Setsucon | |
---|---|
Status | Active |
Genre | Anime, Manga, Japanese culture [1] [2] |
Venue | Blair County Convention Center |
Location(s) | Altoona, Pennsylvania |
Country | United States |
Inaugurated | 2007 [3] |
Attendance | 2,038 in 2023 [4] |
Organized by | Penn State Anime Organization (PSAO) [2] [5] |
Website | http://www.setsucon.com/ |
Setsucon is an annual three day anime convention held during January/February at the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania. [3] The convention's name comes from the Japanese word setsu, meaning "snow". It is organized by the Penn State Anime Organization (PSAO). [2] [5] The convention is family-friendly. [6]
The convention typically offers an anime music video contest, anime showings, artist alley, card-game tournaments, dance, dealer's room, Iron Cosplay, Itasha car show, manga library, masquerade, musical events, panels, tabletop gaming, video gaming, and workshops. [1] [5] [6] [7] [8] The 2008 host auction raised $1,200 and was donated to the United Way. Todd Haberkorn participated in the 2013 host auction, raising $510 for charity. [9] The host auction in 2014 raised nearly $500 for Child's Play. [10] [11] Richard Epcar and Stephanie Sheh participated in the 2015 host auction, along with several cosplayers, raising $800 for Child's Play. [12] Setsucon in 2018 had over 130 hours of convention programming. [2] The 2022 charity video game tournaments benefited the National Alliance on Mental Illness. [13] Charities the convention supported in 2023 were the Colon Cancer Coalition and Jared Box. [8]
Due to financial issues, the convention's first year in 2007 was reduced from three days to one day. [14] In 2008, the convention expanded to two days due to additional funding. [5] In 2010 on Saturday, Setsucon reached its venues capacity limit of 900 people before noon. [15] The artists' alley and dealers' room were expanded in 2014. [1] The dance was shut down early in 2015 because of complaints including poor behavior. [12] In 2017, the convention showed never before seen clips from anime licensor Pied Piper, Inc. of the dub for Skip Beat!. [16] In 2018, the convention moved to the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania. [2]
Setsucon due to the COVID-19 pandemic was scheduled to move to April for 2021, and would also have Friday programming. [17] [18] [19] Instead, Setsucon held a virtual event in April, and in 2022 returned to January with a three day event. [18] [19] [20] The 2022 convention had COVID-19 protocols including masking and vaccination/testing requirements. [13]
Dates | Location | Atten. | Guests |
---|---|---|---|
January 27, 2007 | Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania | 288 [21] | |
January 26-27, 2008 | Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania | D-Chan, Kyle Hebert, Dave Lister, and Chris "Kilika" Malone. [22] | |
January 17-18, 2009 | Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania | About 600 [7] | Robert Axelrod, Dave Lister, Chris "Kilika" Malone, Yuko "Aido" Ota, Ananth Panagariya, and This Place is Haunted. [23] |
January 16-17, 2010 | Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania | M. Alice LeGrow, Chris "Kilika" Malone, and Vic Mignogna. [24] | |
January 29-30, 2011 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | Todd Haberkorn and Chris "Kilika" Malone. [25] | |
January 28-29, 2012 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | Antipode, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Kyle Hebert, Uncle Yo, and Greg Wicker. [26] | |
January 26-27, 2013 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | 1,300 [1] | Antipode, Martin Billany, Todd Haberkorn, Cherami Leigh, Dave Lister, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing. [27] |
January 25-26, 2014 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | Nearly 1,500 [28] | Antipode, Leah Clark, Richard Epcar, Todd Haberkorn, Kambrea Pratt, Thom Pratt, Ellyn Stern, Alexis Tipton, Uncle Yo, Greg Wicker, and DJ Zing. [29] |
January 24-25, 2015 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | 1,200 [12] | Antipode, Richard Epcar, Rusty Gilligan, Stephanie Sheh, Ellyn Stern, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing. [30] |
January 30-31, 2016 | Toftrees Golf Resort & Conference Center State College, Pennsylvania | Antipode, Chris Bevins, Natalie Hoover, Rachel Robinson, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing. [31] | |
January 21-22, 2017 | Toftrees Golf Resort & Conference Center State College, Pennsylvania | Antipode, Kira Buckland, DJ-R, Ralph "Ralfington" Edward, Erica Lindbeck, Keith Silverstein, and Uncle Yo. [32] | |
January 27-28, 2018 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Antipode, Leah Clark, Amber Lee Connors, Daman Mills, Micah Solusod, Lex Winter, and DJ Zing. [33] | |
January 26-27, 2019 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Antipode, Brianna Knickerbocker, E. Jason Liebrecht, Elizabeth Maxwell, and Lex Winter. [34] | |
January 25-26, 2020 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Kohei Hattori, Billy Kametz, Faye Mata, TiA, and Lex Winter. [35] | |
April 10-11, 2021 | Online convention | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Heroes 4 Hire, Sarah Natochenny, and Lindsay Seidel. [19] | |
January 28-30, 2022 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Heroes 4 Hire, Brittany Lauda, n00neimp0rtant, Otaku Ongaku, Matt Shipman, ThaGataNegrra, and Lex Winter. [36] | |
January 13-15, 2023 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | 2,038 [4] | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Aaron Dismuke, Kohei Hattori, Heroes 4 Hire, Sarah Wiedenheft, Lex Winter, [4] and Fake Idol Project. [8] |
February 2-4, 2024 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Antipode, Chris Hackney, Heroes 4 Hire, ThaGataNegrra, Lex Winter, and Anne Yatco. [37] |
Setsucon is a member of the International Otaku Expo Association (I.O.E.A). [38]
Setsucon has sponsored a Costume Contest at Schlow Centre Region Library's BookFestPA event, run during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. [39]
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