FanimeCon

FanimeCon
Status	Active
Genre	Anime, Japanese popular culture[1]
Venue	San Jose McEnery Convention Center
Location(s)	San Jose, California
Country	United States
Inaugurated	1994
Attendance	25,542 in 2013[2]
Organized by	Anime Resource Group (ARG)[3][4]
Website
http://www.fanime.com/

FanimeCon is an annual four day anime convention held during May at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California over Memorial Day weekend.^[5] It was the 5th largest North American anime convention in 2013, but not ranked in 2014 due to its attendance being shared with the steampunk convention Clockwork Alchemy.^[6][7]

Programming

The convention typically offers a AMV contest, artist's alley, contests, cosplay chess, dances, dealer's room, formal ball, game room (arcade, console, PC, and tabletop), karaoke, maid cafe, masquerade, panels, screenings, a swap meet, tournaments, and workshops.^{[5][8][9][10]} The convention offers 24-hour programming, including gaming and video.^[9][11]

FanimeCon held an art auction for the charity Habitat for Humanity in 2004.^[12] Charities that FanimeCon supported in 2011 included the American Red Cross of Silicon Valley, APA Family Support Services of San Francisco, Cancer Support Community, and Japanese Red Cross Society.^[4]

History

FanimeCon was first held in 1994 at California State University, Hayward, being run by several anime clubs.^[8] Foothill College would also host the convention until moving to the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose for 1999.^[5][13] From 2000-2003 the Santa Clara Convention Center hosted FanimeCon. In 2004, FanimeCon moved to the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.^[5] Problems with the convention in 2009 included Christian protests and over purchasing of artist alley tables, with the protesters also returning in 2010.^[5][14] In 2011, Saturday saw three hour registration waits, problems with the convention not using a printed schedule, outside religious protesters, and the Marriott fire alarm being pulled on Monday morning.^[9][15] Registration was affected in 2012 by an power outage.^[11] FanimeCon's 20th anniversary in 2014 was marked by San Jose having Fanime Day on May 23, 2014.^[16] The masquerade in 2015 suffered from technical issues.^[17]

The convention in 2004 brought $5 million to the local economy, growing to a estimated 8.7 million in 2013, and 10.5 million in 2014.^[3][16][18]

Event history

Dates	Location	Atten.	Guests
June 19, 1994[19]	California State University, Hayward Hayward, California	200
February 25, 1995	California State University, Hayward Hayward, California	350	Carl Gustav Horn and Frederik L. Schodt.[20]
February 14, 1996	Foothill College Los Altos Hills, California	775	Greg Espinoza, Allen Hastings, Carl Gustav Horn, Frederik L. Schodt, Toren Smith, and Toshifumi Yoshida.[21]
March 8, 1997	Foothill College Los Altos Hills, California	1,200	Allen Hastings, Carl Gustav Horn, Frederik L. Schodt, Toren Smith, and Hiroyuki Yamaga.[22]
February 14–15, 1998	Foothill College Los Altos Hills, California	1,700	Allen Hastings, Kuni Kimura, Scott McNeil, and Hiroyuki Yamaga.[23]
March 19–21, 1999	Wyndham Hotel[5] San Jose, California	2,000	Steve Bennett, Allen Hastings, Mari Iijima, Gilles Poitras, and Hiroyuki Yamaga.[24]
February 24–27, 2000	Santa Clara Convention Center Santa Clara, California	2,300	Steve Bennett, Allen Hastings, Mari Iijima, Fred Patten, Gilles Poitras, Stan Sakai, and Hiroyuki Yamaga.[25]
March 30 – April 1, 2001	Santa Clara Convention Center Santa Clara, California	3,500	Steve Bennett, Tiffany Grant, Allen Hastings, Mari Iijima, Taliesin Jaffe, Jonathan C. Osborne, Fred Patten, Stan Sakai, Frederik L. Schodt, and Hiroyuki Yamaga.[26]
April 26–28, 2002	Santa Clara Convention Center Santa Clara, California	4,600	Takami Akai, Steve Bennett, Tiffany Grant, Carl Gustav Horn, Mari Iijima, Jonathan C. Osborne, Gilles Poitras, and Hiroyuki Yamaga.[27]
June 20–22, 2003	Santa Clara Convention Center Santa Clara, California	5,400	13-37, B! Machine, Laura Bailey, Steve Bennett, Blood, Akitaroh Daichi, Rebecca Forstadt, Allen Hastings, Sato Hiroki, Tsurumaki Kazuya, Kawamura Maria, Matt K. Miller, DJ MPU, Jonathan C. Osborne, Gilles Poitras, Kristine Sa, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto Secret Secret, Stephanie Sheh, Kari Wahlgren, Hiroyuki Yamaga, Reiko Yasuhara, and Takeda Yasuhiro.[28]
May 28–31, 2004	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California	6,122	The Beautiful Losers, Blood, Camino, Duel Jewel, Fred Gallagher, Allen Hastings, Akemi Hayashi, You Higuri, Hiroaki Inoue, Jonathan C. Osborne, Gilles Poitras, Frederik L. Schodt, Nami Tamaki, J. Shanon Weaver, and Hiroyuki Yamaga.[29]
May 27–30, 2005	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California	10,438	Steve Bennett, Kumiko Kato, Ric Meyers, Jonathan C. Osborne, Gilles Poitras, Ramen and Rice, Hiroyuki Yamaga, Maria Yamamoto, and ZZ.[30]
May 26–29, 2006	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California	10,000	Akai SKY, Goofy Style, Kamijo, Ryoichi Koga, Miami, Takahiro Mizushima, Mothercoat, Ric Meyers, Jonathan C. Osborne, Gilles Poitras, Poplar, Rooster Teeth Productions, Asami Sanada, Swinging Popsicle, Kazuhiro Takamura, Up Hold, USA Musume, and Hiroyuki Yamaga.[31]
May 25–28, 2007	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California	12,000	Crack 6, Greg Dean, Ryan Gavigan, Carl Gustav Horn, Mari Iijima, Sekihiko Inui, Karma Shenjing, Reuben Langdon, Derek Liu, Mechanical Panda, Ric Meyers, Jonathan C. Osborne, Gilles Poitras, Asami Sanada, Hiroyuki Yamaga, and ZZ.[32]
May 23–26, 2008	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California	14,926	An Cafe, Ryan Gavigan, Carl Gustav Horn, Hidenobu Kiuchi, Reuben Langdon, Ric Meyers, Maika Netsu, Jonathan C. Osborne, Gilles Poitras, Dan Southworth, and Richard Waugh.[33]
May 22–25, 2009	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California	15,000	Keith Burgess, Ryan Gavigan, Carl Gustav Horn, Ken Lally, Reuben Langdon, Patricia Ja Lee, Ric Meyers, Haruko Momoi, Jonathan C. Osborne, Gilles Poitras, and Hiroyuki Yamaga.[34]
May 28–31, 2010	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California	16,000	Karen Dyer, Flow, Ryan Gavigan, Carl Gustav Horn, Daisuke Ishiwatari, Reuben Langdon, LM.C, Ric Meyers, Haruko Momoi, Toshimichi Mori, Jonathan C. Osborne, Gilles Poitras, Hiroyuki Yamaga, and Mamoru Yokota.[35]
May 27–30, 2011	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California	20,880	Flow, Tohru Furuya, Gashicon, Ryusuke Hamamoto, Yoshiki Hayashi, Fumio Iida, Yuya Matsushita, Ric Meyers, Seiji Mizushima, Haruko Momoi, Gilles Poitras, Mamoru Yokota, and Takahiro Yoshimatsu.[36]
May 25–28, 2012	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California	21,000	Mai Aizawa, Kia Asamiya, Igaguri Chiba, Shigeto Koyama, Ric Meyers, Gilles Poitras, David Vincent, Hiroyuki Yamaga, and Mamoru Yokota.[37]
May 24–27, 2013	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California	25,542	Darrel Guilbeau, Tsuyoshi Nonaka, Gilles Poitras, ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D, Hiroyuki Yamaga,[2] 7!!, Takahiro Omori, and Yumi Sato.[38]
May 23–26, 2014	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California		Takami Akai, Kira Buckland, Home Made Kazoku, Hiroyuki Kanbe, Noir, Gilles Poitras, Raj Ramayya, Chantal Strand, J. Michael Tatum, and Hiroyuki Yamaga.[39]
May 22–25, 2015	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California		Back-On, Chalk Twins, Mel Hoppe, Ai Nonaka, Gilles Poitras, Cindy Robinson, Patrick Seitz, Christopher Smith, Kazuhiro Soeta, and Hiroyuki Yamaga.[40]
May 27–30, 2016	San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California	TBD	TBA

References

1. "FanimeCon Makes An Impact At The San Jose Convention Center". CBS SF Bay Area. June 1, 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
2. "FanimeCon 2013 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
3. "FanimeCon Breaks Records in New San Jose Location". Business Wire. June 4, 2004. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
4. "FanimeCon to kick off at San Jose McEnery Convention Center today". The San Francisco Examiner. May 27, 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
5. Miller, Evan (May 25, 2009). "FanimeCon 2009". Anime News Network. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
6. Delahanty, Patrick (2014-01-06). "Ten Largest North American Anime Conventions of 2013". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
7. Delahanty, Patrick (2015-01-05). "Ten Largest North American Anime Conventions of 2014". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
8. Manry, Gia (Jun 8, 2010). "FanimeCon 2010". Anime News Network. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
9. Hong, William (July 9, 2011). "FanimeCon 2011: Overview and Cosplay Slideshow". asia pacific arts (University of Southern California). Retrieved 8 August 2015.
10. Padilla, Chris (June 6, 2014). "Fanime takes over downtown". La Voz Weekly. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
11. Macatangay, Reinier (May 21, 2013). "Suit up and book a room for FanimeCon". California State University, Stanislaus Signal. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
12. Busack, Richard von (May 26, 2004). "Anime Ascent - Japanese style conquers the pop-culture world at FanimeCon in San Jose". Metroactive. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
13. Chun, Kimberly (February 13, 1998). "Fans Become Animated About Japanese-Style Cartoons". SFGate. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
14. O'Mara, O'Mara (June 8, 2010). "FANIME 2010 - It's Not Just About the Anime Anymore". Otaku USA. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
15. Miller, Evan (May 29, 2011). "FanimeCon 2011". Anime News Network. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
16. "City declares Fanime Day in honor of Fanimecon's Platinum Anniversary". Team San Jose. May 23, 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
17. Delahanty, Patrick; Daugherty, Stephen (June 8, 2015). "AnimeCons TV - FanimeCon 2015". AnimeCons TV. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
18. Lynch, Shana (May 24, 2013). "19,115 anime fanatics descend on San Jose for FanimeCon (Video)". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
19. "FanimeCon 1994 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
20. "FanimeCon 1995 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
21. "FanimeCon 1996 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
22. "FanimeCon 1997 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
23. "FanimeCon 1998 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
24. "FanimeCon 1999 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
25. "FanimeCon 2000 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
26. "FanimeCon 2001 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
27. "FanimeCon 2002 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
28. "FanimeCon 2003 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
29. "FanimeCon 2004 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
30. "FanimeCon 2005 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
31. "FanimeCon 2006 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
32. "FanimeCon 2007 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
33. "FanimeCon 2008 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
34. "FanimeCon 2009 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
35. "FanimeCon 2010 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
36. "FanimeCon 2011 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
37. "FanimeCon 2012 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
38. "California's FanimeCon to Host ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D Rock Band". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
39. "FanimeCon 2014 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
40. "FanimeCon 2015 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2015-05-22.

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 37°19′43″N 121°53′20″W / 37.32861°N 121.88889°W