Convention Fans

Ancient City Con is a convention in Jacksonville, Florida that caters not only to anime fans, but fans of gaming, sci-fi, and collectibles as well. Now in its third year, the con is being held Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront on July 18 - 19, 2009.

Guests for Ancient City Con III include D.A. Adams, Linda S. Cowden, William Hatfield, The Jacksonville RollerGirls, Kevin Pettway, PikaBelleChu, Kimberly Raiser, Kevin A. Ranson, Gary S. Roen, Bryan Thompson, and Jessica Wistoft.

Pre-registration for this convention can be completed online, but the deadline in July 3. An adult weekend ticket costs $15, and a child (6-10 years old) weekend ticket costs $10. Children age 5 and under are free. Single day tickets are also available. You can also purchase an Ancient City Con t-shirt in advance (prices range from $10 - $13 depending on size).

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I’ve got three articles to share with you anime convention fans today! The first comes from Mercury News, and the article is called “San Jose’s FanimeCon draws thousands of fans who go character wild.” It discusses FanimeCon, which happened in California this past weekend. The con estimated that 15,000+ people attended, despite the weekended economy. FanimeCon’s organizers were actually expecting a 10% growth over last year, because “Fanime is very cheap. It’s the price of one video game.” 

The second article is pretty big announcement about Anime Expo. According to the article from Animation Magazine, “Cartoon Network has signed on to host portfolio reviews at the upcoming Anime Expo.” The convention runs July 2-5 in Los Angeles, California.

The third article is about ACen (Anime Central), a convention that happened May 8 - 10 in Rosemont, Illinois. The article comes from Lumino Magazine, and is called “ACen Animates Rosemont.” It provides a quick summary of the convention and its activities.

If you have written any articles about conventions, or have a link you want to share, be sure to contact Convention Fans!

This is a posting for all you Robert Picardo fans! Robert, who stared on Star Trek: Voyager and Stargate: Atlantis, has a great charity event coming up that I thought you all might be interested in. It is a charity auction and benefit dinner, with all proceeds going to the San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity. Tickets are only $35, and include the dinner. It is being held in Las Vegas on August 9th, 2009 on Freemont Street. Tickets can be purchased at RobertPicardo.com. Robert will be hosting the event, and acting as auctioneer. This is a great opportunity for fans to get involved in a great cause!

It’s been a while since I highlighted some great video footage from conventions! This time, I’ll be posting some videos from some of the absolutely fantastic Doctor Who conventions from around the world. One of the great aspects of a fandom like Doctor Who is that it has so many iconic characters, from the Doctors themselves to the many alien races bent on Earth’s domination. All of which provide great inspiration for skits, cosplays, and videos.

The first video comes from the Gallifrey 2009 Masquerade competition. The skit is called the “Timelord Retirement Club” and won The Judges Choice Award. It is a very funny and well acted skit! One word of warning: some girl decided to scream bloody murder as the Doctors were taking the stage, so I *highly* recommend you keep it on mute until the skit actually starts (and a word of advice to anyone filming videos for YouTube: DO NOT SCREAM INTO THE CAMERA. It makes people not want to watch your video at all.).

Video: Doctor Who “Timelord Retirement Club” - Gallifrey Masquerade 2009
Uploaded by: batfriend66

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According to Airlock Alpha and Trek Today, JumpCon founder Shane Senter has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, having submitted the paperwork last Wednesday. As you may recall, JumpCon was one of the conventions that recently folded, leaving a ton of fans without refunds and some celebrities without their appearance fees.

Airlock Alpha explains that this is the “worst-case outcome for hundreds of people who pre-paid for tickets to attend JumpCon” because “Chapter 7 is typically a full-blown liquidation where remaining assets are used to cover liabilities. And like many bankruptcy filings, that means most people will end up with nothing, especially since Senter has listed estimated assets of up to $10,000, but liabilities of between $1 million and $10 million.”

The more fans learn about the JumpCon founder, Senter, the more red flags we see. For example, Senter was apparently collecting disability and food stamps and has only $1,900 in total assets. And the amounts he owes to hotels and celebrities is well into the millions. Having learned all this, it seems like Senter was hardly a good fan who had a convention just go wrong. He looks like the poster child for scam artists!

You can read more details over at Airlock Alpha, which has a breakdown of all of the monies owed. It is a very interesting read.