Staffing Deadline Update 2/29/08
If you are interested in being in charge of a sector of the convention, you will need to email info@naka-kon.com by Saturday, April 6th to set up a brief interview. These interviews will take place in Lawrence, KS on April 12th and 13th. If you are not available on these dates, you will need to email by March 16th to reserve an earlier interview date.
For those that are interested in a normal staff position, there will be a staff all-call meeting in late May and all you will need to do is attend the meeting. More information about the all-call will be posted closer to its date.
However, if you are not sure what position is right for you, please sign up for an interview by the April 6th deadline and we can talk about your schedule and options then. Please also remember that all staff and staff heads must be 18 years of age or older.
Thank You! 2/13/08
Thank you to every midwest (and non-midwest) otaku who showed up to Naka-Kon 2008 this weekend to prove that a place like Kansas City can support an anime convention! The numbers are still coming in so we won't announce the number just yet, but lets just say this year was a major success! We'd still consider it a success even if we hadn't made the numbers, because all the attendees were wonderful, and we hope you all had a great time.
2009
You're probably hoping for a date and location announcement, but since we don't have those yet...
We are now accepting Coordinator and Staff applications for Naka-Kon ’09!
Coordinators
...are people involved with running a specific sector(s) of the convention. Coordinators manage staff members assigned to their sectors, contact people related to their sector, and generally ensure that everything relating to their sector(s) is running smoothly. Coordinators are required to attend the monthly staff meetings in addition to more frequent coordinator meetings. Daily access to the Naka-Kon forums is required. You must be at least eighteen (18 ) years of age to apply.
Staff
...are involved with a specific sector, and assist their coordinator with both pre-con prep and ensuring that everything runs smoothly at con. Meetings will be held monthly, and frequent forum usage is encouraged. Please let us know if you live far away and won’t be available for physical meetings until con, and we will do our best to work with you. You must be at least eighteen (18 ) years of age to apply.
If you are interested in becoming either a staff member or coordinator, email info@naka-kon.com and specify which position you would like to apply for, and why you think you belong in that position. A list of any relevant experiences would be helpful. You may also email that address if you have any questions about the positions.
We look forward to working with you to make Naka-Kon even better!
Throwing Heaps of Useful Info At You! 2/6/08
Location
Take a gander in the Location section and you'll find two very helpful maps - one for parking and one to help explain the differences in the Marriott Towers. It can be a little confusing folks, so take a look.
Volunteering
The deadline for pre-con volunteer sign up has passed. But we will still be needing any and all volunteers we can get, so remember to sign up at the convention in Volunteer Ops if you're interested.
At Con Registration
Also, we have a new and slightly less confusing set up on our Registration page to explain our at con badge prices. Take a look at those before shooting off an email to the swamped coordinators. :) If you're still confused, you're welcome to ask us!
Important Cosplay Competition Info
We've added a section called "At Con Instructions" to the Cosplay section. Anyone who has signed up for the competition, or intends to do so at the convention MUST read these instructions.
Cosplay Judging has been bumped back one hour, and will now begin at 11 am and end at 4:30 pm to accommodate the amount of entries we have received. Don't forget to sign up for a time to be judged!
That's it folks! See you at the convention!
Seven days... 2/1/08
No. It's not the terrifying Japanese horror classic. -shudder-
It's... Naka-Kon. Are you ready? Double check these deadlines in case:
Today Friday, February 1st
AMV Electronic Submissions
Cosplay Competition Entries for Individual, Group and Skit
Tuesday, February 5th
Final day to register to Volunteer pre-con
...It's coming.No More Rooms! 1/30/08
Thank you to everyone who emailed us about those rooms, they went quite quickly.
February 1st Deadline Reminders:
AMV Electronic SubmissionsCosplay Competition Entries for Individual, Group and Skit
Don't forget! And for those of you who are waiting to submit your Cosplay entries at con, remember, we cap it off at 100 entries (that's entries, not people). We are getting close to that cap, so we won't be able to accept as many entries at con as we did last year. If you can submit before con, do it! Otherwise be prepared to turn in your entry as early as possible.
A list of Deadlines 1/24/08
Just a reminder that Panel Submissions are now closed.January 25th
Deadline for:
Fanfiction Contest entries
Project Cosplay Application
AMV Mail-In Submissions
February 1st
Deadline for:
AMV Electronic Submissions
Cosplay Competition Entries for Individual, Group and Skit
And now, some good news for all the procrastinators out there!! 1/19/08
There are still some hotel rooms available at the Naka-Kon 2008 room rate of $104 a night!! Please email info@naka-kon.com to request one of these rooms, or ask for more information. You must email info@naka-kon.com if you are interested, because these rooms will not be available through the Marriott website! Hurry up, because there are only a few left!
99 Red Naka-Kon Balloons!
If you enjoyed last year's balloon adornments, Dustin Reudelhuber (aka, The Balloon Guy) and his wife Angela will be returning to Naka-Kon for 2008! We are very excited to have them back again (how else were we going to find someone to create a giant Naka-Kon 2008 sign made completely out of balloons on a last minute notice?) Dustin and Angela are seasoned entertainers. Like magic, Dustin will twist a 3 foot balloon into the coolest balloon animals you have ever seen while Angela paints your face!
Check out our Guests section for a full bio!
And while you're there, we've finally uploaded the photos of all our lovely guests, so check those out too!
Events and Game Shows
There have been major additions to the Events section, so check that out! We will continue to add events until the convention comes, so make sure you check it out everyday!
Good things just keep happening to us! 1/16/08
It's so true! And a good example would our next guest announcement, the amazing duo of Robert and Emily DeJesus!
Robert DeJesus is a writer, story creator, illustrator, storyboard artist and character designer and has worked for many companies like Playstation Magazine, Marvel, Hasbro, and recently with Harper Collins Publishing.
Emily is a writer, editor, story creator and manager. Robert and Emily met at a convention called Anime Central and haven't been apart since that day. She helps write the web comic "How to Loathe Drawing in the Manga Style" and has just finished writing her first children's book.
Together, they combine their skills, cleverness, and perhaps DNA to form Studio Capsule, which is involved in creating a line of low print run doujinshis, portfolios, animated shorts, and other projects. Find out everything that's new with either Studio Capsule or Robert and Emily DeJesus at www.studiocapsule.com
Check out our Guests section for a full bio!
Guest Announcement 1/13/08
Naka-Kon staff and coordinators are thrilled to announce the latest addition to our 2008 Guest Line Up - director and voice actor Taliesin Jaffe!
Taliesin has directed the dubs of shows such as NieA_7, R.O.D the TV, and Hellsing Ultimate. He's Adapted the scripts for shows such as 3X3 Eyes, Ergo Proxy and Hell Girl, and has been a voice actor in show such as Speed Grapher, Black Cat, Valkyrie Profile Silmeria, DearS and Paranoia Agent. Lately he's teamed up with Chris Bevins to co-direct Beck: Mongolian chop squad.
Check out our Guest section for a full bio!
Oh yeah, forgot to mention... 1/7/08
The deadline for booking your hotel room for Naka-Kon at the Marriott special rate of $104 per night is THURSDAY, JANUARY 10TH!!!
Hurry up and book your rooms because this is the best rate you're going to find in the near vicinity of the convention!
Happy New Year! (And a few important announcements...) 1/7/08
We hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years! We are very excited about what 2008 is going to bring us, and with the convention just one month away, things are getting crazy, so we hope you'll stick with us as we get the last few final forms and bits of information up on the website for you.
First and foremost, the Cosplay Contest Registration forms are up! (Thanks for the hard work on that Mage!) Check out the Cosplay section for more details.
Second, dealer tables are now completely SOLD OUT.
Third, on the Forums section we are keeping a list of upcoming deadlines in the Announcements thread, so check those out from time to time.
And finally, we have a list of confirmed dealers and artists going up in the Dealer section, so check that out before the convention comes around!
Cosplay Competition and Available Dealer Tables! 12/30/07
Cosplay Competition
It will be a few more days before our Cosplay Registration form is up and running, but in the mean time, check out the 2008 rules in the Cosplay section. Direct any questions you may have to the Forums in the Cosplay Section.
Dealers
Approximately 14 more vendor tables have become available for sale. Email vendors@naka-kon.com if you are interested, because they will go fast!
We hope everyone has been having wonderful holidays, and please have a safe and fun New Years!
Guest Announcements 12/23/07
Naka-Kon staff and coordinators are absolutely bursting with excitement to welcome three more guests to our 2008 line up!
Chris Sabat
has directed over 600 episodes of various anime, cartoons and videogames and has voiced anime characters including (but not limited to) Vegeta and Piccolo in Dragonball Z, Kuwabara in Yu Yu Hakusho, Jigen in Lupin III, Ayame in Fruits Basket, Alex Luis Armstrong in Full Metal Alchemist! Chris has also starred in best-selling video game titles such as "Deus Ex: Invisible War", "Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel", "Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir", "Dragon Ball Z: Budokai", and much more.
Sonny Strait
a voice actor, director, writer, and illustrator. Roles include Dragon Ball Z's Krillin, Full Metal Alchemist's Maes Hughes, and the original voice of Tom on Cartoon Network's Toonami. Currently he portrays Usopp on FUNimation's One Piece! As a writer and director, he's worked on Dragon Ball, Lupin III, Case Closed, Kodacha and Kiddy Grade. As an illustrator, he's behind DC's Elfquest series and is currently writing and drawing three manga-styled graphic novels for TOKYOPOP called We Shadows.
Christopher Bevins
Voice Director and Line Producer at FUNimation Entertainment. His directing credits include Samurai 7, Speed Grapher, Origin: Spirits of the Past and Burst Angel among others! Chris also has numerous voice acting credits such as Bee the Puppy in Dragon Ball Z, Shishi Wakamaru in Yu Yu Hakusho, Naturon Shenron (the 7-Star Dragon) in Dragon Ball GT, Kanone Hilbert in Spiral, Gosaku in Samurai 7, and Yurigaoka in Speed Grapher.
Check out the Guest section for full guest bio's and pics!
Contests Galore! 12/21/07
Naka-Kon is happy to announce two new contests for 2008: Project Cosplay and Anime Clue! We would also like to announce the return of the ever so popular conversation/panel/peace-n-quite-interrupter, Cosplay Quest! All these competitions require a little reading, so check out our Contest section for more contests, how to's and rules for each of them!
Dealer Tables SOLD OUT! 12/19/07
Sorry folks, we are sold out! If you have not received a contract from us then you'll have to try again in 2009. Thanks to all our wonderful dealers who purchased tables with us for this year!
Keep an eye out at the Dealers section for a list of attending dealers and artists coming soon.
At last... THE PANEL SUBMISSION FORM!! 12/14/07
If you've been sitting on that awesome panel idea ever since the last day of Naka-Kon 2007, here's your chance to submit it for 2008! Check out our Panel Submission Form. The more detailed your submission, the better! Remember, the more submissions we get, the better the entire convention will be.
Artist Tables SOLD OUT! 12/13/07
Sorry folks, we are sold out! If you have not received a contract from us then you'll have to try again in 2009! Thanks to all our wonderful artists who purchased tables with us for this year!
Mascot Art Contest Winners! 12/12/07
We would like to thank everyone who entered a piece of art in our Mascot Art Contest. Each piece was amazing, and we were happily surprised to see such a large turnout. We are truly thankful for all the hard work that each person put into their piece.
We had a very hard time choosing one winner, so instead we chose three! We will use one winner's art for the T-shirt, another for the program cover, and another for inside the program, banners and signs.
We would like to extend our congratulations to Lauren Smith (inside program, banners and signs), Mary Krier (T-shirt), and Sierra (Deji) C. (program cover)! Their winning pieces will be revealed at the convention!
Again, thanks to everyone who participated. This was our very first Mascot Art Contest and all your hard efforts made it a stunning success.
Happy Holidays and safe travels if you've been hit by this nasty weather!
Happy December! 12/7/07
Naka-Kon Full Weekend Pass
The gift that keeps on giving! At least, for three fun filled days anyway. The holidays are here and what better gift to give your best friend, your uncle and your Great Grandma Bertha than a 2008 Naka-Kon day or full weekend pass! All you have to do is put your email address under the applicable fields (i.e. all those spaces where you have to put an email address), and the confirmation email will be sent to you, ready to present as the ultimate gift during the festive season!
But get them while you can because...
Early Pre-Reg Deadline!
The deadline for early pre-reg is this Saturday, December 8th, so make sure to get your registration in for our lowest badge prices! Check out the Registration Section for a list of prices and the online registration link.
Happy Holidays!
Mascot Art Contest Extension 11/25/07
It has come to our attention, thanks to a few astute otaku, that the dates for the Mascot Art Contest in the actual rules and what was posted on the front page do not match up! So, in the spirit of the season, we will be extending the due date to FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH.
Apparently, Sunday November 30th doesn't exist. Whaddya know about that? Anyway, we apologize for the mix up and hope to see a flood of entries between now and Friday. Good luck!
And we just keep comin' at ya! 11/20/07
Do you have money? Extra money that you are just ITCHING to throw at us?
Yes?
Really? Are you sure you're not a broke otaku?
Well, awesome if you do! Check out the Sponsorship section for information about giving us your money in return for awesome advertising opportunities (think programs, t-shirts, website)! You can also sponsor by donating prizes for games and competitions, or stuff we think would be useful to the convention. For example, say, bags for pre-reg or... diamond studded... shoes. Yes. Diamond studded shoes.
Fanfiction Contest! 11/19/07
Naruto took a moment to compose himself before gazing into the dark, intense eyes before him. He took a deep breath, his heart pounding, a lump in his throat that felt like it was going to constrict his breathing..."Naruto, are you alright?" Sasuke asked, trying not to seem too concerned.That's right, folks! Now, as the little blurb above does NOT demonstrate, if you have a love, nay, a PASSION (and hopefully a talent) for fanfiction, you should definitely enter our fanfiction contest! All the rules are posted in the Contests section, so read them thoroughly and get typing! We look forward to seeing what all the awesome Naka-Kon writers come up with!
Nebraskon
Just a shout out to all those folks who stopped by our table at Nebraskon! We had a great time (I hope you didn't miss out on the Orangutan...) and we hope to see all of you guys at Naka-Kon 2008!
We were a little disappointed that no one won the secret free Naka-Kon badge! The trick was that the person who purchased the Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo figurine in the booth next to us would have one a full free badge! :( Then again, we didn't exactly tell anyone either, but we figured that if someone spent upwards of $40 on a Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo figurine, they definitely deserved a free badge. :)
Super Happy Time Shiny Announcements! 11/16/07
Guests
We are happy and excited to welcome Kansas native Kari Wahlgren to Naka-Kon 2008! Please check out her picture and biography on the Guests page. Just to name a few, Kari has done the voices of Haruko from FLCL, Robin from Witch Hunter Robin, Pacifica from Scrapped Princess and Anemone from Eureka 7.
Registration
Group registration is up, so go check out the Registration page for more details. Remember, you can only get the group discount for pre-registration, so make sure to get your groups together in time!
Hotel
Naka-Kon room rates are now available for reservation at the Kansas City Downtown Marriott Hotel. Check out the Location page for contact and booking information.
Mascot Art Contest
Remember, the deadline for the Mascot Art Contest is one week from this Sunday! (That means November 25th, for those of you not interested in pulling up your calendar...) We know there are more talented people lurking around out there, so don't make us come in there after you! We'd rather just lure you out with the promise of delicious cheese. Email your submissions to contests@naka-kon.com.
The truth is, if we don't get enough submissions, our new mascot is going to be Magical Girl Brian Smith (the Con Chair). Nobody wants that. Except Brian.
Dealers
We now have dealer's room hours! Check 'em out at the Dealers page.
Traveling
This weekend Naka-Kon representatives will be traveling to Anime Nebraskon in Lincoln, NE. Don't forget to stop by the Naka-Kon table in the dealer's room to say hi if you happen to be attending!
Welcome to the new Naka-Kon 2008 website! - 10/21/2007
Be sure to mark February 8th-10th, 2008 in your calendar and check out our location page for information on our amazing new venue. The website will be loaded with content on Naka-Kon 2008 events, guests, contests, and other exciting announcements in the coming weeks.