| Five years ago, there were only a couple of anime conventions in North
America. In 1998 there were around 25, and a couple of new events could
follow in 1999. The rise of the conventions matches the increasing popularity
of anime and manga, but it also shows the determination of the fans who
decide to start these events. Rebecca Norman (left) and Shawn Eason are
Colorado anime fans who helped start Nan Desu Con, the Denver-area convention.
They enjoyed anime conventions in other areas so much that they decided
to bring the fun to the Rocky Mountains. "It's worth it," Norman said at
an AWA panel on Sunday. "The reason that we do this is that we love anime
and want to share it with people who don't know what a vast world of creative
joy is there." |
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| Lloyd Carter, vice-president of administration for Anime Weekend Atlanta,
said Atlanta-area fans took their lead from two events. One was Project
A-Kon, the nation's oldest anime convention held each year in the Dallas
area. The other event is Dragon Con, the large science-fiction convention
held each year in several downtown Atlanta hotels (Carter runs that con's
video rooms). Seeing that the anime video rooms at Dragon Con always were
packed, In 1995, Carter and others linked to the Anime-X fan club decided
to start AWA. The event has been so successful that AWA has had to change
hotels twice to handle the growing crowds (the next move comes for the
1999 event). |
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| Joe Maxwell, chairman of Animazement in Raleigh, North Carolina, said
he decided to advance from a Star Trek convention to an anime convention.
Animazement, which ran for the first time in 1998, had to overcome some
bad weather: a heavy opening night storm flooded a hotel room, forcing
the moving of the convention's art room. Making up for that misfortune
was the reaction of fans who offered to assist at the last minute. "There
were people who walked in off the street and volunteered to help. They
were shining," said Maxwell in appreciation to those people who made Animazement
work. |
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| There's one big disadvantage to being a convention chair: you don't
get to enjoy the event you stage. Norman said she spent so much time on
registration and logistics that she missed most of Nan Desu Con. Still,
the 72 consecutive hours of work helped other fans enjoy a summer weekend,
and that's what counts to the convention chairs. |
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