The first tier of Kumoricon 2009 pre-registration ends at midnight the evening of December 31. You have four days left to register at the lowest rate of $30 for the entire weekend.

Mail-in pre-registrations must be postmarked (not necessarily received) by December 31. Online registrations have until midnight. (We recommend not waiting until the very last minute, though!)

To pre-register, please visit our registration page to find everything you need.

Kumoricon will be hosting a table at Mochitsuki, a Japanese American New Years celebration and cultural fair on Saturday, January 17, 11:00am to 3:00pm, at the PCC Sylvania Campus.

This festival features taiko drumming, mochi (Japanese sticky rice cake) creating, folk dance, storytelling, Japanese food specialties, calligraphy demonstrations, and a cultural fair featuring organizations like Kumoricon with hands-on crafts and activities.

Stop by our table to pre-register for the con or participate in cosplay crafts including cat-ear making.

As part of our involvement as a Community Partner, Kumoricon is selling tickets to two stage performances during the event. Shows are at 1:00pm and 3:15pm. Tickets are $12 for adults, $9 for students and seniors (age 62 and up), and $5 for children age 3 to 11. Children age 2 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased online here.

Our involvement in the Mochitsuki festival is made possible by selling tickets, so if you are planning to attend, please buy a ticket to the stage performance!

Online ticket orders

We’re looking for volunteers to help setup the table, handle registrations, and create crafts and activities for the booth. If you are interested, please post in this forum thread or contact publicity@kumoricon.org.

Mochitsuki has had an attendance of over 2500 and this year will be its 13th year. Kumoricon returns to the festival after a very successful event last year.

For full details, including activity descriptions, background, and a map and address to the location, please see the Mochitsuki 2009 calendar entry.

You can now pre-register online for Kumoricon 2009. Pre-register by December 31 for the lowest rate available, $30.

Mail-in pre-registration forms are also available, as is information about all types of registration for Kumoricon 2009: Registration Page

The attendee and staff hotel rates are available as is the attendee discount code: Hotel Page

The first general meeting for the 2009 con year will be held on Sunday, November 9, at PSU (the same building and location as Kumoricon Lite the weekend prior).

General meetings are open to the public and intended for potential and current staff and volunteers.

Staff registration for 2009 opens at this meeting. Please see the Get Involved section of the forums for staff position openings, and talk to the director of the department for any positions you are interested in.

Maps and location details are on the calendar entry.

Kumoricon’s one-day mini-event returns on Saturday, November 1, at the PSU campus.

Presented by the Portland State Anime Club and Random Select, Kumoricon Lite features gaming, viewing rooms, a costume contest, manga library, and more.

Admission is free!

Bring a volume of manga to donate to our library, and receive a free raffle ticket.

Update: Unfortunately, due to changes in what the PSU campus will permit, we will no longer be able to host vendors or sell concessions at this event, nor will we be hosting karaoke due to reduced space available. We are very sorry for the change. However, attendees can bring food informally to share.

See the calendar entry for the Kumoricon Lite flyer, location, maps, check-in information, and contact info. Please visit the calendar details page again as the check-in room has changed. Discuss in the forums.

See you there!

Thank you to our candidates for running for the staff-elected positions for Kumoricon 2009 and to our staff for participating in the elections meeting.

Your elected directors/officers for the 2009 year are:

Convention Chair and President: Michael Andrews
Director of Operations: Kenton Cook
Director of Programming: Jaki Hunt
Director of Publicity: Jeff Tyrrill
Director of Relations: Dawn Hewitt

Kumoricon will have a booth at the Festival Japan 2008 at the Beaverton Uwajimaya—our first outreach event after Kumoricon 2008.

“The Japan-America Society of Oregon, Uwajimaya, and NW Natural will be presenting the eighth annual Festival Japan on Saturday and Sunday, September 27-28, 2008 (11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.) at Uwajimaya Plaza in Beaverton, Oregon. This exciting community event has been organized to bring about awareness and appreciation of the Japanese culture. It showcases a wide variety of performances, exhibitions, cultural demonstrations and Japanese children's games, everything from taiko drumming and ikebana to martial arts and cooking demonstrations. Festival Japan is focused and designed for family entertainment.”

We will be selling pre-registrations to Kumoricon 2009.

Any volunteers who would like to help staff the booth, answer questions, and take registrations, please email publicity@kumoricon.org.

Thanks to our attendees for making this the largest Kumoricon yet!

A huge thanks to those people, staff, volunteers, and guests, who built an environment for fun that exceeded everyone’s expectations!

The biggest thank you goes to every person who was at Kumoricon this year for having a part in making this the most fantastically fun weekend in Kumoricon history!

Our paid attendance was 4470, nearly 50% larger than last year.

We also raised $4550 in the charity auction for p:EAR—double the amount we raised last year!

This year saw an amazing amount of entries into the mascot contest. The staff cast their votes to determine the winner and we are pleased to announce our new mascot for 2009:

Chevelle Abad – Be sure and thank her for an awesome job!

We are also excited to announce our new hotel for Kumoricon 2009 and 2010:

The Hilton Portland and Executive Tower

This venue, located in the heart of downtown, with plenty of food options and easy MAX access, will allow us to grow main events by roughly 50% and have a better stage arrangement using the Grand Ballroom. We will also have several more options that haven’t been possible in the past due to space constraints in previous hotels.

The dates of Kumoricon 2009 and 2010 are:

September 5-7, 2009 – Labor Day Weekend
September 4-6, 2010 – Labor Day Weekend

We are looking forward to continuing to provide opportunities for cosplay and anime fans to get together and have fun over the coming year. Keep an eye on the website for outreach events that will be happening during the year. We will be working with many college campus clubs to help sponsor events on campus.

Watch for announcements on 2009 guests and we look forward to seeing you at the next Kumoricon!

Elections

The Kumoricon 2009 elections and October general meeting will be held at our new hotel:

Hilton Portland and Executive Tower
Pavilion Room

921 SW Sixth Avenue
Portland, OR 97204

Saturday, October 11, 2008
11:00am-6:00pm

Nominations opened for Kumoricon 2009 officers at the Rant and Rave at the con, and remain open in the forums. As the date gets closer, more details will be posted including question and answer threads for the candidates and details on the agenda for the elections meeting.

The August 2008 issue of the Kumoricon newsletter, KumoriContent, is now available. Not only is this a great introductory guide to Kumoricon, it features new announcements: a preview of Kumoricon merchandise available at the con, a map of the Exhibitors Hall and Artist Alley featuring vendors, artists, and booth arrangements! Also see thanks to our sponsors as well as information about an upcoming cosplay music concert, Starlight Symphony, in October.

Download it here [PDF, 2.2MB], or browse past newsletters.

Are you ready for the most exciting Kumoricon yet?

Here’s what you need to know to make the most of your weekend.

When you show up for registration, you must have photo ID (whether registering at-the-door or checking having already pre-registered). If you pre-registered and your badge was mailed to you, you must bring the badge also.

If you are under age 18, you must either bring your signed parental permission form [PDF] or have already mailed it.

Registration hours:

Friday: 6:00pm-10:00pm (pre-registration check-in only; no at-the-door registrations)
Saturday: 8:00am-7:00pm
Sunday: 8:00am-7:00pm
Monday: 8:00am-3:00pm

Convention programming runs from 8am to 2am on Saturday and Sunday, and 8am to 5pm on Monday.

All attendees need to familiarize themselves with the convention policies. It’s mostly common sense, but it’s important information to know to be sure everyone is safe and in compliant with our rules.

There’s been one important policies change: The midnight curfew for minors has been extended to 1am for only the dances on Saturday and Sunday night. The curfew remains at midnight for all other events and convention space.

For the full schedule and pocket guide download, complete list of events, room hours, and a highlight of major attractions on all three days, check out our schedule page.

Want a map of the event space? Looking for nearby food? Check out our new maps page for all the info you need on the hotel and the nearby area.

The fun starts in just 3 days!