2008 News

The first tier of Kumoricon 2009 pre-registration ends at midnight the evening of December 31. You have four days left to register at the lowest rate of $30 for the entire weekend.

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.

Kumoricon will be hosting a table at Mochitsuki, a Japanese American New Years celebration and cultural fair on Saturday, January 17, 11:00am to 3:00pm, at the PCC Sylvania Campus.

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.

You can now pre-register online for Kumoricon 2009. Pre-register by December 31 for the lowest rate available, $30.

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

The first general meeting for the 2009 con year will be held on Sunday, November 9, at PSU (the same building and location as Kumoricon Lite the weekend prior).

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.

Kumoricon’s one-day mini-event returns on Saturday, November 1, at the PSU campus.

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!

Thank you to our candidates for running for the staff-elected positions for Kumoricon 2009 and to our staff for participating in the elections meeting.

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

Kumoricon will have a booth at the Festival Japan 2008 at the Beaverton Uwajimaya—our first outreach event after Kumoricon 2008.

“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.

Thanks to our attendees for making this the largest Kumoricon yet!

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.

The August 2008 issue of the Kumoricon newsletter, KumoriContent, is now available. Not only is this a great introductory guide to Kumoricon, it features new announcements: a preview of Kumoricon merchandise available at the con, a map of the Exhibitors Hall and Artist Alley featuring vendors, artists, and booth arrangements! Also see thanks to our sponsors as well as information about an upcoming cosplay music concert, Starlight Symphony, in October.

Download it here [PDF, 2.2MB], or browse past newsletters.

Are you ready for the most exciting Kumoricon yet?

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!

Although our hotel has been sold out of discounted rooms for some time now, we are maintaining a waiting list of people who would still like a room at the Kumoricon attendee rate. Please email your full name, phone number, and desired dates of stay to hotel@kumoricon.org to be placed on it.

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.

The final general meeting prior to the con is being held on Saturday, August 16 from 1-5pm at our hotel, the Doubletree Portland-Lloyd Center:

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.

The first general meeting in August is being held on Sunday, August 3 from 1-5pm at our hotel, the Doubletree Portland-Lloyd Center, in the same room as the July meeting:

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.

The July general meeting is being held on Saturday, July 19 from 1-5pm at our hotel, the Doubletree Portland-Lloyd Center.

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.

In case you missed out, we’ve extended the pre-registration deadline for the Summer Swing Dance until July 16. Save money by pre-registering online. Get all the details about the dance here.

We hope to see you on the evening of Saturday the 19th!

The contests to draw the mascot for Kumoricon 2009, and the covers of the program book and pocket programming book for 2008 only have one week left. You must submit your entries by Sunday, July 6, 11:59pm to qualify. Full details in this forum thread.

The June General Meeting scheduled for June 22 at 1pm has found a location: Clark College in Vancouver, WA:

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

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

[Update: Giveaway entry deadline extended by 1 day!]

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!

Come join us for a night of music, dancing, and fun at Kumoricon’s Summer Swing Dance!

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!

We have expanded the number of rooms in our attendee hotel block at the Doubletree. If you tried to reserve a room with our hotel code and found that there were no rooms available, please try again. We have increased the number of rooms for Friday-Monday nights.

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.

Following up on our first tier registration mailout, all second tier badges (those registered on or before March 22) were mailed out earlier this month.

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.

Due to Kumoricon Lite being held on May 10, the general meeting has been moved to the weekend after onto Sunday, May 18.

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.

The pre-registration badges for those registering up to December 31 are in the mail!

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!

Our next mini-event will be taking place on May 10.

Portland State Anime Club and Random Select Present: Kumoricon Lite

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.

We’ve had a contest running in the forums but have received no entries yet—here’s your chance to write the Kumoricon 2008 information page!

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!

The official Masquerade Ball photos have been posted in a gallery. You can download full images, or order prints from our photographer. Enjoy!

The March general meeting has been scheduled for March 16th at Borderlands Games in Salem from 1pm-5pm. This is a date change—it is now on Sunday, March 16th, the day after the Saturday on which it was previously scheduled. We greatly apologize for the sudden change in date on late notice. Unfortunately, space at several locations was not available on Saturday.

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.

Kumoricon will be participating in several activities and events at the 2008 Oregon Asian Celebration in Eugene.

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

The February general meeting on Sunday, February 10 will be hosted at Clark Community College in Vancouver, WA. The time is the usual 1pm-5pm. The full details, address, and maps for the campus, parking, and driving are located on the calendar entry.

Update: The meeting will be in the Foster Auditorium.

(Updated news: Online ticket sales extended (small processing fee applies) – Nitaboh anime film showing)

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!

You are cordially invited to Kumoricon’s Winter Masquerade Ball.

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.