AnimeIowa
Encyclopedia
Anime Iowa is an anime convention
run by the not-for-profit Mindbridge Foundation and is held annually. The convention offers anime screening, videogames, an art auction, guest panels, cosplay, and many of the other events typically found at an anime convention.. It was held again at the Coralville Marriott, August 15–17, 2008, although at least 45 sleeping rooms had been transferred to the nearby Hampton/Holiday Inn across Interstate 80
due to extended stays from persons associated with the recent floods of 2008
.
Many AnimeIowa attendees cosplay
throughout or during part of the convention, and various events are specifically for cosplay
participants. AnimeIowa is a three-day event, operating for 53 straight hours (from noon Friday to 5PM Sunday) during its three-day weekend.
Attendance at AnimeIowa, along with the guest list, has grown every year that has so far been documented, and there were reportedly more cosplayers at AnimeIowa 2003 than the total number of fans who attended the first AnimeIowa. As a result, the convention has occupied several different hotels and convention centers, in an effort to continue expanding to find room for all its attendees.
and Gamicon
. The organization was a branching off of the Science Fiction League of Iowa Students, which was founded by award-winning author Joe Haldeman
. AnimeIowa was first a production of the "SFLIS Wing of Anime and Manga People" (SWAMP), which later merged the convention into Mindbridge.
Anime convention
An anime convention is an event or gathering with a primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. Commonly, anime conventions are multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activities and panels...
run by the not-for-profit Mindbridge Foundation and is held annually. The convention offers anime screening, videogames, an art auction, guest panels, cosplay, and many of the other events typically found at an anime convention.. It was held again at the Coralville Marriott, August 15–17, 2008, although at least 45 sleeping rooms had been transferred to the nearby Hampton/Holiday Inn across Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
due to extended stays from persons associated with the recent floods of 2008
Iowa flood of 2008
The Iowa flood of 2008 was a hydrological event involving most of the rivers in eastern Iowa beginning around June 8, 2008 and ending about July 1. Flooding continued on the Upper Mississippi River in the southeastern portion of the state for several more days...
.
Many AnimeIowa attendees cosplay
Cosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
throughout or during part of the convention, and various events are specifically for cosplay
Cosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
participants. AnimeIowa is a three-day event, operating for 53 straight hours (from noon Friday to 5PM Sunday) during its three-day weekend.
Programming
AnimeIowa lasts three days, which include several events for its visitors, and admission to any event requires the conspicuous display of an AnimeIowa badge. A writer for a popular Anime news website (Anime News Network), described how shocked she was to find more than "cows, crop circles, and farmers named Jeb" at AnimeIowa.- Game Room - Includes video games, such as DDR, and a few other games
- Dealer's Room - Outside vendors sell their products, including mostly video game or anime-related goods and Japanese snack food.
- Artist's Alley - Artists have the opportunity to sell or display their artwork
- Guest Visitors - Famous visitors from the Anime world come for autographs and to talk with convention visitors
- Official Dance
- Video Rooms - Video rooms play anime throughout most of the convention, often including Anime that is hard to find in the USA
- Music Video Contest - Visitors can show off their music video creations
- Cosplay Contest - Visitors can compete to see who's costume is the best.
- ConSuite - including a small selection of Japanese and American foods (Anime Iowa is lauded by many guests as having a wide array of non junk foodJunk foodJunk food is an informal term applied to some foods that are perceived to have little or no nutritional value ; to products with nutritional value, but which also have ingredients considered unhealthy when regularly eaten; or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all...
items to sustain the con-goers )
History
AnimeIowa began in 1997 as a small convention gathering 150 attendees at the Highlander Inn in Iowa City, IA, featuring only two guests, Steve Bennett and Kuni Kimura. Events were also fairly limited, featuring an Artists' Alley, Video Games, and a Dealers' Room. Attendance doubled for its second year, which also included the addition of Robert DeJesus to the guest list. AnimeIowa has since been held yearly for 13 years, while both the attendance and guest lists have grown each year.Attendance at AnimeIowa, along with the guest list, has grown every year that has so far been documented, and there were reportedly more cosplayers at AnimeIowa 2003 than the total number of fans who attended the first AnimeIowa. As a result, the convention has occupied several different hotels and convention centers, in an effort to continue expanding to find room for all its attendees.
Event history
| Dates | Location | Atten. | Guests |
|---|
Organizational structure
AnimeIowa is run by The Mindbridge Foundation, a not for profit corporation also responsible for ICON (Iowa science fiction convention)Icon (Iowa science fiction convention)
ICON is an annual science fiction convention held in the Cedar Rapids/ Iowa City area of Iowa since 1975, usually in late October or early November, under the auspices of the Mindbridge Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation which also sponsors the Gamicon and AnimeIowa conventions.ICON is run by...
and Gamicon
Gamicon
Gamicon is Iowa's longest-running game convention, currently held at the Iowa Memorial Union in Iowa City, Iowa.Gamicon's attendance averages 250-300 people, and is the longest running gaming convention in Iowa. It is supported by the Mindbridge Foundation, which also supports Icon and AnimeIowa....
. The organization was a branching off of the Science Fiction League of Iowa Students, which was founded by award-winning author Joe Haldeman
Joe Haldeman
Joe William Haldeman is an American science fiction author.-Life :Haldeman was born June 9, 1943 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His family traveled and he lived in Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Bethesda, Maryland and Anchorage, Alaska as a child. Haldeman married Mary Gay Potter, known...
. AnimeIowa was first a production of the "SFLIS Wing of Anime and Manga People" (SWAMP), which later merged the convention into Mindbridge.