- Monday, June 07, 2021
- 12:00 pm PDT
AnimeCons TV posted a new episode
Vaccinations are out, people are getting their shots, infection rates are down, and conventions are coming back. Doug and Patrick talk about how they're coming back and what conventions may look like in the near future as we recover. - Monday, February 01, 2021
- 11:00 am PST
AnimeCons TV posted a new episode
AnimeCons TV - Future of Otakon in Doubt
Otakon has communicated rather dire circumstances for the future of the convention. They need to "make a decision to continue planning for Otakon 2021, or potentially close our doors forever." Lauren and John from Gunpla101 join Doug to discuss this unexpected news. - Thursday, January 28, 2021
- 9:00 am PST
FanCons.com posted a new article
Otakon Asks for Donations To Avoid Closing Forever
Otakorp, the parent company of Otakon, has sent out a newsletter which conveys rather dire circumstances for the future of the convention. In it, Otakorp President Brooke Zerrlaut states that they will need to "make a decision to continue planning for Otakon 2021, or potentially close our doors forever." The convention is seeking donations to help strengthen its finances.
The full text of the message is as follows. (Emphasis is theirs.)
A Message from the President
As much as we hope you love coming to Otakon, we love making it happen even more. We were devastated to have to cancel Otakon 2020. In a year where so much was going wrong, we held onto every chance to do something positive, but were ultimately unable to do so due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As we turn the page on 2020, we're hopeful and looking forward to a better 2021.Now, more than ever, Otakorp needs your help.
As you may be aware, Otakon is the annual convention of Otakorp, Inc. Otakorp is an all-volunteer run, nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational organization, whose mission is to promote the appreciation of Asian culture and its fandom, primarily through its media (anime, manga, music, movies, video games, etc.). As a volunteer organization, every dollar that we make from our memberships goes towards realizing that mission to promote and celebrate Asian culture, and our largest event is our annual meeting - Otakon. We use the proceeds from each year to plan the next Otakon and make sure we survive until then. So without the income from Otakon 2020, and the early pre-registrations we would normally see at this time of year, we are in a very precarious position. Put simply, in the next few months we will have to make a...
- Monday, January 25, 2021
- 11:00 am PST
AnimeCons TV posted a new episode
AnimeCons TV - The Anime Industry Without Conventions
Anime News Network's Lynzee Loveridge joins our own Doug Wilder to talk about how the pandemic has changed the anime industry and what effect it may have on conventions. - Monday, December 28, 2020
- 11:00 am PST
AnimeCons TV posted a new episode
In our last episode of 2020, the hosts get together virtually to discuss the bad, the worse, and the ugly of the abbreviated 2020 convention season. - Monday, December 21, 2020
- 11:00 am PST
AnimeCons TV posted a new episode
It's time to review predictions for 2020, the year nobody saw coming, and make new predictions for 2021. - Monday, August 10, 2020
- 12:00 pm PDT
AnimeCons TV posted a new episode
AnimeCons TV - A Discussion on Virtual Conventions
Daryl Surat from Anime World Order returns to talk with Doug Wilder about online conventions, what works, what doesn't, and if virtual conventions work as a substitute for the real thing. - Wednesday, May 27, 2020
- 10:00 am PDT
FanCons.com posted a new article
It Took Longer, but May 2020 Is the Second Conventionless Month Since 1974
On April 9th, we announced that April 2020 was the first conventionless month in over 40 years as the final convention scheduled for that month was cancelled. After some research, we found there hadn't been another calendar month without any sort of fan convention since at least January 1974.
Most May 2020 conventions had already been cancelled or postponed by the start of the month, but the second half of the month still had some conventions that were holding out and had not announced cancellations. The final convention on the calendar was a comic convention in Miami, Florida that was still scheduled for May 30th. Yesterday, on the 26th day of May (or what feels like the 87th day of March), they updated their web site and social media with their new date for the increasingly popular weekend of October 10th while never actually mentioning the old date was cancelled.
Although our database of old conventions is incomplete, the last time we have a record of there being two consecutive calendar months without any conventions was back in December 1973 and January 1974. If you know of any conventions held in those months (or any we're missing in our database from any year), please let us know!
This weekend will be the 11th consecutive weekend without any conventions taking place anywhere on the planet. As of publication time, the next scheduled convention is
- Monday, May 11, 2020
- 12:00 pm PDT
AnimeCons TV posted a new episode
AnimeCons TV - Interview with the Otakon 2020 Organizers
On April 27, 2020, Otakon joined the long list of conventions that have been cancelled as a result of COVID-19. Doug conducted a Skype interview with the Otakorp President, Nick Avgerinos, and Otakon 2020 Convention Chair, Andrew Zerrlaut, to talk about what lead to the cancelation, reaction to the news, and what they've been doing now that they don't need to plan and run a convention this year. - Monday, May 04, 2020
- 12:00 pm PDT
AnimeCons TV posted a new episode
AnimeCons TV - Interview with the Anime Boston 2020 Con Chair
On March 14, 2020, Anime Boston announced that their convention would be cancelled as a result of COVID-19. Doug conducted a Skype interview with the Anime Boston 2020 convention chair, Kristen Leiding, to talk about events leading up to the cancellation announcement, the decision to cancel rather than postpone, attendee reaction, and other things facing conventions during this pandemic.