Setsucon

Setsucon
StatusActive
GenreAnime, Manga, Japanese culture[1][2]
VenueBlair County Convention Center
Location(s)Altoona, Pennsylvania
CountryUnited States
Inaugurated2007[3]
Attendance2,038 in 2023[4]
Organized byPenn State Anime Organization (PSAO)[2][5]
Websitehttp://www.setsucon.com/

Setsucon is an annual three day anime convention held during January/February at the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania.[3] The convention's name comes from the Japanese word setsu, meaning "snow". It is organized by the Penn State Anime Organization (PSAO).[2][5] The convention is family-friendly.[6]

Programming

The convention typically offers an anime music video contest, anime showings, artist alley, card-game tournaments, dance, dealer's room, Iron Cosplay, Itasha car show, manga library, masquerade, musical events, panels, tabletop gaming, video gaming, and workshops.[1][5][6][7][8] The 2008 host auction raised $1,200 and was donated to the United Way. Todd Haberkorn participated in the 2013 host auction, raising $510 for charity.[9] The host auction in 2014 raised nearly $500 for Child's Play.[10][11] Richard Epcar and Stephanie Sheh participated in the 2015 host auction, along with several cosplayers, raising $800 for Child's Play.[12] Setsucon in 2018 had over 130 hours of convention programming.[2] The 2022 charity video game tournaments benefited the National Alliance on Mental Illness.[13] Charities the convention supported in 2023 were the Colon Cancer Coalition and Jared Box.[8]

History

Due to financial issues, the convention's first year in 2007 was reduced from three days to one day.[14] In 2008, the convention expanded to two days due to additional funding.[5] In 2010 on Saturday, Setsucon reached its venues capacity limit of 900 people before noon.[15] The artists' alley and dealers' room were expanded in 2014.[1] The dance was shut down early in 2015 because of complaints including poor behavior.[12] In 2017, the convention showed never before seen clips from anime licensor Pied Piper, Inc. of the dub for Skip Beat!.[16] In 2018, the convention moved to the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania.[2]

Setsucon due to the COVID-19 pandemic was scheduled to move to April for 2021, and would also have Friday programming.[17][18][19] Instead, Setsucon held a virtual event in April, and in 2022 returned to January with a three day event.[18][19][20] The 2022 convention had COVID-19 protocols including masking and vaccination/testing requirements.[13]

Event History

Dates Location Atten. Guests
January 27, 2007 Days Inn State College
State College, Pennsylvania		288[21]
January 26-27, 2008 Days Inn State College
State College, Pennsylvania		D-Chan, Kyle Hebert, Dave Lister, and Chris "Kilika" Malone.[22]
January 17-18, 2009 Days Inn State College
State College, Pennsylvania		About 600[7]Robert Axelrod, Dave Lister, Chris "Kilika" Malone, Yuko "Aido" Ota, Ananth Panagariya, and This Place is Haunted.[23]
January 16-17, 2010 Days Inn State College
State College, Pennsylvania		M. Alice LeGrow, Chris "Kilika" Malone, and Vic Mignogna.[24]
January 29-30, 2011 Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel
State College, Pennsylvania		Todd Haberkorn and Chris "Kilika" Malone.[25]
January 28-29, 2012 Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel
State College, Pennsylvania		Antipode, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Kyle Hebert, Uncle Yo, and Greg Wicker.[26]
January 26-27, 2013 Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel
State College, Pennsylvania		1,300[1]Antipode, Martin Billany, Todd Haberkorn, Cherami Leigh, Dave Lister, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing.[27]
January 25-26, 2014 Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel
State College, Pennsylvania		Nearly
1,500[28]		Antipode, Leah Clark, Richard Epcar, Todd Haberkorn, Kambrea Pratt, Thom Pratt, Ellyn Stern, Alexis Tipton, Uncle Yo, Greg Wicker, and DJ Zing.[29]
January 24-25, 2015 Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel
State College, Pennsylvania		1,200[12]Antipode, Richard Epcar, Rusty Gilligan, Stephanie Sheh, Ellyn Stern, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing.[30]
January 30-31, 2016 Toftrees Golf Resort & Conference Center
State College, Pennsylvania		Antipode, Chris Bevins, Natalie Hoover, Rachel Robinson, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing.[31]
January 21-22, 2017 Toftrees Golf Resort & Conference Center
State College, Pennsylvania		Antipode, Kira Buckland, DJ-R, Ralph "Ralfington" Edward, Erica Lindbeck, Keith Silverstein, and Uncle Yo.[32]
January 27-28, 2018 Blair County Convention Center
Altoona, Pennsylvania		Antipode, Leah Clark, Amber Lee Connors, Daman Mills, Micah Solusod, Lex Winter, and DJ Zing.[33]
January 26-27, 2019 Blair County Convention Center
Altoona, Pennsylvania		Antipode, Brianna Knickerbocker, E. Jason Liebrecht, Elizabeth Maxwell, and Lex Winter.[34]
January 25-26, 2020 Blair County Convention Center
Altoona, Pennsylvania		Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Kohei Hattori, Billy Kametz, Faye Mata, TiA, and Lex Winter.[35]
April 10-11, 2021 Online conventionAntipode, Awesomus Prime, Heroes 4 Hire, Sarah Natochenny, and Lindsay Seidel.[19]
January 28-30, 2022 Blair County Convention Center
Altoona, Pennsylvania		Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Heroes 4 Hire, Brittany Lauda, n00neimp0rtant, Otaku Ongaku, Matt Shipman, ThaGataNegrra, and Lex Winter.[36]
January 13-15, 2023 Blair County Convention Center
Altoona, Pennsylvania		2,038[4]Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Aaron Dismuke, Kohei Hattori, Heroes 4 Hire, Sarah Wiedenheft, Lex Winter,[4] and Fake Idol Project.[8]
February 2-4, 2024 Blair County Convention Center
Altoona, Pennsylvania		Antipode, Chris Hackney, Heroes 4 Hire, ThaGataNegrra, Lex Winter, and Anne Yatco.[37]
January 31 - February 2, 2025 Blair County Convention Center
Altoona, Pennsylvania		Antipode, SungWon Cho, and Lex Winter.[38]

Associations

Setsucon is a member of the International Otaku Expo Association (I.O.E.A).[39]

Setsucon has sponsored a Costume Contest at Schlow Centre Region Library's BookFestPA event, run during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.[40]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Klose, Jason (January 24, 2014). "Setsucon opens doors to fans of anime". Center Daily Times. Archived from the original on January 27, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e Hicks, Cherie (January 19, 2018). "Celebrating anime culture: Convention outgrows State College and moves to Altoona this year". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  3. ^ a b Cowan, Laramie (26 January 2019). "Annual anime convention returns to Blair County". WJAC. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "Setsucon 2023 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d Burnham, Caitlin (January 28, 2008). "Fans tap into animated identities". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  6. ^ a b Drumm, Amanda (January 17, 2020). "Anime abounds". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  7. ^ a b Bickel, Chris (January 15, 2010). "Anime convention visits State College". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  8. ^ a b c Keith, Cati (January 14, 2023). "Anime-zing weekend: Setsucon convention brings revenue, fun". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  9. ^ Beatty, Lily (January 28, 2013). "Anime lovers unite at convention at Penn Stater". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  10. ^ Faraji, YaaAsantewaa (January 29, 2014). "Penn State-made Anime Convention 'Setsucon' grows in size". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  11. ^ Aamesh, Waiss David (January 23, 2015). "Anime, cosplayers on display this weekend at the ninth Setsucon convention". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  12. ^ a b c Aamesh, Waiss David (January 26, 2015). "More than 1,200 turn out for Setsucon at Penn State". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  13. ^ a b Pollock, Hannah (January 29, 2022). "Anime paradise: Setsucon returns to Blair County Convention Center". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Setsucon changes to a one-day event". AnimeCons.com. November 12, 2006. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  15. ^ Bickel, Chris (January 19, 2010). "PSAO anime event draws large crowds" (PDF). The Daily Collegian. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  16. ^ Ferreira, Samantha (February 26, 2017). "Pied Piper Releases Three New Skip Beat Dub Teasers Delays Release To June". Anime Herald. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  17. ^ "Setsucon 2021 - Celebrating Anime in Altoona This April". Anime News Network. September 24, 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  18. ^ a b Hazra, Adriana (January 24, 2021). "Setsucon Cancels In-person Event, Switches to Virtual Event in April". Anime News Network. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  19. ^ a b c "Setsucon 2021 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  20. ^ Davidson, Danica (9 April 2021). "Setsucon Is Going Virtual This Weekend -- And It's Free!". Otaku USA Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  21. ^ "Setsucon 2007 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  22. ^ "Setsucon 2008 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  23. ^ "Setsucon 2009 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  24. ^ "Setsucon 2010 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  25. ^ "Setsucon 2011 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  26. ^ "Setsucon 2012 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  27. ^ "Setsucon 2013 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  28. ^ Hansberry, Cate (January 26, 2014). "Anime fans gather at Penn Stater for Setsucon". Center Daily Times. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  29. ^ "Setsucon 2014 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  30. ^ "Setsucon 2015 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  31. ^ "Setsucon 2016 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  32. ^ "Setsucon 2017 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  33. ^ "Setsucon 2018 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  34. ^ "Setsucon 2019 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  35. ^ "Setsucon 2020 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  36. ^ "Setsucon 2022 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  37. ^ "Setsucon 2024 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  38. ^ "Setsucon 2025 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved December 20, 2024.
  39. ^ "Member Expo List". International Otaku Expo Association. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  40. ^ "Setsucon Teams Up with Schlow Library for the 2021 BookFestPA Costume Contest". Anime News Network. June 22, 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.

40°27′25″N 78°24′3″W / 40.45694°N 78.40083°W / 40.45694; -78.40083