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SaikouCon 2015 Is Not Cancelled

SaikouCon 2015 Is NOT Cancelled

Convention also announces DJ for first ever Saikou DJ Dance Party at SaikouCon 2015

6/19/15 Bethlehem, PA – SaikouCon, which means "best convention”, is the Lehigh Valley's first and only large scale, annual anime convention. Boasting a dedicated staff of longtime Japanese anime and manga fans, SaikouCon is excited to be the only annual convention dedicated exclusively to anime, manga, and Japanese culture and pop culture in this area of Northeast Pennsylvania. The convention grew out of the now defunct, but soon to be relaunched, webzine Anime Ate My Brain Magazine; the sibling webzine to Tastes Like Rock! Music Magazine. Both journalistic endeavors fall under the newly renamed Nerdy Rock 'n Roller Publishing, which will be growing in diversity in 2015.

The convention promises to remain very hands on and attendee friendly every year, while also maintaining a safe atmosphere for attendees to enjoy the convention to their carefree fullest. As always, Cosplay =/= Consent is a very important issue to the staff of SaikouCon, and the same rules and regulations that made SaikouCon 2013 and 2014 a safe haven for cosplayers will be enforced just as strictly at SaikouCon 2015. SaikouCon 2015 will feature many diverse and entertaining panels, workshops, activities, events, screenings, gaming tournaments, and much more!

It has been brought to the attention of SaikouCon's showrunner through social media that there is a rumor burning up message boards and threads, the rumor states that the 2015 show has been cancelled and/or is about to be cancelled. This is in no way, shape, or form true. SaikouCon has never canceled their show, even when the chips were down and their original venue for their first show in 2013 dropped the rental contract out from under the anime convention. Convention chairman and founder, Michael Meade believes this rumor began from several factors, but most prevalently from fellow anime convention based in New Jersey, ShinkouCon, having to cancel their show for 2015.
Meade released this statement on SaikouCon's Facebook page on June 18, 2015; “Time to squash a rumor, SaikouCon 2015 is NOT cancelled, is NOT being cancelled, we do NOT cancel. Period. Yes, our friends in New Jersey, ShinkouCon, did have to cancel their 2015 show and yes we have similar names at a glance but they are a different organization. We are friends, but we are not the same organization, their unfortunate cancellation does not affect our show beyond empathizing with our friends on the unfortunate turn of events for ShinkouCon 2015 and that we have one less promotional booth this year. So, please, friends, fans, attendees, Artists, Vendors; SaikouCon 2015 is happening. SaikouCon 2016 will be happening next year, and SaikouCon 2017 after that and so forth. SaikouCon is here to stay, get your badges at www.saikoucon.com/guest-registration.html.”

Rumors like this are a large factor in what can kill convention, especially when they are still establishing themselves. Please, don't read into rumors, check their websites and officially run social media profiles for all information about your favorite conventions, and more than that if you have concerns about something going on at or with your favorite conventions reach out to their public relations teams. Conventions don't happen without fans, fans have a voice in the community; they have to or the community is incomplete.

On a lighter note, SaikouCon is happy to announce that spinning at the convention's first ever DJ Dance Party on SaikouCon Friday will be DJ Teez from KJ Entertainment of the Lehigh Valley area. Past attendees of SaikouCon will remember Teez as the KJ in the Sam Adams Brewhouse on SaikouCon Friday in both 2013 and 2014, as well as the two Saikou Cosplay Nights also held at the Sam Adams Brewhouse inside the convention's previous venue, the Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center. DJ Teez will be spinning a diverse mix of rock, pop, EDM, JRock, and JPop at the all ages Dance Party! The Dance Party was implemented both by popular demand and so attendees under the age of 21 had something to party at while Featured Guests, Cosplay Burlesque, perform a 21+ burlesque show at the same time for SaikouCon's adult attendees. SaikouCon is happy to have DJ Teez join the SaikouCon family and hope that she is just as excited as the convention staff. For more about DJ Teez visit her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DJTeeztk.

SaikouCon 2015's list of Guests to date is as follows:

Guests of Honor:
RuffleButt Cosplay (Jessie Pridemore)
Leah Clark, Voice Actress
Danielle McRae, Voice Actress
Tia Ballard, Voice Actress

Featured Guests:
The Gamer's Edge Comics & Gaming
Sci-Fi Photo Guys
Cosplayer Hazel Dayze
Cosplay Burlesque

Musical Guests:
The Adarna
Mike P
Adam WarRock
Take Away The Ugly
DJ Teez

Special Guest:
Koralene Cosplay

For more information on all of SaikouCon's Guests, visit www.saikoucon.com/guests-of-honor.html.

To Pre-Register as a guest of SaikouCon 2015 visit www.saikoucon.com/guest-registration.html and make sure to note the new designations for Teen and Adult badges to attend the convention, the new designations do away with the need for parental consent forms for SaikouCon guests age 13-17, attendees 12 and under still need to be accompanied by a chaperone age 18 or older at all times, while family friendly, SaikouCon is largely PG-13 so tweens and little ones need accompaniment. To book a room for SaikouCon Weekend 2015, call the Best Western Lehigh Valley Hotel Conference Center, SaikouCon's new home located at 300 Gateway Drive, Bethlehem PA 18017, at 1-888-222-8512 or 1-610-866-5800 and request a room in the SaikouCon block of rooms for the discounted rate! The Best Western is offering SaikouCon attendees a block of 50 rooms available until July 25, 2015 or until the block is booked solid. There will be limited overflow rooms available for booking after the Best Western block is filled at the Hampton Inn right next door to the Best Western. Amenities from both hotels are open to attendees that book sleeping rooms at either hotel including the Best Western's outdoor pool and the Hampton Inn's indoor pool as well as gym facilities at both hotels.

The convention will always feature some of the best live entertainment themed to Japanese culture and pop culture, as well as the best in J-Rock, J-Pop, and nerd/geek culture musical acts from all over the US and beyond.

All of this plus top creators, writers, artists, distributors, industry insiders, English dub and original Japanese voice talent, some of the best cosplay talent, shows, masquerades; and so much more!

To get the latest up-to-the-minute updates follow SaikouCon on http://www.saikoucon.com, http://facebook.com/SaikouCon, http://twitter.com/SaikouCon, http://saikoucon.tumblr.com, and SaikouCon's listing on animecons.com: http://animecons.com/events/info.shtml/5461/SaikouCon_2015

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