2012 News

The next general meeting will be held on Saturday, December 15, at 1:00pm, at:

Phoenix Inn Suites
9575 SW Locust St
Tigard, OR 97223

[Google Maps | Near the Washington Square Transit Center]

General meetings are open to the public. Learn more about staffing and volunteer opportunities and get involved with the planning of Kumoricon. Bring your friends, too!

We’d like to give our staff an extra thank-you for all your hard work. In the spirit of the season, we’re having a holiday party after the meeting to honor all of our fantastic Kumoricon staff! Both 2012 staff, and new staff for 2013, are invited. Please visit this forum thread for details (staff access required; contact secretary@kumoricon.org if you are staff and do not have access).

The most up-to-date meeting schedule for the 2013 convention year will always be listed on the meetings page.

You can now pre-register for Kumoricon 2013 online or by mail! Pre-registration for the weekend starts at $35, and this price lasts until March 24. Visit the registration page for all the details.

Staff registration is officially open for Kumoricon 2013!

You can now browse the list of open positions. If you would like to register as staff, please talk to the manager or director for the position you are interested in. Attending the first general meeting on November 17 is a great way to get started. You can register as staff for Kumoricon 2013 by filling out the staff registration form at a general meeting, or if your director would like, they can initiate the registration process by sending you an online staff registration form.

Learn more about volunteering or staffing at Get Involved.

The first general meeting for the 2013 convention year will be held on Saturday, November 17, at 1:00pm, at:

Hilton Vancouver Washington (Google Maps link)
301 W 6th St
Vancouver, WA 98660

This is the first meeting for which staff registration for Kumoricon 2013 will be open.

General meetings are open to the public. Learn more about staffing and volunteer opportunities and get involved with the planning of Kumoricon. Bring your friends, too!

The most up-to-date meeting schedule for the 2013 convention year will always be listed on the meetings page.

We’re getting ready to launch full speed ahead into the 2013 convention year! This coming weekend, on Sunday, November 4, staff registration for Kumoricon 2013 will officially open. At that time, the list of staff positions for 2013 will be posted on the website.

If you would like to register as staff, please talk to the manager or director for the position you are interested in. Attending the first general meeting on November 17 is a great way to get started. You can register as staff for Kumoricon 2013 by filling out the staff registration form at a general meeting, or if your director would like, they can initiate the registration process by sending you an online staff registration form.

Starting with the Kumoricon 2013 staff term, the board has decided to fully eliminate the $10 staff member dues. This means that there is no longer any cost associated with becoming a staff member. Your commitment to fulfilling your position covers your staff membership and your attendance at the convention.

Around the holidays, we here at Kumoricon like to give our staff an extra thank-you for all of the hard work they do. In the spirit of the season, we’re having a holiday party after the general meeting on December 15 at the Phoenix Inn Suites in Tigard, OR to honor all of our fantastic Kumoricon staff! Both current 2012 staff, and new staff for 2013, are invited.

If you’d like to plan out your calendar for the year, here is our tentative general meeting schedule. Keep in mind that until official notice is given for a particular meeting, a date may change, though we try to stick to the original dates if possible:

• Saturday, November 17, 2012 – Portland/Vancouver metro area
• Saturday, December 15, 2012 – Phoenix Inn Suites, Tigard, OR
• Sunday, January 13, 2013 – Portland/Vancouver metro area
• Saturday, February 9, 2013 – Salem or Portland/Vancouver metro area
• Sunday, March 10, 2013 – Opposite of February meeting
• Saturday, April 20, 2013 – Portland/Vancouver metro area
• Sunday, May 19, 2013 – Eugene metro area
• Saturday, June 15, 2013 – Portland/Vancouver metro area
• Saturday, July 13, 2013 – Salem metro area – Staff registration deadline to guarantee name in program book
• Sunday, August 4, 2013 – One of convention hotels – Staff registration deadline
• Saturday, August 17, 2013 – One of convention hotels
• Saturday, September 21, 2013 – Annual Membership Meeting – Portland/Vancouver metro area

The Board would like to welcome and congratulate the following Directors elected by the Board for 2013:

• Vice Chair/Vice President: Jason Tewksbury
• Secretary: Jeff Tyrrill
• Treasurer: Barbara Hunt
• Facilities Liaison: Ally Fields

We want to thank all of the candidates for their applications and interest.

We’re very excited to announce Todd Haberkorn as our first guest of honor for Kumoricon 2013!

Todd Haberkorn is currently a proud member of the anime community and continues to be its humble servant by way of English dubbing. Haberkorn works primarily in Texas and Los Angeles as an actor, director, producer, and writer. As far as shows go, catch Todd’s voice as lead roles in Sgt. Frog as Keroro, Suzuka as Yamato, Ghost Hunt as Naru, xxxHOLiC as Watanuki, D.Gray-man as Allen Walker, Sands of Destruction as Kyrie, Soul Eater as Death the Kid, and some others he can’t say right now. Coming up—Todd is the lead role of Natsu, the fire eating, fire wielding wizard from Fairy Tail. Check out most of the shows listed above on Hulu.com, funimation.com, and NETFLIX!! And not illegally please 🙂 Be sure to check out TeamHaberkorn.com for ways to join this new “korntastic” fan club! A portion of the proceeds goes to supporting the Acadiana Humane Society, a non-profit, no kill animal shelter in Louisiana. When not in the booth, Todd is a producer with his company, Out of the Office Productions. Todd is represented by The Horne Agency and William Morris Endeavor.

Video announcement on YouTube

We would like to welcome and congratulate the Directors elected for the 2013 convention year:

• Chair/President: Elias “TJ” Stinson
• Director of Operations: Wes Cox
• Director of Programming: Jaki Hunt
• Director of Publicity: Stephanie “Teph” Williams
• Director of Relations: Sarah Paige

Thank you to all candidates, and to our staff for your participation in elections!

Kumoricon is pleased to announce that our charity auction participants have raised a total of $3310 for the Portland Sunshine Division!

We thank these companies, artists, guests, and individuals who have donated time, money, and goods to support our charity auctions, as well as those who bid at the auctions! Your generosity is helping families in need get the help they deserve.

Company support:

• Capcom
• Comic-Con International: San Diego
• COPIC
• Dark Horse Comics
• DJHelsing
• Epic Gaming
• Fantagraphics Books
• FUNimation
• Gaia Online
• Guardian Games
• hachette Book Group
• Hasbro
• JManga
• Kaijudo
• Oni Press
• Steve Jackson Games
• V
• Wizards of the Coast
• Yen Press
• yesAnime

Individual support:

• Whitney Pollett
• Philip Moi
• Lord Mesa
• Oliver Nome
• Dave Wilkins
• Reilly Brown
• Alex Buechel
• Eddie Nunez
• David Rabbitte
• April Lee
• Somewhat Artistic Henry
• Alvin Lee
• DW Miller
• Jonathan Bolerjack
• Jeff Martinez
• David Marquez
• Peter Nguyen
• Flag Studios
• Alice Darrow
• Vincent Gordon
• Lee Kohse
• Echo Chernik
• Sze Jones
• Richard Peter Han
• Sho Murase
• Jason Engle
• Max Drake
• Eliza Frye
• Kimberly Apilado
• Spencer David
• Phillip Koop
• Sarah Paige
• Echo Chernik
• Michael C. Hayes
• Todd Lockwood
• RKPost
• Maxwell Alexander Drake
• The Slants
• Chris Castagnetto

The Annual Meeting of the Membership for Altonimbus Entertainment has been scheduled for Saturday, September 29, 2012, at 12:00 PM at the Phoenix Inn Suites in Tigard, OR.

Phoenix Inn Suites
9575 SW Locust St
Tigard, OR 97223

[Google Maps | Near the Washington Square Transit Center]

Elections will be held for the following positions:

• Chair/President
• Director of Operations
• Director of Programming
• Director of Publicity
• Director of Relations

If you cannot make it to the meeting, you may designate someone as your proxy by using this form. Your proxy may use your vote however they wish, so choose with care. A person can hold proxy for only two other people. Proxy forms must be turned in, printed, at the meeting in person. They cannot be mailed or sent electronically. However, you may bring a printed photocopy or printed scan of the signed proxy form. Please see the full policies as written on the form.

This meeting is open to the public. Voting is open to Altonimbus Entertainment Members (staff).

The meeting starts one hour earlier than normal, at 12pm, and we have the room until 7pm. It will not likely take this long, but we have the room reserved just in case.

You can discuss this meeting in the designated forum thread. However, for questions specifically to candidates, or for nominations, please use the designated threads in the Elections forum area.

Thank you to all our attendees, staff, and volunteers who made Kumoricon 2012 such a great convention! We hosted about 4750 paid attendees this year, with a record staff of about 315.

The winner of our contest for the 2013 mascot is:

Winning mascot artists: Elaine Huang and Jacqueline Taylor

Kumoricon proudly announces that for 2013, it will be returning to the same place, the Hilton Vancouver Washington and the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay. Look forward to Labor Day weekend, August 31 to September 2, 2013 for another great year!

The schedule for the viewing rooms is now available. It is in standalone printable [PDF] format, as well as the other schedule formats, and the individual titles being shown have also been added to the Guidebook smartphone app.

We are excited to announce that the awesome people at Dark Horse Comics in Milwaukie are bringing 100 advance copies of Oreimo vol. 1 to the Kumoricon Exhibitors Hall! So, be sure to get to the hall bright and early Saturday if you want a copy of the first volume of their newly translated manga before anyone else!

Kumoricon’s mobile schedule guide is now available for the Guidebook app!

The app is available for iOS and Android devices (including non-phone devices like iPod touch—works well without a network connection). It features the complete schedule, maps, Twitter, photos, and more. Mark events to create a personalized schedule!

After you install the app, search the guides for “Kumoricon”. The guide will be updated with additional content as the convention approaches and will live update during the convention if there are any schedule changes.

The convention event schedule for Kumoricon 2012 has been released! You can view a categorized listing of all events, a web-based schedule grid, or a printable PDF schedule.

Coming soon, you will be able to download the free Guidebook app for iOS and Android devices! The Kumoricon guide for the Guidebook app will contain the full schedule with full text search of names and descriptions, maps, Twitter integration, alerts, live updates at the convention, and more. Mark events to create a personalized schedule!

The viewing room schedule, program book, and pocket programming guide will be available closer to the convention.

Please check back for the latest news!

Kumoricon is excited to introduce Lauren Landa to our guest of honor roster! Lauren is an experienced video game voice actress and brings her talents and whimsy to Kumoricon with Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the new, not your average “magical girl” anime from Aniplex. Check out our guests page for her information and the details on all our awesome guests!

The final general meeting before the convention will be held on Saturday, August 18, at 1:00 PM, at:

Hilton Vancouver Washington (Google Maps link)
301 W 6th St
Vancouver, WA 98660

Oak/Hemlock rooms

General meetings are open to the public. This is an important meeting for last-minute planning and staffing information for the convention! Although staff registration is closed (except for finishing already started or approved registrations), you can also get involved with volunteer opportunities.

Please note that the date of this meeting has changed since the schedule published earlier in the year. August 18 is the current date.

This is an important update for Kumoricon staff and volunteers: We’d love to see your smiling faces at the meeting this weekend on August 5th at 1:00pm at the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay. Due to construction on I-5, you will need to take I-84 to I-205 to SR-14 and take the Convention Center/City Center exit to reach the meeting. Please plan your trip accordingly!

Google Maps route

Our next general meeting will be held on Sunday, August 5, at 1:00 PM, at:

Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay (Google Maps link)
100 Columbia St
Vancouver, WA 98660

General meetings are open to the public.

This meeting is the last meeting to register as staff for Kumoricon 2012. After this general meeting, people who have not completed their staff registrations may volunteer at the convention but won’t be considered staff.

After the August 5 meeting, the final remaining meeting before Kumoricon 2012 is on August 18. The August 18 meeting will take place at the Hilton Vancouver Washington.

Please note that the dates of both general meetings in August have changed since the schedule published earlier in the year. August 5 and August 18 are the current dates.

The Slants have prepared a very special video message to Kumoricon fans. We welcome their return to Kumoricon’s tenth year!

Our next general meeting will be held on Sunday, July 15, at 1:00 PM, at:

Woodmansee Park Shelter
4629 Sunnyside Rd SE
Salem, OR 97302

Google Maps

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

This July meeting is the second-to-last meeting to register as staff for Kumoricon 2012. After the August 5 general meeting, people who have not completed their staff registrations may volunteer at the convention but won’t be considered staff. Don’t wait until the last minute!

Please note that both general meetings in August have changed dates to the opposite days on the same weekends. They are now on Sunday, August 5 and Saturday, August 18. The entire schedule of general meetings for the 2012 convention year is available on the meetings page.

Sonny Strait is back! One of Kumoricon’s guest of honor alum is returning to hang with us on Labor Day weekend! Check out the guests page for info on all his work.

“Something Old, Something New, We Stand To Honor The Red, White & Blue”

We’re looking for 10 to 15 cosplayers to walk in the parade, as well as a truck (with driver).

We’ll be walking over a mile and a half, so please make sure your cosplay is comfortable and easy to walk in. Well known anime series are the best to cosplay, and please make sure costumes are appropriate for all ages.

To volunteer or for more information, please post in the forum thread or Facebook event page.

You can now book your hotel room at the Hilton online, bringing online registration to both hotels! Full instructions for booking at both the Hilton and Red Lion, either online or by phone, are available at the location page.

We have added phone reservation information for the Hilton and Red Lion, and opened online reservations for the Red Lion. Online reservations for the Hilton is coming soon!

Visit the location page for details and instructions.

Our next general meeting will be held on Sunday, June 10, at 1:00 PM, at:

Beaverton Main Library
12375 SW 5th St
Beaverton, OR 97005

Meeting Room A

Google Maps

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

The entire schedule of general meetings for the 2012 convention year is available on the meetings page.

We are now accepting interested vendors to submit company information, website, and an inventory list for consideration into the Exhibitors Hall for Kumoricon 2012. Please keep in mind that booths will be 8 feet by 8 feet with a maximum limit of 3 booths per company, as space is very limited. Applications are open until June 1. See the Exhibitors Hall page for full details.

Artists Alley applications are now open! Application forms are being accepted online until June 1. This is not a first-come-first-served process. Each entry is personally reviewed for content, uniqueness, and general interest to the Kumoricon audience.

Visit the Artists Alley page for full details and the application form.

The May general meeting will be held on Saturday, May 19, at 1:00 PM, at:

Abby’s Pizza
1976 Echo Hollow Rd
Eugene, OR 97402

Google Maps

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

The entire schedule of general meetings for the 2012 convention year is available on the meetings page.

Our annual mascot contest has begun! Artists, here’s your chance to make your work a part of Kumoricon. The mascot will grace our website, posters, flyers, attendee badges, and more for the 2013 convention year. The contest winner will receive a free Artists Alley booth in 2013. Please read the full rules and entry instructions. Entries are due June 24.

The anime and Japanese culture community mourns the loss of one of its founding fathers. Noboru Ishiguro passed away earlier this week.

There is somewhat of a disconnect from the manga and anime creators and their fans here and across the world. Very few people who are devoted to the genres we all know and love have any sort of recognition with the names who gave them life—Miyazaki-san being one of the few to gain notoriety almost as highly praised as Walt Disney here in the states, but very few creators are household names.

So when one who is passes, it’s a very surreal moment for our fandom.

Ishiguro-san was most well known for his creation of one of the earliest popular series, Space Battleship Yamato, and has worked on countless other series in his time. The community loved him for his spirit and dedication to the medium as well as his ability to relate to the fans. Every convention he attended heralded him as an inspiration and a personal joy to have welcomed. What he brought to the community was more than just creative expertise, it was love. He will be sorely missed by those who knew him, who knew his work, and who cherish the compassion of those who create anime.

Noboru Ishiguro was 73 when he passed. He is survived by his wife Yumi.

They are back! The Slants are back at Kumoricon for our 10th year, and it’s going to be better than ever. See Aron, Simon, Johnny, Tyler, and Thai and the whole Slants crew at Kumoricon 2012. We are so excited to have The Slants as our musical guests of honor once again!

Cosplayers, prepare to be super jealous! Ninja of the Night (aka NOTN) are coming to Kumoricon! See them at Opening Ceremonies and all over the convention in their amazing cosplay! This 10th year Kumoricon is already looking like K-Con’s best event ever! Be sure to tell Kayla, Mandy, Kathryn, and Krystal they look fabulous when you see them!

Our next general meeting will be held on Saturday, April 21, at 1:00 PM, at:

Beaverton Main Library
12375 SW 5th St
Beaverton, OR 97005

Google Maps

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

The entire schedule of general meetings for the 2012 convention year is available on the meetings page.

Our next general meeting will be held on Sunday, March 11, at 1:00 PM, at:

Beaverton Community Center
12350 SW 5th St Ste 100
Beaverton, OR 97005

Google Maps

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

The entire schedule of general meetings for the 2012 convention year is available on the meetings page.

The Kumoricon 2012 Cosplay Contest is now open for entries. Read the rules, then download the entry form.

Good luck to entrants! Pre-convention entries are due by Aug. 25, and at-con entries are subject to space availability.

Want to run a panel or event at the convention? The panelist application form is now available.

Forms are due June 16. Applying earlier can help increase your chances of being approved, so don’t wait until the last minute!

Stop by to visit Kumoricon’s activities at the Oregon Asian Celebration on the Feb. 18-19 weekend in Eugene. We’ll be doing cat-ear making, video gaming, and karaoke, and join us for a cosplay meetup at 3pm on Saturday!

History

The Oregon Asian Celebration is the state’s longest running and successful Asian festival of its kind. The Oregon Asian Celebration began in 1986 in Eugene, Oregon as an Asian community celebration to better acquaint Asian Americans to one another. The celebration was also a way to instill cultural pride and appreciation for Asian heritage. Due to its popularity within various Asian groups and the importance of sharing with the broader community at large, the event expanded to become a destination point event. More than 18,000 visitors partake in this weekend celebration!

Mission

The mission of the Oregon Asian Celebration is to enhance appreciation of Asian and Asian American cultural heritage by featuring a broad representation of Asian entertainment, foods, crafts, art and other aspects of Asian cultures that are appealing to all ages. The event takes place at the spacious Lane Events Center at the fairgrounds in Eugene, OR. Partner activities are often scheduled on other days as part of the festival.

27th Annual Oregon Asian Celebration
”The Future Is In Your Hands”

February 18 & 19, 2012
Lane County Fairgrounds
Eugene, Oregon

Admission Adults – $6/day, $10 both days
Children – 12 & Under are Free

Days & Times
Saturday, Feb. 18: 10am-7pm
Sunday, Feb. 19: 10am-6pm

Our next general meeting will be held on Sunday, February 12, at 1:00 PM, at:

Salem Public Library, Central Library
585 Liberty St SE
Salem, OR 97301

Google Maps

Please note that the date has changed!

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

The entire schedule of general meetings for the 2012 convention year is available on the meetings page.