Convention Fans

Below is a release Creation Entertainment sent out late last night, regarding their annual Xena: Warrior Princess convention:

XENA CONVENTION: SUPER-HUGE NEWS!

We are VERY happy to announce today the HUGE news that everyone has been waiting for in regards to Creation Entertainment’s Official XENA Convention: The 15th Year Celebration (coming to Los Angeles on February 5-7, 2010).

LUCY LAWLESS and RENEE O’CONNOR are joining the fun! The incredible duo that means so much to us and their legion of fans worldwide will headline the convention on Friday and Renee will also return on Sunday. We thank them for clearing their busy schedules to make time to be with all of us! Throughout the years we’ve treasured our friendship with Lucy and Renee and have been honored to work with them on the conventions, concerts, live performances and other projects. In person, at the conventions, they always go all out to deliver a wonderful time for all and we’re looking very much forward to seeing them again at the 2010 event.

CLICK ON THROUGH to our XENA CONVENTION site to see up to date information on the gathering as well as picking up Renee’s autograph and photo opportunities. We’re also excited about all the other guests we’ve booked recently including the return of the sensational GINA TORRES. We have a special CLEOPATRA 2525 reunion planned with Gina, Victoria Pratt and Jennifer Sky!

Thanks,

Your Friends at Creation Entertainment

Back in August, Convention Fans gave away a pair of VIP Admission tickets to the National Halloween Convention, which is being held in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania on April 29 - May 2, 2010. In honor of the upcoming Halloween holiday, we’re giving away another pair - tomorrow!

The 2nd Convention Fans National Halloween Convention 2010: FREE VIP Admission Contest ends tomorrow on Halloween, October 31st, at midnight, EST. Tickets won’t even go on sale until January 1st, 2010! Why not take advantage of this opportunity to go to the convention with a friend for free, and with VIP status!

What You Win:

The winner receives two VIP Admission tickets to the National Halloween Convention in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania on April 29 - May 2, 2010. VIP ticket holders get bumped to the front of the line and they get to bypass the crowd. Tickets will be mailed promptly with a delivery confirmation receipt to the winner.

To Enter:

Just send an e-mail to Convention Fans at dreadpiraterose@gmail.com with “National Halloween Convention Contest #2″ in the subject line (or just click here). That’s it! There is no need to provide a mailing address upon entry.

Terms and Condition:

1. Only one entry per e-mail address.

2. Each entry will be assigned a number, and a random number generator will be used to determine the winner.

3. All entries must be received by Halloween, October 31st at midnight, EST.

4. This giveaway/contest is being run by the independent writer of Convention Fans, in conjunction with the National Halloween Convention, and has not been reviewed or endorsed by the webhost, Today.com .

5. Convention Fans, the National Halloween Convention, nor Today.com, are responsible for lost or stolen tickets.

6. Winner will have two weeks from the time of notification to provide a valid mailing address so the tickets can be mailed to them.

About the National Halloween Convention:

This convention features a Costume Ball, Makeup Wars, Side Show Acts, Haunters Lair, Halloween Antiques, Halloween Authors, Robotic & Animatronic Vendors, Monster Collectors, Ren Fairs, Seminars from the “Haunted University”, Haunt & Haunted House Magazines and much more.

Classes in costumes, makeup, prop building, scenic design, special effects, and even “scareology”, will be taught by a staff with hundreds of years of experience in their respective fields. These “Halloween professors” have experience in TV, film, stage, music videos, ren faires, historical re-enactments, and haunted houses and attractions.

The National Halloween Convention is a place where you have a chance to enjoy Halloween prior to waiting for October to roll around!

I had a chance to meet Michael, one of the co-owners of the National Halloween Convention, when I visited GameX last weekend. He has a lot of great stuff planned, and we’re really looking forward to attending!

Questions?

Still have questions about the contest? Please post a comment, or send us an e-mail!

Eager to jump on the Twilight convention bandwagon, convention company Florida Supercon has created a Twilight convention tour (very similar to Creation Entertaimnent’s Twi/Tour), called The Fantasy Twi-Life Tour. Ten cities have been announced thus far.

From the official press release:

The Fantasy Twi-Life Tour is a Twilight themed celebrity convention tour that will travel across The United States in 2009-2010. This tour will give fans the opportunity to gather with each other across the country to celebrate the book and film series. Each stop on the Fantasy Twi-Life Tour will feature celebrity guests, musical guests, vendors, celebrity Q&A’s, dance parties, contests, panels, fan films, celebrity photo shoots, celebrity autograph sessions, V.I.P. cocktail parties and banquets, Twilight costume and role play contests, The John Henson Twilight costume museum, the art of Alex Meraz, Twilight trivia, Twilight fan fiction and more.

Tickets for the tour range in price from $20 to a whopping $450. Each ticket tier offers different amenities and bonuses. Autograph tickets and photo op tickets can be purchased in advance separately, although some ticket pages have autographs included already.

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Some members of the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), the organization behind Anime Expo, have requested a vote of no confidence against the board of directors, according to animenews.biz. Below is a quick list of some of the major grievances, quoted from the letter of intent (brackets are mine for clarification):

Mr. [Michael] Lattanzio [President and CEO of the SPJA] has placed us into a precarious legal situation by breaking the contract that the SPJA held with BAM! Marketing Publicity and Promotions.

[…]

Mr. Lattanzio has opened us to not only potential legal action but highly unnecessary legal fees that can potentially destroy Anime Expo® financially.

[…]

[W]e are aware of the slander and libel that Mr. Lattanzio has conducted towards Mr. Chase Wang and BAM! Marketing, Publicity & Promotions. Mr. Marc Perez has been witnessed verbally supporting Mr. Lattanzio’s actions even though Mr. Perez has been fully aware of the existence of an “Addendum” to BAM!’s contract that dictates the terms in which we may break our ties with BAM.

[…]

It has come to our attention that promises of bonuses were provided by the Chairman of the Board and supported by the [Board of Directors] in amounts of up to $50,000.00.

[…]

Mr. Lattanzio has further proven no regard for the financial welfare of the SPJA or Anime Expo® by flying to Japan on Business Class with his newly appointed Marketing and Administration Director, Ms. Kimberly Groomes. This trip cost the SPJA and Anime Expo $8,400.00 in airlines tickets alone.

[…]

Another issue we wish to bring up is that, under Mr. Lattanzio’s guidance, The Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) has yet to obtain a check with the amount raised at our Charity Auction from Anime Expo® 2009.

[…]

There is also question as to whether the SPJA bylaws as they currently stand are legal. In July of 2008, this Board ratified the Bylaws of the SPJA. These bylaws are possibly in violation of the current IRS tax code.

[…]

Yikes! Not that any of this behavior (if proven true) is acceptable, but not sending a charity the money you raised for them is pretty damn shady. Bad form! Ironically, some of the SPJA’s core values are Transparency and Integrity. Stay tuned for developments on this issue as they become available.

I have another round of convention news, hot off the presses today! This edition will cover West Coast Convention, Anime Central (ACEN), London MCM Expo, Buffalo Comic Con, EyeCon True Blood, and more.

As always, if you have convention news you’d like to share, post a comment!

1. ‘Geeks’ and ‘Nerds’ had Great Time at First West Coast Sci-fi Convention

Canada’s The Western Star has a report on the recent West Coast Convention. The first for this particular area of Newfoundland, it was considered “long overdue” by the areas self-proclaimed geeks. Guests included Paul Weston, Matthew LeDrew, Ellen Curtis, and Darren Hann.

2. College’s Anime Club (UNO) to Host ‘Sweets and Treats’ Bake Sale

The Sauk Valley Community College anime club, UNO (United Neo Otaku), is looking to raise money for a trip to the Anime Central (ACEN) convention. If you happen to be in the area, stop by today from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. and support their efforts!

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