Welcome to the official convention gathering blog for theOtaku.com. This is a place where theOtaku.com members can read con press releases, make plans and discuss the conventions we are attending.
Current Conventions:
Sakura-Con's programming can be found here.
Well, con's over. And that's fine by us, 'cause we're all old now and tire easily.
Anyway, Anime Evolution at the University of British Columbia was pretty good. Like usual, as it's still a relatively young fan-run convention, it had its many shares of problems and issues (including a lost venue a month before the convention took place), but the attendance numbers held about even from the year before and already plans are underway for a new venue next year (The Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre).
Site-wise, the OSCgumi Cosplay Group was there as usual and made a spectacle of itself. Outside of them, we had a quick photo of myself, TseUq, Icecore, and Shadowlight:
I'll write some reports and articles within the week, hopefully. They should be good readin'. But for now, I'll just share a little music video I made of the con's events:
Next year, I expect to find more Vancouverite otakuies there! We have a deal?
Hey guys, it's the Vancouver staffer here.
So Anime Evolution, Vancouver BC's main anime convention, is coming up this weekend. In general I find this con' tends to be somewhat devoid of otakuites and as such I usually don't actually try to set up any meet-ups or anything here (also, since I'm not Gail, I can't promise cool stuff like DVDs or podcasters or anything).
But hey, it's still worth a mention... so I can think of maybe about three people from the site that will be at the con', but that's it.
Anyone wanna prove me wrong? Who else is coming to Anime Evolution in Vancouver, BC this weekend?
After ten days of frantic rushing and last-minute efforts after a venue loss and indefinite postponement, Vancouver convention Anime Evolution is back on track with a new venue at the University of British Columbia.
Last night at approximately 7:15pm, Convention Secretary Katina Stachura made this official announcement:
Aug 22 – 24 Anime Evolution will be happening!!
On behalf of the Executive Team, I am pleased to announce, that we will be having Anime Evolution 2008, at UBC. Yes, the secret venue has been revealed. I have been in negotiations with UBC since July 13 and they are very excited to be hosting our convention for the first time and they are looking forward to welcoming everyone in August.
We have the contracts in place and all that remains is to finalize set up and equipment needs. I want to thank you all, especially those that offered great information and suggestions regarding UBC.
The Website will be updated tomorrow with Accommodation information and directions on how to get to UBC. Space is limited for accommodations on campus at UBC however the updated website will have a list of alternative accommodations
And yes, you can get to UBC by transit.
We will not be able to provide free parking at UBC. However we will update our website with details on UBC parking costs and location.
We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work out the details for Anime Evolution 2008 at UBC.
We are looking forward to seeing you all there.
Katina Stachura
Convention Secretary
Anime Evolution 2008
July 24, 2008
Needless to say, the local congoers are extremely relieved since it will all still be taking place on the same dates. Most, anyway, as there are some who simply can't cope with the change in venue regardless.
This was a long, stressful process for everyone involved, but convention executives, staff, and forum members all. No doubt once the convention is all over, there is going to be a long, hard evaluation of convention policies and processes to ensure this never happens again. Many people are still very upset with execs and how they handled things, and many are seeing a long road ahead for future planning.
In the meantime, however, Anime Evolution has a home for the year and west coast otaku have a convention.
The Vancouver, British Columbia summer anime convention, Anime Evolution, sent a message out yesterday that it would be postponed due to a scheduling conflict with a teacher's orientation at the usual yearly venue of Simon Fraser University:
With our sincere apologies, we regret to inform you that the Anime Evolution Convention scheduled for Aug 22 – 24 has been postponed.
The Convention has been postponed due to a conflict with an SFU event as such we are unable to proceed with our event, at our current venue on our scheduled dates.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. We intend to reschedule the Anime Evolution Convention to a later date; at which time we will update you with full details, when they become available.
We appreciate your patience during this time.
(Message from Anime Evolution's convention forum)
Needless to say, the forums are alight with angry convention-goers right now considering this is only a month before the scheduled convention dates. As a summer convention in the later end of August, this is basically the last weekend before younger attendees have to start getting back into school-mode. Others may or may not be able to reschedule time off of work for any upcoming changes. Of most concern, however, are out-of-town guests with booked buses, trains, and flights among other things. Naturally, the same is also true of anyone with a hotel booked.
Being the end of summer, any date change would conflict with the following weekend's Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Washington and Kumoricon in Portland, Oregon. That said, the usual American visitors to the Vancouver convention are especially caught in a tight spot.
It sucks. It really does. While it feels that Simon Fraser University should have been able to catch such a massive scheduling conflict sooner, the reality remains: this convention's venue is a school, not a convention centre; academic matters will always take precedence. But, if there's one thing I've ever learned from working three years in retail, sitting around telling each other about how upset you are isn't going to change things no matter how (apparently) soothing it feels.
At present the Anime Evolution staff are working overtime to find a new venue, possibly on the same date to still allow as many people affected by the newest turn of events to still come to the convention. Time will tell to see what comes of this.
-
The important thing to take out of this is that this is neither the first time a convention has suffered a postponement, or sudden change in date or venue nor is it going to be the last. These things are very much a reality with conventions, especially relatively young ones still growing and developing (Anime Evolution in its present form is only seven years old this year). We'll definitely have to see how this pans out in the long run.
We're all hoping for the best. And, with luck, Anime Evolution can only grow more from here.
End
