By Ellen Klowden and Ash Butler

(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.