February 13-15, 2009
February 13-15, 2009 |
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Frequently Asked QuestionsGeneralAre you the real Anime St. Louis? That's an oddly-phrased question, but I think I know what you mean. You're asking if we're the same convention that happened at the Viking in March. We are, in fact, many of the same staff members, and we are, in fact, called Anime St. Louis. We are also having a convention around the same time of year in St. Louis, Missouri. We would consider this the fourth year of Anime St. Louis, although we're calling it Kawa Kon from now on. All of us have the experience of running a convention, even if we have a new name. Remember, the name change doesn't change who we are. We'll still bring you your favorite events from last year and we will continue to be your friendly neighborhood convention staff. When and where is the con? This year's convention is at the lovely Crowne Plaza Clayton in the Clayton district of St. Louis County. Clayton is an upscale financial district full of restaurants and shops. Don't be daunted by the skyscrapers! It's not downtown, and there's plenty of free weekend parking (although the hotel does charge for its lot). Best of all, it's within walking distance of a MetroLink station. What is your convention about? We are a convention about Japanese animation, run for fans, by fans. We also include events and panels that focus on manga, video games, costuming, Japanese culture, and other fandoms (i.e. comic books). I want to bring my boyfriend/girlfriend/mother/father/distant relative, and he/she/it doesn't like anime. Is there something for that person there too? There's not a lot at our convention that doesn't have something to do with anime, but we will have some panels that focus on other fandoms or Japanese culture instead. Still, anime isn't a genre. There are plenty of shows out there, and your friends or relatives who want to come to the con should explore the different types of shows out there. The genre and rating of each show played in the anime viewing rooms will be listed this year, which will help those new to anime find something they might enjoy. There will also be an Anime 101 panel at the beginning of the con and a vernacular guide in the program book to help new fans and the families of fans. Of course, if your friends or family who come with you don't want to go to any panels and events and would just like to hang out in the hallway, they don't need to have badges. Badges will be checked at the doors of all of the panels, events, and dealers' room. When will your schedule be up? A good portion of it is up! Check it out on the Schedule Page! Do you have a group rate? We will this year! Check it out on the Registration page! What are the forums? Forums are a place for congoers to hang out and talk about anime, video games, the con, and other topics. You can post without joining, but we encourage you to join (which is FREE) so that you can get private messages and emails from other forum members. Back to TopGuestsWho are your guests this year? We will announce them as soon as we have them confirmed. Why don't you have Greg Ayers, Vic Mignogna, Psycho le Cemu, Gackt, Tetsuya Nomura, Shinichiro Watanabe, Nobuhiro Watsuki, God... etc.? We ask for suggestions for guests on the forums before we start getting guests for the next year, and we do our best to get guests we think our attendees will like. We try to balance musical guests, voice actors, and other guests, and we DO have a budget. Right now, Japanese guests aren't in our budget range. Likewise, some guests charge large appearance fees, and we can't afford them either. Other guests just aren't available or don't reply to our inquiries. In the end, though, we have to decide between the guests who DO agree to come because we obviously can't have everyone. I know that guest! Can I be his personal escort? We have staff members that will already be in charge of escorting guests to and from events. I know that a lot of voice actor guests have some friends in the anime fandom community, but we ARE the ones paying for the guests and would like to make sure that they attend everything they are supposed to. Also, we can't let just one congoer be a guest's personal escort because everyone else will want to do it as well. We'd like to avoid messy fangirl fights, thank you. Can I pet them? We will have autograph signings, and each guest will have his or her own table. You may pet them if they give you permission. Are the guests going to do panels? Keep checking back for a panel schedule which will include at least one panel for each guest. Back to TopStaffWhy won't the staff answer my questions within an hour after I ask them? I'm busy, and I need to know NOW! The staff is made up mostly of college students and others who are also very busy. Be patient! You'll most likely get an answer within a couple of days. I know one of the staff people. Can I get in for free? No, I'm sorry, but we're a small convention. We wouldn't make any money if we let everyone in for free. You CAN, however, volunteer. Information on volunteer registration is on the Volunteers page. How do I get on staff? At the beginning of each new planning year (around May or June), we will have a meeting to find new staff members. You MUST attend that meeting if you want to be considered for a staff position. We will interview you and generally get to know you at that meeting, and you will be notified soon afterward whether you will be on staff this year. Back to TopGamingWhat types of gaming will there be? There will be video gaming (including DDR, Super Smash Bros., and other multiplayer games), tabletop role-playing, miniatures games, card games, board games, and live-action role-play. If you want to suggest a game or volunteer to run one, contact our gaming director. How do I get to be a GM (Game Master)? If you have a game that you want to lead at Kawa Kon, you can volunteer to be a GM. You must be at least 16 and have GM experience with that game. Email either the gaming director or volunteer liaison. Volunteers who GM can get free memberships by working a certain number of games. Can I let you borrow my awesome new Wii, PS3, or X-box 360 for the convention? We're sorry, but we cannot be held responsible for attendees' systems. Please keep them in your rooms if you do bring them to the con. We will be providing our own systems for gaming. Back to TopEvents and PanelsWhat main events will you have? We're bringing back the masquerade (costume contest), Bishounen Date Auction, game shows, and dances. We'll also be adding some new events to try out, including several events specificially for this year's "Mechs and Marshmallows" theme. What are you showing in the anime room? The anime room schedule should be up within a week of the convention. What panels do you have? We will have a variety of panels that will run until at least 1:00 in the morning on Friday and Saturday and until after closing ceremonies on Sunday. Panels will be on a variety of topics, from specific shows to Japanese culture, even things like Star Trek and American comic books. Why aren't there enough/any panels on [blank]? Because either no one has suggested them yet or no one signed up to run them! We try to gear our panel programming toward everyone, but we obviously can't fit every topic into one weekend. If you want to run a panel or have a suggestion for a topic, either post about it on the forums or contact our panel programming chair. Let the programming chair know what your idea is, whether or not you want to host it yourself, how it should be presented, and why other congoers will want to attend the panel. Can I run a panel? Panelist registration is open now! Head over to the Panel Programming page to sign up! My friends and I are hot stuff! We want to host a panel about ourselves! Can we do that? Er... no. A lot of people think they're hot stuff, but we can't let all of those people host panels about themselves. If you belong to a recognizable area group (like the Costumers Guild or FantAsia), then you and your group members can apply to have a panel. If you are working on an interesting project (such as a film or video game), you can do the same. We may or may not be able to give you a panel. If we turn you down, you may NOT create your own panel at the convention and have it "unofficially". Can I get in for free just doing panels? Yes! We need panelists as well as other volunteers, and any volunteer who works either 6 panels or 6 hours for the convention gets in free! BUT you have to fill out the volunteer registration forms as soon as you can. The spaces fill up quickly. We also encourage you to do other work as well. Each panel you do counts as an hour of work toward your 6 hour (or more) total. Most panels are only an hour long (with a little bit of down time that you can extend your panel into), but a few are longer. The longer panels will still count as an hour. I really, really MUST do a panel on one specific thing! You see, it's MY PANEL. I OWN it. Why did you let someone else do it instead of me? Let's get one thing straight. You don't own anything in the anime fandom world unless you can show me your copyright paperwork for it. In that rare case, we'll apologize and give you your panel. Otherwise, the person (or people) who asks first gets the panel. If you don't happen to be on the ones you want to be on this year, simply do other panels and go to the ones you wanted to host. It's not the end of the world, although sometimes people treat it like it is. Back to TopCosplayWhat is cosplay? Cosplay refers, basically, to wearing a costume. That costume can be anything from a full character costume from your favorite show to a generic witch costume you decided to wear to a convention. In order to get the cosplay discount at registration, that must be FULL costume, not just a wig or pieces of a costume. It also can't be an "original character" who just happens to wear normal clothing. But basically figure that whatever would get LOTS of looks on the street is most likely good enough. If you're not sure whether something you're wearing will be accepted, bring a reference picture. Is there a cosplay contest? Definitely! Check out the masquerade section for more details! Can I dress up as ANYONE I want to at the convention? If your costume follows the rules of our convention, you may wear anything you want. Darth Vader is more than welcome at an anime convention! So... can I go naked? I've got a nice bod. Again, your costume must follow the rules of the convention. Nudity is not allowed. I just bought an awesome new sword in the dealers' room! Can I use it with my costume? No. Please take all metal weapons, live or dull, to your hotel room or car and LEAVE THEM THERE. We WILL confiscate dangerous weapons. Can I sword fight in the hallways? No. We're sorry, but we cannot allow fighting in the hallways. It's dangerous, and the hallways tend to get very crowded during the convention. Dueling may be allowed with BOFFERED (foam) WEAPONS ONLY outside in NON-CROWDED AREAS or in designated boffered weapon areas. If you are asked to move or to stop, move or stop immediately. I'm in costume! Do I get a discount? Yup. If you wear your costume when you register at the con, you get $5 off your admission. If you pre-register, please mark on your form that you are planning to cosplay. If you mark it on your form but do NOT cosplay at registration, you must pay the extra $5. Back to TopThemeWhat is this year's theme? This year, it's "Mechs and Marshmallows". The theme will celebrate all of the awesome mech shows and mech-related awesomness that has come out of Japan. We'll also celebrate marshmallows, which can be just as awesome as well as fluffy. Do I have to dress up from the theme? Not at all. Some people will, but all costumes are still welcome. What does the theme mean for me? Basically, it means that we're having a few events, panels, and shows (in the anime room) that feature one or both themes. Also, there will be a prize for following the theme in the masquerade. Other events may include special sections regarding the theme. Some of this years' events will include a Iron Mecha (a mecha-building contest of epic proportions), Mechas from Marshmallows (a tasty mecha-building party), and the Midnight Roast (a marshmallow AND anime roast). We will make an effort this year to incorporate the theme more than last year. Back to Top
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