Kansas City’s Premier Anime Convention
Naka-Kon 2010 News Release
For Immediate Release
Jan. 19, 2010
For More Information:
Erica Binns
Director of PR and Marketing
(913) 522-9795
press at naka-kon dot com
Halloween in February: Convention Attendees May Spook Crown Center
KANSAS CITY, Mo.–Naka-Kon Anime Convention will be held Feb. 19-21, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center. The convention allows approximately thousands of anime fans, also known as otaku, from across the country to gather and learn about anime and Japanese culture.
Many of the convention’s attendees don anime-related costumes for the event. Because of the Hyatt’s proximity to Crown Center, costumed con-goers often visit the mall to eat and shop.
Director of Online Media Matthew Schott said as of Jan. 12, the pre-registration deadline, 1,361 people have pre-registered to attend the convention. Because less than half of convention attendees pre-registered in previous years, Convention Committee members anticipate between 3,400 and 3,800 attendees in February.
Events include panels and game shows hosted by volunteers, convention staff, and guests; contests that let attendees demonstrate their talent through the creation of stories, costumes, anime music videos (AMVs), and other forms of media; 24-hour anime showings rooms; a live concert; an upbeat dance party; a formal ball; a vendor room stocked with anime merchandise; a Japanese-themed video game room; a and a Lolita tea party.
Voice actor guests include Chris Ayres, Greg Ayres, Kyle Hebert, Wendy Powell and Eric Vale. Industry guests include Shion Francois and Yumi Kawaguchi of Cure Media USA and Tommy Yune of the Robotech Convention Tour. Other guests include manga writer and artist M. Alice LeGrow, Web comic artist Amelie Belcher, balloon artist Dustin Reudelhuber and his wife Angela, the Kansas State University Yosakoi Dance Group, the Kojokan Shinbutai sword demonstration group and the band Peelander-Z.
“Several of our guest suggestions came straight from the Naka-Kon forums,” Director of Online Media Matthew Schott said. “Nearly 1,400 people are registered on the forums, and lots of them actively discuss what they want to see and do at Naka-Kon. Some of them even volunteer to host panels at the convention. Without dedicated kon-goers like them, Naka-Kon wouldn’t exist.”
Naka-Kon 2009 starts at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 19, and ends at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 21. Badges will be sold at the convention and cost $45 for a full weekend.
Naka-Kon Anime Convention is organized and operated by approximately 80 uncompensated volunteer staff members, many of whom are students and most of whom live in the greater Kansas City area. Naka-Kon was first held in 2005 at the University of Kansas Memorial Union in Lawrence, Kan. The one-day convention was free and attracted approximately 300 attendees. In 2009, more than 3,000 attendees gathered at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center for a three-day, paid convention. Traditional features include industry guests, panels, game shows, contests, showings rooms, a vendor room and a video game room.
