SaikouCon 2018 Welcomes Anime Anthropologist & Lecturer Charles Dunbar as Guest of Honor
Convention also reminds time is almost up for their Power Rangers 25th Anniversary Prize Pack Raffle
5/29/18 Allentown, PA – SaikouCon, which means "best convention", is the large scale, annual anime convention of the Lehigh Valley. Boasting a dedicated staff of longtime Japanese anime and manga fans, SaikouCon is excited to be the only large scale annual convention dedicated exclusively to anime, manga, and Japanese culture and pop culture in this area of Pennsylvania. The convention grew out of web magazine Anime Ate My Brain Magazine (relaunching in 2019); the sibling to music focused web magazine, Tastes Like Rock Magazine. Both journalistic endeavors fall under the publishing wing of Nerdy Rock 'n Roller Productions.
The convention will always 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. SaikouCon promises to remain an all inclusive event where all are welcome to enjoy the fun, friendship, and saftey the con has offered in the past. As always, Cosplay =/= Consent is a very important issue to the staff of SaikouCon, and the same rules and regulations that made SaikouCon Years 1-5 safe havens for cosplayers will be enforced just as strictly at SaikouCon 2018.
SaikouCon's final Guest of Honor for SaikouCon 2018 is Charles Dunbar! Charles is an anime anthropologist and lecturer that has appeared and spoken extensively throughout the con scene. Finally after years of not being able to make schedules sync, Charles is finally coming to SaikouCon! Please welcome him to the SaikouCon family! Charles will be presenting several panels over the course of SaikouCon this year, with a plenthora of subject matter, there will be something for everyone! Charles is graduate of Hunter College, CUNY, where he received a BA in Religion and Anthropology and an MA in Cultural Anthropology. His thesis, Pilgrimage, Pageantry and Fan Communities was published in 2011 and focused on anime convention participation, including spending habits, cosplay, demographics, communal behaviour and convention culture.
Also a reminder that SaikouCon's Power Rangers 25th Anniversary Raffle closes at midnight on May 31 (Eastern Standard Time), to enter the raffle all you have to do is purchase a 3 Day General Admission Badge or 3 Day VIP Badge to SaikouCon 2018! With purchase you are automatically entered into the con's Power Rangers 25th Anniversary Raffle! The winner, who will be picked by blind drawing live at the Opening Ceremonies of SaikouCon 2018 on Friday July 27 at 1 PM, will receive a prize basket of Power Rangers prizes valued at $200 altogether! Prizes will include Power Rangers Turbo Volume 1 DVD Set, Power Rangers Turbo Volume 2, Power Rangers In Space Volume 1 DVD Set, Power Rangers In Space Volume 2 DVD Set (2018 marks the 20th Anniversay of Power Rangers in Space!), and Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Complete Series DVD Set, a first printing copy of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #26 from Boom! Studios (sold out at the publisher level) signed by SaikouCon 2018 Guest of Honor Erin Cahill, aka Jen Scotts the Time Force Pink Ranger from Power Rangers Time Force, Funko Pops, MegaConstrux Power Rangers Blind Bag Figures (recently discontinued by MegaConstrux) and more!! This raffle is only open to those that pre-register to attend SaikouCon 2018 during the above stated time period, winner must be present at SaikouCon's Opening Ceremonies to claim their prize basket, celebrate 25 Morphinominal Years of the Power Rangers by pre-registering for SaikouCon 2018 and take your shot at winning this awesome prize pack! Good luck!! Visit www.saikoucon.com/registration.html to pre-register!
SaikouCon 2018's Guest List:
Guests of Honor:
Christina Marie Kelly - Voice, Film, & Stage Actress (Akame ga KILL!, Food Wars!, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?)
Gigi Edgley - Film, TV, & Stage Actress (Farscape, Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge, Enuatti, Nexus, Star Trek Continues)
Erin Cahill - Film & TV Actress (Power Rangers Time Force, Supernatural, How I Met Your Mother, Resident Evil: Vendetta, Call of Duty Black Ops II)
Charles Dunbar - Anime Anthropologist, Scholar, Lecturer, Pubished Author
Featured Guests:
Koralene Cosplay
Foxxy Cosplay
Dolly Love Cosplay
AE86 Toyota Corolla from Initial D
Musical Guests:
The Adarna
TiA
Kohei Hattori
DJ Awesomus_Prime
REAKT
The Wanderland Tour feat. Gigi Edgley & Jake Edgley
DJ OZNO
Special Guests:
Bfarve Cosplay
8BITAmbitions Cosplay
To Pre-Register for SaikouCon 2018 badges visit www.saikoucon.com/registration.html and make sure to note the returning designations for Teen and Adult badges to attend the convention, the designations do away with the need for parental consent forms for SaikouCon guests age 13-17, attendees 12 and under receive free admission but MUST be accompanied by a SaikouCon Badge Holding Attendee chaperone age 18 or older at all times! SaikouCon is family friendly, but is not designed for young children under 12 to fly solo. Pre-registration closes July 20, 2017 at midnight (the midnight going into Saturday July 21 not 12:01 AM on July 20 to clarify), there will be no extensions this year, so get the pre-reg savings while you can! There will also be no price jumps during the pre-registration period this year! Full registration details at the link provided above, please review before registering to attend SaikouCon 2018. VIP Registration is only available during the Pre-Registration period in advance of the convention once more this year, VIP Registration closes on June 23, 2018 at 12 AM.
The Econo Lodge Conference Center is located at 1151 Bulldog Drive, Allentown, PA 18104. The Econo Lodge Conference Center offers several on-site amenities to SaikouCon attendees; the 904 West Restaurant for breakfast/lunch/dinner, the 904 West Lounge for adult beverages and non-con nightlife, free WiFi, outdoor swimming pool for attendees that book rooms with the Econo Lodge, ambiance for photoshoots, 200+ sleeping rooms in total, and very friendly staff!
Rooms in the convention's block of rooms at the Econo Lodge Conference Center, may be booked by calling (610) 395-3731, and requesting a room in the SaikouCon Room Block; there will be no booking link on their website just for SaikouCon as in years past, Econo Lodge's website is controlled by the master franchise and they are unable to set up specials for individual locations. Booking through their website will not place you in our block of rooms and may result in higher room rates than our Block's $99 plus tax per night for two occupants. Rooms with three or more people will be an extra $10 per person over the initial two occupants (i.e. three person rooms will be $109 per night plus tax, four person rooms will be $119 plus tax per night etc.).
To get the latest up-to-the-minute news follow SaikouCon on http://www.saikoucon.com, http://facebook.com/SaikouCon, http://twitter.com/SaikouCon, http://instagram.com/officialsaikoucon, http://saikoucon.tumblr.com, and SaikouCon's listing on animecons.com: http://animecons.com/events/info.shtml/9619/SaikouCon_2018
5/29/18 Allentown, PA – SaikouCon, which means "best convention", is the large scale, annual anime convention of the Lehigh Valley. Boasting a dedicated staff of longtime Japanese anime and manga fans, SaikouCon is excited to be the only large scale annual convention dedicated exclusively to anime, manga, and Japanese culture and pop culture in this area of Pennsylvania. The convention grew out of web magazine Anime Ate My Brain Magazine (relaunching in 2019); the sibling to music focused web magazine, Tastes Like Rock Magazine. Both journalistic endeavors fall under the publishing wing of Nerdy Rock 'n Roller Productions.
The convention will always 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. SaikouCon promises to remain an all inclusive event where all are welcome to enjoy the fun, friendship, and saftey the con has offered in the past. As always, Cosplay =/= Consent is a very important issue to the staff of SaikouCon, and the same rules and regulations that made SaikouCon Years 1-5 safe havens for cosplayers will be enforced just as strictly at SaikouCon 2018.
SaikouCon's final Guest of Honor for SaikouCon 2018 is Charles Dunbar! Charles is an anime anthropologist and lecturer that has appeared and spoken extensively throughout the con scene. Finally after years of not being able to make schedules sync, Charles is finally coming to SaikouCon! Please welcome him to the SaikouCon family! Charles will be presenting several panels over the course of SaikouCon this year, with a plenthora of subject matter, there will be something for everyone! Charles is graduate of Hunter College, CUNY, where he received a BA in Religion and Anthropology and an MA in Cultural Anthropology. His thesis, Pilgrimage, Pageantry and Fan Communities was published in 2011 and focused on anime convention participation, including spending habits, cosplay, demographics, communal behaviour and convention culture.
Also a reminder that SaikouCon's Power Rangers 25th Anniversary Raffle closes at midnight on May 31 (Eastern Standard Time), to enter the raffle all you have to do is purchase a 3 Day General Admission Badge or 3 Day VIP Badge to SaikouCon 2018! With purchase you are automatically entered into the con's Power Rangers 25th Anniversary Raffle! The winner, who will be picked by blind drawing live at the Opening Ceremonies of SaikouCon 2018 on Friday July 27 at 1 PM, will receive a prize basket of Power Rangers prizes valued at $200 altogether! Prizes will include Power Rangers Turbo Volume 1 DVD Set, Power Rangers Turbo Volume 2, Power Rangers In Space Volume 1 DVD Set, Power Rangers In Space Volume 2 DVD Set (2018 marks the 20th Anniversay of Power Rangers in Space!), and Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Complete Series DVD Set, a first printing copy of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #26 from Boom! Studios (sold out at the publisher level) signed by SaikouCon 2018 Guest of Honor Erin Cahill, aka Jen Scotts the Time Force Pink Ranger from Power Rangers Time Force, Funko Pops, MegaConstrux Power Rangers Blind Bag Figures (recently discontinued by MegaConstrux) and more!! This raffle is only open to those that pre-register to attend SaikouCon 2018 during the above stated time period, winner must be present at SaikouCon's Opening Ceremonies to claim their prize basket, celebrate 25 Morphinominal Years of the Power Rangers by pre-registering for SaikouCon 2018 and take your shot at winning this awesome prize pack! Good luck!! Visit www.saikoucon.com/registration.html to pre-register!
SaikouCon 2018's Guest List:
Guests of Honor:
Christina Marie Kelly - Voice, Film, & Stage Actress (Akame ga KILL!, Food Wars!, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?)
Gigi Edgley - Film, TV, & Stage Actress (Farscape, Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge, Enuatti, Nexus, Star Trek Continues)
Erin Cahill - Film & TV Actress (Power Rangers Time Force, Supernatural, How I Met Your Mother, Resident Evil: Vendetta, Call of Duty Black Ops II)
Charles Dunbar - Anime Anthropologist, Scholar, Lecturer, Pubished Author
Featured Guests:
Koralene Cosplay
Foxxy Cosplay
Dolly Love Cosplay
AE86 Toyota Corolla from Initial D
Musical Guests:
The Adarna
TiA
Kohei Hattori
DJ Awesomus_Prime
REAKT
The Wanderland Tour feat. Gigi Edgley & Jake Edgley
DJ OZNO
Special Guests:
Bfarve Cosplay
8BITAmbitions Cosplay
To Pre-Register for SaikouCon 2018 badges visit www.saikoucon.com/registration.html and make sure to note the returning designations for Teen and Adult badges to attend the convention, the designations do away with the need for parental consent forms for SaikouCon guests age 13-17, attendees 12 and under receive free admission but MUST be accompanied by a SaikouCon Badge Holding Attendee chaperone age 18 or older at all times! SaikouCon is family friendly, but is not designed for young children under 12 to fly solo. Pre-registration closes July 20, 2017 at midnight (the midnight going into Saturday July 21 not 12:01 AM on July 20 to clarify), there will be no extensions this year, so get the pre-reg savings while you can! There will also be no price jumps during the pre-registration period this year! Full registration details at the link provided above, please review before registering to attend SaikouCon 2018. VIP Registration is only available during the Pre-Registration period in advance of the convention once more this year, VIP Registration closes on June 23, 2018 at 12 AM.
The Econo Lodge Conference Center is located at 1151 Bulldog Drive, Allentown, PA 18104. The Econo Lodge Conference Center offers several on-site amenities to SaikouCon attendees; the 904 West Restaurant for breakfast/lunch/dinner, the 904 West Lounge for adult beverages and non-con nightlife, free WiFi, outdoor swimming pool for attendees that book rooms with the Econo Lodge, ambiance for photoshoots, 200+ sleeping rooms in total, and very friendly staff!
Rooms in the convention's block of rooms at the Econo Lodge Conference Center, may be booked by calling (610) 395-3731, and requesting a room in the SaikouCon Room Block; there will be no booking link on their website just for SaikouCon as in years past, Econo Lodge's website is controlled by the master franchise and they are unable to set up specials for individual locations. Booking through their website will not place you in our block of rooms and may result in higher room rates than our Block's $99 plus tax per night for two occupants. Rooms with three or more people will be an extra $10 per person over the initial two occupants (i.e. three person rooms will be $109 per night plus tax, four person rooms will be $119 plus tax per night etc.).
To get the latest up-to-the-minute news follow SaikouCon on http://www.saikoucon.com, http://facebook.com/SaikouCon, http://twitter.com/SaikouCon, http://instagram.com/officialsaikoucon, http://saikoucon.tumblr.com, and SaikouCon's listing on animecons.com: http://animecons.com/events/info.shtml/9619/SaikouCon_2018
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