The anime convention Kami-Con, created to celebrate anime and allow guests to interact and enjoy their hobbies, will be held for the fourth year at the University of Alabama in the Ferguson Center on Friday.
This year, the three-day event will cost attendees $30 for the entire weekend and $20 for those wanting to pre-register. The convention will feature different events and activities throughout the weekend.
“I am looking forward to a lot of fun and action for the guests,” said Raymond Lenzner, creator of the University of Alabama Kami-Con. “And there will be a lot of voice actors and big named guests coming to the convention.”
Lenzner started Kami-Con four years ago after attending different conventions. With his family’s background in theater, he found it possible to create Kami-Con in Tuscaloosa.
“I went to other conventions and I wanted to try to run one myself,” Lenzner said. “So, I formed the student organization Bama SOS Brigade.”
The first three years of the convention, Lenzner paid out of pocket to pay for the activities going on at the convention.
“We were essentially running a party for 2,000 people,” Lenzner said.
Since the creation of the Kami-Con convention in Tuscaloosa, the number of people in attendance has almost doubled each year and the number of members for the organization has also increased, going from 20 in 2009 to almost 50 in 2012.
“It is really crazy; I never expected it to grow so much, so fast. We went from 500 people to 1,200 people to last year having 2,300 people come. We expect to have more people this year,” said Matthew Jones, chairman of the tech staff for Kami-Con.
Jones was one of the original members of the Kami-Con staff created back in 2009. Saturday night, Jones, who created the Kami-Con rave, will host the event and be its musical guest.
“Saturday is our biggest day; most of us are really stressed, and that is when the most people come out,” Jones said. “We have a lot of staff this year and a lot of people volunteering from Troy and other areas.”
The staff of Kami-Con hopes to be more interactive with their audience this year and make the characters livelier. The convention will have tabletop games, vendors, video game contests and other games including dodge ball. The guests will include: 501st Brigade; 91.8, an Internet radio station; the band Electric Moon; and Marble Hornets.
For more information on the convention, visit www.kamicon.net.
If you go:
What: Kami-Con
Where: Ferguson Center
When: Friday 5 p.m. to midnight, Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Cost: $20 for three-day pre-register, $30 for three-day at the door, $25 for two day at the door, $15 for one day at the door
