floor plan and event schedule, please visit the official web site by the Portland Chinese Times.

Please note that this is the same day as the general meeting. If you aren’t able to make it down to Eugene for the meeting, you can visit us at the fair in Portland…or vice versa.

Update: Kumoricon is booth 225 (floor plan [PDF]). There doesn’t seem to be a booth 225 on the floor plan, but it’s probably near booth 223 and 227.

The registration list has also been updated. Just a note – only the first tier badges have been mailed. If you ordered after Dec. 31st, 2006, you will receive your badge with the next mailout, shortly after April 10th, 2007.

If you do NOT receive your badge by Saturday, February 3rd, please contact chair@kumoricon.org. Use the words “Badge not received” in the subject line for faster service.

The February general meeting will be in or near Eugene, OR on Saturday, February 10. The exact location will be determined shortly.

Here are the future meetings for 2007:

• March 10 – Salem
• April 13-15 – Staff retreat – Location TBD
• May 20 – Salem
• June 16 – Vancouver Hilton and Convention Center (post updated on May 21 to reflect location change (formerly in Salem))
• July 15 – Vancouver Hilton and Convention Center
• August 11 – Vancouver Hilton and Convention Center
• August 25 (weekend before the con) – Vancouver Hilton and Convention Center

All general meetings are from 2pm to 5pm. The meetings have been entered into the calendar displayed on the right sidebar and on the calendar page.

All meetings, except for the staff retreat, are open to the public.

Those of you who are still leery of replying, please send the information to chair@kumoricon.org.

This is our first year mailing out badges, and our first year not requiring Convention Guardians. We really appreciate your patience as we smooth out the bumps in our registration process. In the end, you will be able to walk through the door with a simply flash of your badge and ID.
The registration form is now correct, so this only affects those who received an email. Again, I thank you for your assistance and patience.

Meg Uhde
Convention Chair
Kumoricon 2007

The first tier registrants can look forward to seeing their new badges in the next few weeks, as we complete the printing and mail them to their expectant owners. The list of registrants is now available in the Registration tab.

We hope for the best for you and yours in the year to come.

101 Liberty St. SE
Salem, OR 97301

Google Maps
Mapquest

Like all general meetings, it is open to the public.

Further details on agenda items will be posted as the meeting approaches.

When: Sunday, December 17, 2006, 15:00 to 20:00

Where:

Backspace

115 NW 5th Ave
Portland, OR 97209

Easily accessible from the MAX

Google Maps view
MapQuest view

Details:

Console gaming on our new Wii consoles, our PS3, and giant flat panel LCD TVs.

Tournaments and raffle, LAN gaming room, pool tables for non-gamers, and FREE FOOD!

This event is restricted to Kumoricon registered staff. If you have not signed up yet, please arrange in advance to meet with your director at the party. Staff membership fee is ten dollars. You must have your form filled out, and paid the staff membership fee, before the party, or have arranged with your director to do it at the party, to be considered staff!

Sunday, December 17th, 3pm – 8pm, food served at 5.

Details on the Staff Holiday Party for Dec. 17 are now up on the calendar. Click on the calendar square for more details.

Seen here are four convention Wiis, in addition to five additional Wii-motes (for the one additional system we have pre-ordered and will pick up later today). We will be acquiring Nunchuks, Classic Controllers, and component cables shortly, but they were out of stock today. Staff get to play with our Wiis at special events such as the holiday party. The rest of you get to play them at the con.

Best Buy has been watching over us, providing us with free pizza, drinks, hot chocolate, coffee, and cookies. Thanks to general manager Sam and his awesome, courteous staff at the Beaverton, OR Best Buy for an awesome console launch experience!

Where: Vancouver Hilton & Convention Center

301 West 6th Street
Vancouver, WA 98660

Staff registration will be available starting at 12pm, please meet with the director of the department you are working with to get approval and have them sign off on the registration forms. Staff will be able to pay with credit or debit cards through Acteva, if they are interested in this avenue.

• Tour of the new website features
• Discussion of registration options
• Hotel tour (depending on venue)
• Continued discussion on ways to improve the convention
• Discussion of Staff Perks for 2007
• Holiday Party planning
• Distributing posters and flyers to qualified Street Team and staff
• Sign up of staff

If you are interested in becoming staff for 2007, please contact personnel@kumoricon.org to get in touch with the proper directors. Be sure to bring your $10 membership/registration fee if you are accepted. We will not be able to add you to the staff areas of the site or the staff email list until you speak with a director, fill out the proper form (available at the meeting), and pay your membership dues. As always, meetings are open to the public. More info will be posted as available. (Early this week.)

For Convention Chair – Meg Uhde

For Programming – Brenda McFadden

For Operations – Brownie Williams

For Publicity – Jeff Tyrrill

For Relations – Sean Larson

Please welcome your new execs!

This gives you a bit over two weeks more to write your article telling the world about Kumoricon! (We thought this was more reasonable than just a 3-day extension. ) See further down the page to review the official rules. Good luck!

General elections start at 12pm SHARP and will continue until all elected positions are filled. For more information on nominees, or to add a nominee, please click FORUM above and visit the thread under ‘Meetings’. This is the most important meeting of the year! The directors you elect will run Kumoricon 2007.

Starting at 2pm, Etherguild presents LANime! This being the weekend before Halloween, J Horror and Cosplay will abound! Enter the DDR tourney, view the Kumoricon 2006 and Gameshow footage, and dance at the ANIME RAVE!

We’ll see you there!

This is your chance to write the article that everyone should read about anime conventions. If you’ve got the journalistic touch, and can inspire others to share in the love of anime and Japanese culture, then this is the contest for you! The article you write could be Kumoricon’s official info page and press release.

Requirements are as follows:
1. The submission should sell Kumoricon to the general public, focusing on those with little or no experience with anime/ Japanese culture.
2. The submission should be between 600 and 800 words long.
3. The submission should endeavor to use proper grammar and spelling.
4. The author may submit one photograph which enhances the value of the article. The author must have permission to use the photo with credit to the photographer, or be the photographer.
5. Submissions are due by no later than Saturday, November 11, 2006, 11:59p.m. (extended from October 21)
6. The contest is open to all, including current Kumoricon Staff.

The winner will be chosen by the board of Altonimbus Entertainment. All submissions and corresponding photos become the property of Kumoricon/ Altonimbus Entertainment. Articles may be edited for spelling, grammar, statistical corrections, and content.

Send your submission with your real name and forum name (if applicable) to
chair@kumoricon.org

The winner will be announced on October 29th, 2006.
Good luck to all our entrants!

In the meantime, here are some stats to chew on for the 2006 year:

Attendance: 2257, up from apx. 1700 in 2005

On line pre-registrations: 1035, up from 720 in 2005

Total pre-registrations: 1257 (Same as total attendance for 2004)

Charity Auction Sales: $2455, up from apx. $1600 in 2005

Your directors for 2006 were:

Relations Director: Brian Hammond – Got us all those great guests
Programming Director: Brenda McFadden – Brought you events and panels at con
Publicity Director: Kri Bartholomew – Made sure everyone knew about the con
Operations Director: Ryan Stasel – Maintained the back end of the con
Convention Chair: Meg Uhde – The face of the con, fearless leader and evil mantis
Vice Chair: David McCarley – The other half of Meg’s sanity

Be sure to watch the forums and main page for more information on the 2007 elections, including a listing of all the nominees.

We will be electing the officials who will steer the direction of Kumoricon for the 2007 convention year.

This meeting will take place at Chemeketa College, Salem OR, Building 9.

More information to follow.

Kumoricon executive staff