Ai-Kon returns for it's 10th year on July 15-17th, 2011!

Ai-Kon has confirmed their dates and is happy to announce that it will be returning to the Winnipeg Convention Centre on July 15-17th, 2011!

This upcoming year marks the ten year anniversary for Ai-Kon and is expected to be the best year yet. It's humble roots began from a small University based anime club and has expanded into an ever-growing, ever-changing community that brings fans and enthusiasts together every year. The continued support of a dedicated committee and growing number of attendees has made it possible for Ai-Kon to grow year after year. It is because of the fans and industry support that they are able to continue for the tenth year, marking a decade of Manitoba's largest anime convention.

ABOUT AI-KON: Ai-Kon (http://www.ai-kon.org) is Manitoba's largest anime convention. An all-ages event, the goal of Ai-Kon is the promotion of Japanese/Asian animation and culture to the public. Started in 2001 by a local anime club, Ai-Kon took a reorganizing hiatus in 2002, returning in 2003 to become an autonomous event, run by an independent volunteer committee. "Ai" means "love" in Japanese, hence Ai-Kon's slogan "For the Love of Anime".

Press Release for August 13th, 2010

BOOM! STUDIOS GUESTS INCLUDE:

Eisner Award-Nominated THE MUPPET SHOW COMIC BOOK's Roger LangridgeTHE INCREDIBLES' Marcio Takara
WALL-E's J. Torres

SCHEDULED SIGNINGS & PANELS

Saturday, May 8, 2010 – Tables # 170 & 171
10:00 – 11:00am – J. Torres Signing at BOOM! Tables
10:00am – 12:50pm – Roger Langridge signing at BOOM! Tables
1:00 – 2:00pm – Roger Langridge Spotlight Panel with Tom Spurgeon
3:00 – 4:00pm – Marcio Takara signing at BOOM! Tables
3:00 – 5:00pm – Roger Langridge signing at BOOM! Tables

Sunday, May 9, 2010 – Tables # 170 & 171
11:00am – 1:00pm – Roger Langridge signing at BOOM! Tables
1:00 – 2:00pm – J. Torres Signing at BOOM! Tables
2:00 – 5:00pm – Roger Langridge signing at BOOM! Tables

The 2010 BOOM! Studios' LIGHT THE FUSE convention tour continues at The Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2010. Here are the full tour dates:

BOOM! STUDIOS
LIGHT THE FUSE TOUR 2010
Keep an eye out for us, we might be coming to a town near you!

May 22 - Summit City Comic Con - Fort Wayne, IN
May 25-27 - Book Expo America - New York, New York
June 4-6 - HeroesCon - Charlotte, North Carolina
June 25-28 - ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition - Washington DC
July 21-25 - Comic-Con International - San Diego, California
August 27-29 - Fan Expo Canada - Toronto,Canada
August 28-29 - Baltimore Comic-Con - Baltimore, MD
October 8-10 - New York Comic Con - New York, New York
October 29-31 - Long Beach Comic Con - L.A., California

Press Release for May 4th, 2010

Ai-Kon is pleased to announce it's final round of guests, Kirby Morrow and Christopher Ayres!

Kirby Morrow is active as a producer, director, and screen actor. He is also quite busy in the voice-over industry. Some of the anime projects that Kirby has worked on include: Inuyasha, Hamtaro, Alienators: Evolution Continues, X-Men: Evolution, NASCAR Racers, Mobile Suit Gundam, Dragonball Z, Vision of Escaflowne, Gundam Wing, and Ranma 1/2.

Kirby trained in theater and developed his vocal skills on the stand-up comedy stages around the world. He began voicing characters in 1997, amidst his flourishing acting career. Kirby is also an award-winning writer and enjoys directing.

Christopher Ayres has been working professionally in theatre, television and film since the age of 6. His work has been seen Regionally, Nationally and on Broadway. He currently works as a voice actor for ADV FILMS and FUNimation ENTERTAINMENT Chris is also an A.D. R. Director for ADV FILMS and AMUSEMENT PARK MEDIA. Most recently he served as director at Amusement Park Media for MERMAID MELODY PITCHI PITCHI PITCH.Some of his roles as a voice actor are Kei Kourono in Gantz, Hayashimizu in Full Metal Panic? and Woogy in Michel. His voice can also be heard in Elfin Lied, Claymore, Ouran High School Host Club, Cannon, Gravion Zwie, Desert Punk, and as Wagram in the new Square Enix Game THE LAST REMNANT. And most recently in HALO: LEGENDS. Chris is also one of the Anime industry voice actors who sings on Voices for Peace. He is very proud to be a part of the "Voices For..." organization.

ABOUT AI-KON: Ai-Kon (http://www.ai-kon.org) is Manitoba's largest anime convention. An all-ages event, the goal of Ai-Kon is the promotion of Japanese/Asian animation and culture to the public. Started in 2001 by a local anime club, Ai-Kon took a reorganizing hiatus in 2002. It returned in 2003 to become an autonomous event, run by an independent volunteer committee. "Ai" means "love" in Japanese, hence Ai-Kon's slogan "For the Love of Anime".

Press Release for April 29th, 2010

RAS Management (Div. of The Pinehurst Management Group Ltd.) has Announced that the CAN AM Comics and Anime Expo, scheduled for March 12-14, 2010 at the Skylon Tower Niagara Falls, Ontario has been postponed for approximately six months.

Lack of exhibitors willing to commit to the event in a timely fashion wascited as the main reason for the action.  " Without knowing that we have an exhibitor base in place, it is not possible to do a proper job of  marketing and promoting the event.  We need to commit to media plans for things like television and radio as well as other venues to ensure that the show would be successful for the participants.  There was a good deal of interest in the event, in fact the shows website has had over 110,000 hits already. The response from University Anime clubs to the Forum Contest was non existent." said show organizer Bob Sinclair, "but once we opened it up to individual presenters interest in the $1,000 first prize began to build."

"Our change of topics from anime to comics and anime resulted in us having a nearly conflicting date with not just one Anime show but a very prestigious comic book event as well made the organization harder not just for the the organizers, but for all the exhibitors as well. We will find a new date that is more suitable and try and have our sales kits out in the street within the next two or three weeks," promises Sinclair.

Toronto ComiCON, a comic book convention, will be held on November 22, 2009 in Toronto, ON, Canada.