Animethon

Animethon
Status	Active
Venue	Grant MacEwan College
Location(s)	Edmonton, Alberta
Country	Canada
Inaugurated	1993
Attendance	3,450 in 2006
Major events	Cosplay, anime screenings, and anime music videos
Organized by	Alberta Society for Asian Popular Arts (ASAPA)
Website	http://www.animethon.org/

Animethon is an anime convention held annually at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta. It is Western Canada's longest-running anime convention, the first being held in 1993. It was, up until 2006, Western Canada's largest anime convention, but in that year Anime Evolution's attendance exceeded Animethon's by about 150.

History

Animethon was an event conceived by the Banzai Anime Klub of Alberta, the University of Alberta's anime club as a public festival to promote japanese animation and pop culture to the public and help dispel the widely-held perception of anime fans as an unpopular and disturbing fringe element. Animethon was preceded briefly by an event often referred to as the 'Mechaball', which was not publicized and did not attract a large attendance. First held in August 1993 as a single-day event at Grant MacEwan Community College's then brand-new City Centre campus, Animethon attracted several hundred attendees (often estimated at 500 to 700 total) despite its short notice. Two-day events in 1994 and 1995 were significantly larger and more organized, attracting an estimated 1500 and 1800 attendees each year respectively. Animethons II and III also featured the first commemorative t-shirt designs, in a collage artwork style initiated by Harvey Lee. 1996 saw a change in leadership both at the originating club and Animethon, and a new series of t-shirt designs produced in successive years by Daniel Ross, Ian Horner and Megan Shaw. In 1996, Animethon also began its practice of soliciting food donations for the Edmonton Food Bank and/or the University of Alberta or Grant MacEwan campus food banks. During the years 1996 to 2003, Animethon continued to follow the originating mandate to provide a free event for the general public, while expanding its attendance to an average between 3500 and 3800 people and its offerings to include discussion panels on culture and technology related to animation and manga as well as anime-related events such as a cosplay contest.

ASAPA control

In 2004 the event was spun off to a new society, the Alberta Society for Asian Popular Arts (ASAPA), a not-for-profit society that focuses on the promotion and enjoyment of Asian popular art and culture. Starting in 2005, ASAPA made a decision to change the mandate of Animethon to that of a paid convention for anime fans while still retaining some basic free content. This has been criticized as poorly acknowledged and advertised to potential attendees, and casual fans or interested members of the general public may be put off by the event's convention-attendance pricing. Events now include a number of theatres showing free screenings of various anime series (both old and new), live events which require a paid admission such as cosplay, an Anime music video contest, a number of guests from the industry and a number of live panels hosted by local community members. There is also a dance and karaoke.

Animethon XII in 2005 introduced a second venue to the event, the Holiday Inn Express downtown. With the addition of the second venue programming was expanded to accommodate the new venue space. Registration and programming officially opened late Friday at the Hotel for those who purchased advanced passes. In addition viewing rooms located at the hotel operated from the close of main site operations at Grant MacEwan through the night to the start of the next days programming at Grant MacEwan. Other events that took place at the hotel were a karaoke contest and a dance. The addition of the hotel was such a success that a second convention hotel was added shortly before the event. However the adjacent hotel was for lodgings only and not event.

Animethon XIII, which took place from 7 to 9 July, 2006, expanded on the dual site concept. The convention hotel was the Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel located some two blocks from the primary site, Grant MacEwan. The change in venue allowed for an increase in viewing room and late night activities such as karaoke, dances, and a Tanabata festival to be held at the hotel. The larger size of the hotel also allowed for peak capacity events such as Cosplay to be shifted from the more limited spaces at Grant MacEwan to the ballroom of the hotel.

Animethon XIV is scheduled for 10 to 12 August, 2007. Accommodations for the convention this year are being hosted in the brand new residence building of Grant MacEwan College. They are available in one bedroom, two bedroom or four bedroom.

Confirmed guests for Animethon XIV include voice actors Trevor Devall, Vic Mignogna and Kyle Hebert

External links

• Animethon official web site
• "Animethon 2007". AnimeCons.com.