$('#top_search_results_loading_spinner').hide(); $('#top_search_container').show(); $('#top_search_results').html("
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

When Conventions Cancel<\/h4>\n published 4 years ago<\/span>\n
A statement from Emerald City Comic Con<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Anime Texas: The Birth of an Anime Convention<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
“You don’t,” Josh says, laughing. “You don’t know. If it’s a new market, virgin territory, and you’re the first conquistador to pop out and plant the flag in the name of weeb culture and your favorite waifu, you just don’t know. There’s a lot of inherent risk in that. If you’re going to Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Sacramento, or other large areas, you can usually guess about 1% of the population to be safe. That would actually be an amazing turnout. So if there’s 100,000 people in a smaller town and 1,000 people show up, you’re doing good.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Sakura-Con 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
The Seattle Convention Center as seen from Freeway Park.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Sakura-Con 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
The new Seattle Convention Center title is already up on the building.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Sakura-Con 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
The weather forecast for Sakura-Con 2022.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Sakura-Con 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
Sakura-Con is an anime and Japanese culture convention based in Seattle, WA. It\'s one of the older and more established conventions, having started in 1998<\/a>. In addition to being the largest anime convention in the Northwestern US, it\'s always in the top ten list of the largest anime conventions in the US<\/a>. Attendance was capped for 2022, but it usually hovers around 25k attendees.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Sakura-Con 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
Sakura-Con is one of the easier conventions to attend. There are plenty of hotels available, even if they don\'t open the room block until closer to the event. There are no less than four hotels within two blocks of the convention center. Most of the hotels are still under the \$200 per night level, which is refreshing if you\'re used to events like Katsucon and ColossalCon.\n\nIf you\'re flying in from out of state you\'ll find many flights to SeaTac airport. There\'s even a light rail that will take you from the airport all the way downtown and just a few blocks from the convention center. The downtown area is very walkable.\n\nIf you\'re driving in you\'ll definitely want to use a secure parking garage. Vehicle break-ons are very common in Seattle and parking on the street could result in a broken window.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Sakura-Con 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
The WSCC is actually going through a rebrand and is now called the Seattle Convention Center. The name change was made immediately following Sakura-Con and is meant to build a stronger connection to the city according to this article<\/a>. I guess \"Seattle\" has better name recognition than just \"Washington\". See also this page<\/a> on the website.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Sakura-Con 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
Unfortunately the convention center has an encroaching homeless community in the neighboring Freeway Park. Hurray for big cities with lax law enforcement policies 🙄. You can actually see homeless tents in the backgrounds of my videos. Human feces also made an appearance 💩. While safety is always a concern in a city the size of Seattle, the growing population and increasingly aggressive nature of the homeless could become a significant problem.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Sakura-Con 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
After a three year break due to COVID, Sakura-Con returned to a sold out Seattle Convention Center. Read the article and watch the cosplay music video to learn more about the largest anime convention is the Northwestern US.\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Anime Los Angeles 2022<\/h4>\n published 2 years ago<\/span>\n
You could say that Anime Los Angeles faired the pandemic relatively well. Since it\'s held in January the 2020 event happened without any issues. I distinctly remember that there wasn\'t even a hint of concern about COVID at that time. Just two months later we would enter fear mode and go into shutdown. There was no ALA in January of 2021.\n\nIt\'s interesting to look back at the timeline of events to see how the situation around COVID was constantly changing. I was able to attend six convention in 2021, starting with ColossalCon in June. At that time things were starting to go back to normal. Mask requirements were dropping and we thought that perhaps we were coming out of the pandemic. By August masks were required again and the Omicron variant was starting to show up. I attended conventions through the fall and into December without any issues. Had ALA been held later in 2021 and if it wasn\'t in California, perhaps it wouldn\'t have missed a year. Missing one year isn\'t that bad though. Events like Sakura-Con<\/a> in Seattle have missed two years.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n