Ai-Kon

Ai-Kon
Status Active
Venue RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg
Location(s) Winnipeg, Manitoba
Country Canada
Inaugurated 2001
Attendance 3194 in 2014
Website
http://www.ai-kon.org

Ai-Kon is an annual three-day anime convention held on a weekend during the month of July in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada. Ai-Kon was first held at the University of Manitoba in 2001 and is currently held at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. The convention's name is a blend of the words ai (Japanese for love) and convention and is derived from its slogan "For the love of anime". The word Ai was also chosen to play on the fact that the club had a magazine they called Anime Injection.

Programming

Like most anime conventions, Ai-Kon provides a wide variety of programming including cosplay events, guest and fan panels and workshops, video game tournaments, vendors, artist alley and auction, anime screenings and dances.

History

Ai-Kon was first held in July 2001 at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was run by the University of Manitoba Anime Club (UMAnime) The founding members were the clubs executive staff, Kristjanna Thorarinson, Riki Lecotey, Kwan Fu Sit, Tong Lin, Cathleen Ma, Tim Groner, Geoff Wright, and Jeff Agapito. At the time the club held one day events but they had so many things planned that summer, the club decided on making it a two day event but added a dance on the Friday, making it a 3 day convention. [1][2] In 2002 the event went on hiatus for one year, due to changes within the club, and in July 2003 a second Ai-Kon was held at the university.[3] Since 2004 the convention has been organized by an independent volunteer committee and has been held annually in Winnipeg each summer.[4] In 2011, as a celebration of the 10 year anniversary, Ai-Kon held a one-day event in January called "The Ai-Kon Winter Festival". This one-day event is now held annually (usually in the months of January or February) under the name "Winterfest".

Event history

Dates Location Attendance Guests
July 20–22, 2001 University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba		500[1] Richard Kekuhuna (DVD Producer for Bandai entertainment)
July 25–27, 2003 University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba		700[3]
July 30 – August 1, 2004 Sheraton Hotel
Winnipeg, Manitoba		1,000[5]
August 12–14, 2005 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba [6]		960
July 21–July 23, 2006 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		1,100 [7]
July 27–29, 2007 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		1,551 Greg Ayres and Vic Mignogna[4]
July 25–27, 2008 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		1,825 Chris Ayres, Greg Ayres, and Johnny Yong Bosch.[8]
July 24–26, 2009 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		2,180 Caitlin Glass, Tiffany Grant, and Jan Scott-Frazier.[9]
July 16–18, 2010 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		2,365 Greg Ayres, Monica Rial, Kirby Morrow, Christopher Ayres[10]
January 15, 2011 (Special "Winterfest" event) Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba [11]		679
July 15–17, 2011 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		2,575 Greg Ayres, Eric Vale, Christopher Sabat, Johnny Yong Bosch[12]
July 20–22, 2012 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		2,785 Christopher Sabat, Monica Rial, Brina Palencia, Todd Haberkorn, Greg Ayres
July 12–14, 2013 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		3148 Chris Patton, Sarah Sullivan (Representative from Funimation), J. Michael Tatum, Greg Ayres
July 11–13, 2014 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		3194 Christopher Sabat, Richard Ian Cox, Christopher Sabat, Greg Ayres, Johnny N Junkers (Cosplay Guest), 404's Improv Troupe
July 17–19, 2015 RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg (Re-named)
Winnipeg, Manitoba		 The 404s, Greg Ayres, Eric Vale, Vickybunnyangel, Terri Hawkes
July 15-17, 2016 RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg (Re-named)
Winnipeg, Manitoba

References

  1. 1 2 "Ai-Kon 2001 Information". AnimeCons.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  2. ↑ David Larkins (July 16, 2015). "What's up Winnipeg Drawing attention: Ai-Kon keeps attracting anime newbies 14 years in". Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Ai-Kon 2003 Information". AnimeCons.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  4. 1 2 "Ai-Kon 2007 Information". AnimeCons.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  5. ↑ "Ai-Kon 2004 Information". AnimeCons.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  6. ↑ "Ai-Kon 2005 Information". AnimeCons.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  7. ↑ "Ai-Kon 2006 Information". AnimeCons.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  8. ↑ "Ai-Kon 2008 Information". AnimeCons.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
  9. ↑ "Ai-Kon 2009 Information". AnimeCons.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  10. ↑ "Ai-Kon 2010 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
  11. ↑ "Ai-Kon Winter Festival 2011 Information". AnimeCons.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  12. ↑ "Ai-Kon 2011 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 2011-04-03.

External links

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