Tsubasacon

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Tsubasacon

Location	Riverfront Ballroom & Conference Center Big Sandy Superstore Arena Huntington, West Virginia
Years in existence	2004 to present
Attendance	564 in 2006
List of events	Concerts, voice actors, Random Battle Group, video rooms, panels, dealers' room, artists' alley, video game room, DDR, dance (rave), game shows, cosplay, masquerade contest, hobby gaming
Official Website

Tsubasacon is a three day anime convention held on a weekend during the months of October or November. Tsubasacon is also the first anime convention to be held in West Virginia. The convention derives its name from the Japanese world tsubasa (wings) and the first syllable of the word convention.

Typical programming includes video rooms, discussion and industry panels, game shows, Dealers' Room, Artists' Alley, video game room, nightly dances, CCG room, cosplay and masquerade contest.

1 History
2 Mascot
3 Previous Guests
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Tsubasacon 2004

The first Tsubasacon, hosted by the Charleston Anime and Manga Society, Inc., was held on November 19–21, 2004 at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia and featured voice actresses Tiffany Grant and Mariela Ortiz, Matt Greenfield and David Williams of ADV Films, and freelance writer Gerry Poulos as guests of honor. 407 people attended the convention along with two vendors and one artist.^[1]

[edit] Tsubasacon 2005

A second convention, Tsubasacon 2005, was also held at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia on November 25–27, 2005, and featured Patrick Delahanty of the Chibi Project and pianist/singer/songwriter Lisa Furukawa Ray as guests of honor.^[2] There were 227 paid attendees along with 5 dealers and 3 artists. Tsubasacon also hosted its first concert and anime music video contest.^[3]

The drop in attendance from the previous year was attributed to many factors by both staff and convention attendees alike. The most cited reason was that Tsubasacon was held on Thanksgiving weekend, which conflicted with the schedules of many prospective attendees. Other reasons included the admitted lack of promotion by the convention's organizers and a breakdown in the convention's website, preventing the organizers from providing timely information to the public.^[2]

[edit] Tsubasacon 2006

After the 2005 convention, control of Tsubasacon was transferred from the Charleston Anime and Manga Society, Inc. to Tsubasacon Inc. Because of conflicts with the Charleston Civic Center that resulted from the 2005 convention, Tsubasacon was moved to the Riverfront Ballroom and Conference Center at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, West Virginia. The convention was also moved up to October 13–15. The guests of honor included the return of pianist/singer/songwriter Lisa Furukawa Ray, popular interactive performance group Random Battle Group, voice actor/director/writer Mike McFarland, and voice actor/director Patrick Seitz.^[4] The official sponsor of this year's video gaming room was Bawls caffeinated soft drinks. The number of vendors increased to 7: Aardvark's Anime Commandos, Animazed, Anime Palace, Best Anime Shop, Elusive Visions, Fast Food Anime, and Holy Cow Anime. 8 artists were present in Artists' Alley, including Boushi Onna, Jason Pell, Burnware, and One "L" Innovations, among others. Approximately 570 people attended the 2006 convention, a large boost from the previous year.

[edit] Tsubasacon 2007

Although Tsubasacon 2007 is still in its early conception phase, several details have already been confirmed. The 2007 convention will be held at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena Riverfront Ballroom and Convention Center. The layout differences between the Huntington and Charleston venues, as well as the success of the 2006 convention, have been primary factors for keeping the convention in Huntington. Random Battle Group has also been confirmed to participate in Tsubasacon 2007, bringing with them a "Tsubasacon Exclusive" event based off the popular video game series Metal Gear Solid.

It has also been confirmed that Tsubasacon 2007 will take place October 5-7, 2007. After some concern was raised about the previous date of the convention coinciding with the midterms of staff and convention-goers alike, a date earlier in the month was chosen in hopes of avoiding this problem.

[edit] Mascot

Although a contest was held in 2004, Tsubasacon never adopted an official mascot until 2006. For the 2005 convention, images of three angel-like characters by Raven's Dojo were used to illustrate the Tsubasacon Website. The angels — named Fun Angel, Sexy Angel and Cute Angel and collectively known as the Angel-chans — were also used to illustrate the cover of the program guide during Tsubasacon 2005. After the convention, a movement on the Tsubasacon Forums was created to officially adopt the Angel-chans as the convention's mascots.

However, during the convention's planning stages in the Summer of 2006, the Tsubasacon Board of Directors (as well as popular vote on the Tsubasacon forums) decided to adopt a new mascot design. The unnamed 2006 mascot was designed by Tiffany White and was used on flyers, badges, programs, and t-shirts. The Tsubasacon Board of Directors is currently considering adopting the current mascot as the permanent logo for Tsubasacon as opposed to the official mascot in order to encourage artist participation with mascot design.