Recent Updates

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.

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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

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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.

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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 convention during this pandemic.

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April 2020 Is the First Conventionless Month in Over 40 Years

The Coronavirus pandemic first started affecting conventions scheduled for the weekend of March 7th and 8th when San Jose Super Toy & Comic Book Show and Paris Manga & Sci-Fi Show were cancelled. By the following weekend, a majority of the conventions had cancelled or postponed and 13 remained. Between the time the last convention ended on the evening of March 15, 2020 and the publication of this article, no other fan convention has taken place anywhere in the world...and none are still scheduled for weeks.

Conventions have continued to announce cancellations or postponements as the weeks have continued while the world sits at home in various states of quarantine. Some conventions announced plans to hold an "online convention" while most have shut down and started making plans for their next event later in the year or next year. Many cancelled conventions have also published lists of artists and vendors that would have been at the convention as a way to encourage online sales and support those small businesses.

As the weeks of social distancing, sheltering-in-place, and quarantine have continued, concerned attendees have ranged from understanding to outrage in reaction to announcements from their favorite conventions. Many conventions have had to wait for the government to force their venue to close in order to trigger the force majeure (or "act of God") clause in their contracts. This clause releases conventions from penalties that they may have to pay to the venue if they had cancelled the convention on their own. Some attendees, especially in the early weeks of the pandemic, were...

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AnimeCons TV - Coronavirus and Conventions

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused weeks and weeks of convention cancellations and postponements. Doug talks about why some conventions take time to announce cancellations. Learn how you can still support artists and vendors from those conventions. Doug also shares some ideas on how to keep busy during this strange time.
#StayHome

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Most Anime Convention Guest Appearances of 2019

Back in July, we ran some queries against our guest database to put together a list of the guests who had made the most guest appearances at anime conventions each year from 2014 through 2018. We also published a list for the first half of 2019. With 2019 behind us, we can now publish a complete list of the 25 guests who made the most anime convention guest appearances in 2019.

The list is as follows:

1. Morgan Berry (20 guest appearances)
1. J. Michael Tatum (20)
3. Greg Ayres (18)
3. Justin Briner (18)
5. Samurai Dan Coglan (16)
6. Steve Blum (15)
6. Luci Christian (15)
6. Josh Grelle (15)
6. Derek Stephen Prince (15)
10. Ray Chase (14)
10. Robbie Daymond (14)
10. Kohei Hattori (14)
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AnimeCons TV - 2019 Year in Review

In our last episode of 2019, the hosts are together again to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2019 conventions.

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AnimeCons TV - Best of 2019

Look back on some highlights from the eleventh year of AnimeCons TV...

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AnimeCons TV - 2019 & 2020 Predictions

It's time to review our 2019 convention predictions and make new ones for 2020.

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