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2009 News

Announcements and updates specifically from the 2009 convention year.

December 2009

January General Meeting

Our next General Meeting will be held Sunday, January 10, at 1:00 PM in the main (only) meeting room at the North Portland Library on North Killingsworth.

North Portland Library
512 N Killingsworth St
Portland, OR 97217-2330
[nearest Trimet, Google map]

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

Applications will be available for those looking for new opportunities, whether new to Kumoricon/Altonimbus Entertainment or exploring options for continuing contributions. Directors may or may not request applications at individual discretion.

As usual, the tentative schedule of meetings for the year includes both Saturdays and Sundays, so if you can’t make this one, have hope!

November 2009

November General Meeting

The first General Meeting of the 2010 convention year will be held Sunday, November 22, at 1:00pm at the Midland Library in the large room. The meeting will probably be pretty short, leaving plenty of time for break-outs before we have to vacate the building at 4:30 (the library closes at 5:00).

Midland Library
805 SE 122nd Ave
Portland, OR 97233

Google Maps

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions. Bring interested friends!

This meeting, we will announce any significant changes to the org chart for 2010 and open staff registration. Registration forms will be available for those who have discussed their 2010 position with their 2010 director.

Applications will be available for those looking for new opportunities, whether new to Kumoricon/Altonimbus Entertainment or exploring options for continuing contributions. Directors may or may not request applications at individual discretion.

Kumoricon at Keep Portland Weird Festival

Kumoricon will be participating in the Keep Portland Weird! festival at the Portland Central Library on Saturday, Nov. 14. The festival runs from 12noon to 4pm.

Activities include cat-ear making. Cosplay is encouraged!

“Keep Portland Weird! A Community Festival: Portland is a place of passionate people pursuing interesting, and sometimes strange, pastimes. Join us for a day of discovery as a wide variety of organizations share what they do and why they do it.”

Calendar entry / Flyer download [PDF]

October 2009

Election Results for 2010

Thank you to our candidates for running for the Member-Elected Positions for Kumoricon 2010 and to our staff for participating in the elections meeting.

Your elected directors/officers for the 2010 year are:

  • Convention Chair and President: Beau Gentry
  • Director of Operations: Brandon De Vore
  • Director of Programming: Jaki Hunt
  • Director of Publicity: Cassie Richoux
  • Director of Relations: Dawn Hewitt

Kumoricon 2010 Online Pre-Registration Is Open!

You can now pre-register online or by mail for Kumoricon 2010!

As previously announced, Kumoricon 2010 will be held on September 4-6, 2010, at the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower.

Online pre-registration starts at $30. Save money by registering early! This price remains in effect until December 31.

For full registration details, options, and policies, please see the registration page.

Annual Membership Meeting and 2010 Elections

The Annual Meeting of the Altonimbus Entertainment Membership has been scheduled for October 25, 2009, at 1:30 PM in the Pavilion Room (AKA “Live Events”) of the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower.

Preceding the meeting will be a “Hotel FAQ” led by Dawn Hewitt, at 12:00 PM. This will be a one-hour educational session about the relationships between conventions and hotels and why we do or don’t do certain things. There will be a 30 minute break between this session and the meeting.

At the Membership Meeting, elections for the 2010 terms of the member-elected positions (President/Chair, Director of Operations, Director of Programming, Director of Publicity, and Director of Relations) will be held. Nominations and discussion of the candidates is online in the elections section of the forums.

Please see the calendar event page for full details on the Hotel FAQ and Membership Meeting, with detailed agenda.

September 2009

Thank You for Attending Kumoricon 2009!

Kumoricon 2009 is over! ;_;

We know, most of you are at home right now, sad that another year of fun, games, events, and friends has passed.

We’d love to thank all of our attendees, who came once more (or for the first time) to join in our weekend festivities.

Some of the highlights of this year included our international AMV contest, the extremely popular sake tasting panel, live yaoi readings by Jason Thompson and Carl Horn, and of course the marriage proposal during closing ceremonies (she said yes!). Also, this was the first year that we went 24 hours, so we hope you stayed up late and checked out some of our new events!

As always, the staff were absolutely amazing. Many staff members worked sixteen hour shifts, slept for a few hours, and then got right back to work. Kumoricon would never survive without its dedicated staff.

Lots of charitable attendees showed up for this year’s charity auction and we have raised another $3787 for p:ear! We can’t wait to give them their check.

We are still tabulating our final attendance for this year, but we appear to show a small growth from last year. So don’t forget to pre-reg early, because we may need to cap again! We’re simply too popular for locations in Portland.

This year was a learning experience in our new location, challenging us with a new layout and capacity limits on certain floors, but we’re working very closely with our staff and with the hotel to take what we’ve learned this year and make big improvements for 2010.

And if you’re sad another year has come to a close, be sure to check out all our mini-events this year as well as come visit us at other events, like the Festival Japan at Uwajimaya on September 26-27!

We’ll be back next Labor Day Weekend, September 4-6, 2010.

See you next year!

Online Live Schedule Posted, Check-In Reminders, and Newsletter

We now have another online format of the schedule available, which can be directly viewed in your web browser without need for Adobe Reader:

https://www.kumoricon.org/schedule/

If schedule changes occur during the con, they will be updated on the live schedule. Also follow our Twitter feed for live announcements of schedule changes: https://twitter.com/Kumoricon

With the con just a day away, remember, registration opens Friday at 4pm! This applies to both pre-registration and at-the-door registration. Show up before the crowds!

Remember to bring your photo ID (regardless of registration method or type), parent permission form if under age 18, and, of course, your badge, if you pre-registered and had it mailed.

Finally, we have another quick installment of our KumoriContent newsletter: Download [PDF]

August 2009

Schedule and Registration News

With the convention barely over a week away, we have some exciting news:

First, the entire schedule has been posted online. Download the pocket guide, and view online descriptions of every convention event. Check out the event map, hours, exhibitors, artists, a map and index of local food and stores, and everything else you want to know about the convention. The number of event rooms is huge this year, with more to do than ever before.

Second, for the first time, Kumoricon is a 24-hour convention. The fun never stops with things to do every moment of the day. Panels and dances run late, viewing rooms are open 24 hours, and several gaming rooms are open 22 hours a day.

Third, our registration hours are longer than ever before. Arrive as early as 4pm on Friday, the day before the convention, to either check-in if you pre-registered, or to register at the door. That’s right—for the first time this year, even if you didn’t pre-register, you can arrive on Friday to register for the weekend. Show up early to reduce your wait! Be ready and checked in when the events start at 8am Saturday morning! To help move the line, registration opens at 6am on Saturday.

Please see the registration page for very important information on what you need with you to check in, and details on our policies.

Galleries Updated

For your browsing while you eagerly wait for the con, we’ve posted the galleries of the entries for the mascot and book cover contests:

The mascot contest winner will be announced at Closing Ceremonies. The book cover contest winners will be announced when those books are published (pocket guide online, and program book at con).

Also, our photos from Dance Dance Kumoricon in July have been posted. Enjoy!

Second August General Meeting

The second August general meeting, which is the last general meeting before the convention, will be held on Saturday, August 22 from 1pm-5pm at our hotel, the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower.

The exact room is still being determined. To check the room, please see the hotel event listing when you arrive which is posted on a wall near the lobby elevators.

Hilton Portland and Executive Tower
921 SW 6th Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Google Maps with aerial view

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

This meeting, we will put a revision of the Altonimbus Entertainment bylaws to a vote of the staff. Any bylaws amendment or revision requires both a two-thirds vote of the members (staff), and a two-thirds vote of the board, to pass. The bylaws committee has been working on this revision for months, and after incorporating some of the suggestions which were posted in the public comment thread on the forums, feels it is ready for a vote. To read the revision which will be up for vote, as well as comments, please see this forum thread.

Kumoricon's Latest Guests: Carl Horn, Toshifumi Yoshida, and The Anime Hunters

Kumoricon welcomes returning guests of honor Carl Horn, Toshifumi Yoshida and The Anime Hunters.

Carl Horn is a local manga editor at Portland’s Dark Horse Comics.

Toshi is a voice director, producer, and manga translator, and his voice directing work includes Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha.

The Anime Hunters are a cosplay skit and parody group who will be performing in our opening ceremonies.

Central Library Block Party

On Saturday, August 8, from 12noon-4pm, Kumoricon will be participating in the Central Library’s Block Party event with cat ear-making and outreach. Join us!

It’s our neighborhood and it’s summer, so we’re having a block party! Come on down to Central Library for an afternoon of fun stuff outdoors:

  • The Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers
  • Oregon Zoo
  • Kumoricon
  • SCRAP
  • All-ages PDXSwap clothing exchange
  • Learn circus skills from W.E. C.A.R.E.
  • Decorate cupcakes with Western Culinary Institute
  • Get your face painted
  • Make altered tees

Central Library Block Party (event page and location)

Ponyo Advance Screening and Pass Giveaway

Kumoricon brings a special opportunity to Portland anime fans:

Walt Disney Pictures’ PONYO, the latest film from world-renowned Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki, will be released in theatres August 14, but you have a chance to see it sooner. Kumoricon is hosting a drawing to give away 10 admit two passes to a special advance screening on Monday, August 10 in Portland. This is your chance to bring a friend to see an early showing of PONYO.

Please note: All winners must pick up their passes at our general meeting on Sunday, August 9, between 1pm and 3pm at the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower (follow link for address, map, and information). We’re sorry, but winning passes cannot be mailed.

Entries must be received by Saturday, August 8, at 8:00pm.

To enter, please email publicity@kumoricon.org, include “Ponyo” in the subject line, and include your name, email address, and phone number in the body of the message.

We will hold the drawing as soon as the entry period ends on Saturday, August 8, 8:00pm, and email the winners as soon as possible.

Walt Disney Pictures’ PONYO
In Theatres August 14

Disney.com/Ponyo

Walt Disney Pictures' PONYO

August General Meeting

The first General Meeting in August will be held on Sunday, August 9 from 1pm-5pm at our hotel, the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower.

The exact room is still being determined.

Hilton Portland and Executive Tower
921 SW 6th Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Google Maps with aerial view

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

July 2009

Welcoming Our Guests of Honor: Kirk Thornton, Kaja and Phil Foglio

Kumoricon is pleased to announce the return of two guests of honor for Kumoricon 2009: Kirk Thornton, and Kaja and Phil Foglio.

Kirk Thornton has voice acted in nearly 200 anime roles, video games, and other projects, and voice-directed several series. Kirk returns to Kumoricon for his fourth year as a guest.

Kaja and Phil Foglio are writers and artists currently most known for the comic Girl Genius, returning to Kumoricon for a second year.

For full information, please visit our guests page.

July General Meeting

The July General Meeting will be held on Saturday, July 11, from 1pm-5pm, at the Salem Public Library, Central location:

Salem Public Library – Central
Anderson A room
585 Liberty St SE
Salem, OR 97301

Google Maps
Directions

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

June 2009

Dance Dance Kumoricon

Kumoricon is excited to announce its next mini-event, Dance Dance Kumoricon!

Dance Dance Kumoricon is a celebration of gaming culture. Join us for an evening of video game and video game-inspired music spun by a live DJ from CMD Productions.

Cosplay as one of your favorite game characters to compete in our costume contest. Social gaming in the lounge is encouraged—bring a Magic deck, Pokémon deck, or a DS. There will be snacks provided, and also concessions.

The dance will feature new tracks from The Slants’s upcoming album Slants! Slants! Revolution.

The dance event will be held the evening of Saturday, July 18 at Norse Hall. For information on pre-registration, age policies, and dress code, visit our Dance Dance Kumoricon invitation page.

Looking for Cosplay Groups and Artists for Weekends in June and August [Updated]

Post update: Updated dates to reflect cancellation of July 4-5 weekend.

Kumoricon will be running stage activities and an exhibitor table at the Dragon Moon Festival the weekends of June 6-7 and August 1-2.

We have a half-hour cosplay skit planned Sunday afternoon but are looking for more skits. If you are a cosplay skit group please contact us as we’d love to have you.

Kumoricon also has the opportunity to bring artist tables to the festival. If you would like to host a table during the weekend and sell your work, please contact us. Another possibility, if you are unable to staff a table for the weekend, is for Kumoricon to sell prints of your work and pass on the proceeds. Talk to us for arrangements.

The Dragon Moon Festival is a three-weekend Asian cultural festival this summer in Portland’s Old Town Chinatown. Check out our forum thread for complete event details, and our meet-up thread if you’d like to come in cosplay and meet with other attendees.

May 2009

May General Meeting [Note Date Change]

The May General Meeting will be held on Sunday, May 17, from 1pm-5pm, at the Eugene Water & Electric Board:

Eugene Water & Electric Board
Training Room
500 E 4th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401

Google Maps
Driving directions (EWEB web site)

Please note that the date has changed. The meeting has been moved to Sunday, May 17, from its original date of Saturday, May 16.

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

April 2009

April General Meeting

The April General Meeting will be held on Sunday, April 26, from 1pm-5pm, at Clark College:

Clark Community College
Gaiser Hall
1933 Fort Vancouver Way
Vancouver, WA 98663

Campus Map
Parking Map
Google Maps

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

Death Note: L, change the WorLd Screening and Ticket Giveaway

Death Note: L, change the WorLd will be screening at select theaters nationwide for two days: Wednesday and Thursday, April 29-30. It will be shown subtitled on Wednesday, April 29 and dubbed on Thursday, April 30.

As a special Kumoricon offer, we’ll be giving away four tickets in a drawing this week. Email publicity@kumoricon.org and include “Change the world” in the subject line by Friday, April 24, 11:59pm, to be entered in a drawing for a free ticket to the subtitled showing on Wednesday, April 29 at 7:30pm, at the Lloyd Center 10 theater. Please include your name, phone number, and mailing address in your email so we can mail your ticket immediately once we select a winner. We will notify winners and all entrants as soon as possible after midnight on Friday so you can decide to buy a ticket online if you are not a winner.

For a list of theaters, to buy tickets online, or for more information about the screening, visit our information page on the Kumoricon calendar.

March 2009

March General Meeting

The March General Meeting will be held on Sunday, March 22, from 1pm-5pm, at our hotel:

Hilton Portland and Executive Tower
921 SW 6th Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Google Maps

The meeting will be on the 23rd floor.

At this meeting there will be special elections to fill vacancies in the positions of chair, and director of operations. Discussion about these elections is continuing in the forums.

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

February 2009

February General Meeting

The February General Meeting will be held on Saturday, February 21, from 1pm-5pm, at:

Gresham Library
385 NW Miller Ave
Gresham, OR 97030

Google Maps

The meeting will be in the main meeting room. At this meeting we will open nominations for candidates to the Director of Operations position. After the meeting, nominations will continue online in the forum. There will be a special election at the March 22 general meeting to fill the vacancy in the position.

General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open staff positions.

January 2009

Oregon Asian Celebration

Kumoricon will be participating in the Oregon Asian Celebration in Eugene at the Lane Events Center on the weekend of February 14-15. On Saturday and Sunday, visit the Youth Room for cat-ear making activities, and on Saturday, visit Kumoricon’s dedicated room for video gaming and karaoke.

Kumoricon’s activities run from 11:00am to 5:00pm on each day.

Address, map, and details

Asian Celebration 2009 poster

Updated General Meeting Schedule

Please note the following schedule changes for general meetings for the 2009 convention year:

The staff retreat has been moved to June 12-14, from its previous dates of April 24-26. Because of this, we have added a general meeting in April, and canceled the general meeting on June 7. The April general meeting will be on either Saturday April 25, or Sunday April 26, depending on location availability.

In addition, we have decided on the cities for each general meeting, though the exact locations have not yet been reserved.

Here is the current general meeting schedule. The schedule and details will always be kept up-to-date on the calendar.

First Guests of Honor Announced for Kumoricon 2009

We are pleased to make our first announcements for guests of honor at Kumoricon 2009:

Soul Candy – an “otaku rock” cover band consisting of talented musicians who are also otaku—big anime fans. As such, they specialize in playing songs and music from your favorite anime series. Hailing from the Seattle/King County area in Washington, Soul Candy is quickly being recognized as a formidable performer in various conventions, rock shows, and festivals. They look forward to get a chance to play for fans of similar interests at events such as Kumoricon.

Last Stop Tokyo – founded by current members of The Slants, who also happened to be former members of San Diego pop punk heroes The Rockaway Teens: Simon Young and Johnny Sars. Joined by AC Slayer (of The Gentry and also formerly of The Slants) and Aaron Sixxx (of Stranger’s Six fame), they are Last Stop Tokyo, a straight up punk rock & roll machine with catchy hooks, driving guitar riffs, and an in-your-face attitude.

Svetlana Chmakova – born and raised Russian, and came to Canada at the tender age of 16. She finished high school here, then graduated Sheridan College with a three-year Classical Animation Diploma and is currently a freelance artist, as well as a fledgling North-American equivalent of a manga-ka. She has been in a love-hate relationship with comics and manga for several years now because she is too weak to break it off. Popular titles include Nightschool and Dramacon.

Watch our Guests of Honor page for more announcements as the con approaches, as well as more details and photos of our current guests.

January General Meeting

A location has been set for the Sunday, January 18 general meeting:

Borderlands Games
546 High Street NE
Salem, Oregon 97301

Google Maps

The meeting runs from 1pm-5pm. General meetings are open to the public. Meet and plan with other staff, join staff or become a volunteer, and learn about open positions.

(Please Don't Let It) Snow Ball

Come join us for a night of music, dancing, and fun at Kumoricon’s (Please Don’t Let It) Snow Ball, featuring anime music, AMVs, and a live DJ!

Kumoricon’s next mini-event will be held on Saturday, February 7th, at the Milwaukie Community Club.

This dance is a casual event, with cosplay acceptable (no flip flops, T-shirts, or ripped jeans) and an optional black and white theme.

Take a break in the Monte Carle gaming room, with light concessions for sale.

Pre-register online or by mail for a discount.

Please visit the themed Winter Ball area of the web site for full details including how to register and policies.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The Slants TV Opportunity

Fans of Kumoricon and of Portland’s Asian dance rock band, The Slants, who have been a twice-previous musical guest of honor at Kumoricon, have a chance to join a studio audience for a TV appearance on January 31:

“We (The Slants) got the green light to invite a limited group of friends to the filming session on January 31st in Portland for “Oregon Music Live” (which will be broad casted across a few Comcast Access channels).

This will be a fun, intimate setting where you can watch the Chinatown face-melting action up close and personal. Crazy, excited behavior such as singing and dancing strongly encouraged. Cosplay, Lolita, or whatever you like—be yourselves and represent who The Slants rep!

If you want to attend, filming will take place on Jan. 31st at 4pm. Just let us know if you want to come and how many so we can reserve a spot for you! Email theslants@theslants.com ASAP!!!”