The deadline for Kumoricon’s 2012 Mascot Contest, and 2011 Program Book and Pocket Guide Cover Contests is July 10th which is fast approaching! Check out the forum thread for all info. Who knows? Next year’s mascot could be yours!

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

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Kumoricon welcomes two cosplay groups as returning guests to our 2011 convention: The Anime Hunters are back for Kumoricon 2011 to bring you more cosplay-flavored entertainment! Also returning to Kumoricon is Slightly Anime, an anime convention-based entertainment group which presents the annual “Slightly Anime Dating Game”.

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Kumoricon is pleased to announce Chris Cason and David Vincent as guests of honor at the 2011 convention! For over ten years, Chris Cason has participated in almost every facet of anime production, working in a voice acting, ADR directing, or scriptwriting capacity. David Vincent is a voice actor / television producer who has lent his voice to a variety of anime and video game titles, as well as numerous commercials for television and radio. Visit our guests page for full info.

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Saturday, July 16, at 1:00 PM at Woodmansee Park Shelter in Salem, OR. All general meetings are open to the public. Learn how to join staff or volunteer.

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Exhibitors Hall spots are limited and confirmations will be going out soon. We are currently finalizing the review of our contract in conjunction with our lawyer, and the contract will be available for those who have been approved for Kumoricon 2011 as soon as it is green-lit. We thank you for your patience. For more information, please see this forum post and feel free to email any questions or updated information to exhibitors@kumoricon.org.

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An interview with Brian Mathews, Assistant Registration Manager. “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.”

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An interview with Andie Letourneau, Cosplay Coordinator. “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.”

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

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An interview with Ash Butler, a new Yojimbo and Con Suite staff member. “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 … 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.”

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An interview with David Reynolds, our Volunteer Manager. “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.”

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