A-Kon

A-Kon
Location(s)	Adam's Mark Hotel Dallas, Texas
Attendance	11,000+
Major events	Video rooms, anime music videos, arcade, artist alley, concerts, cosplay contest/masquerade, dance, DDR, dealer's room, cosplay, karaoke, LARP, ninja demos, panels, scavenger hunt, and table top gaming
Website	http://www.a-kon.com

Project A-Kon (or just A-Kon) is an anime convention held annually in Dallas, Texas, usually lasting three days on or near Memorial Day in May or June. Project A-Kon, whose name is widely believed to be a parody of the anime Project A-ko, is North America's longest running national anime convention. The name is really derived from an abbreviation of "Anime Convention" and is spelled with a "K" because that would be graphemically correct in Japanese.

While the focus of the convention is mainly centered on anime fandom and screenings of films and television series--some of which are new to or have never been formally released in the United States--many other activities take place encompassing various segments of geek and Japanese pop culture. These events include panels with American authors and artists as well a room dedicated to Dance Dance Revolution. Cosplay, costume play, is one of the most well-known events at A-Kon. It is a presentation of the fans' attempts to make costumes to resemble their favorite characters, and may even involve skits in some cases. There are also secondary events, such as scavenger hunts and martial arts demos, hosted every year at A-Kon. For artistic fans, there is an artshow where one can display and sometimes auction individual fan art.

A-Kon is a "fancon" in that while it has industry backing, is run by and for the fans. To that end, A-Kon has an extensive volunteer program. Almost all the staff members are volunteers, even the upper echelon group referred to as staff-heads. Some come from professional backgrounds in theatre and so are perfect for the stage crew, and others are more generalized in their skills and so handle or work in other departments. A-Kon is such a large convention that it would be impossible to run without a large volunteer corps.

Recent news

The most recent A-Kon 17 was held from June 9-11, 2006, and has been regarded by some as the "worst A-Kon ever." Due to ridiculous new security policies, poor event planning, rude, ego-driven staff members and general overcrowding, this year's events have driven many away from A-Kon forever.

The masquerade/cosplay in itself was overcrowded yet again. There were 30 skits and 75 walk-ons. There is a rumor that, many walk-ons had to be cut from the show due to time constraints, but it is untrue. Only 2 Skits were entirely cut, and two others shortened to save time for those remaining walkons to be able to perform.

The worst (and probably most dangerous) part in the night was when a mock cannon from a fake pirate ship up near the stage was fired randomly and launching stuffed animals or A-Kon t-shirts into the crowd, misfired and hit a chandelier hanging above the crowd, causing it to shatter and come down into the helpless audience. Luckily, no serious injuries were to be had, aside from a few scratches here and there. The cannon was deemed unsafe and shut down. No plans currently exist for the cannon, or any other launching of items intot he audience to ever happen at future A-kons.

The rave on Friday was postponed for an hour and a half because the Kotoko concert started late, and the rave on Saturday was cancelled altogether.

External links

• Project A-Kon web site
• Cosplayspot Features cosplay pictures and reports from A-Kon 12+