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Otakon is a fan convention focusing on the art of anime and manga, East Asian culture, and its fandom. The name is derived from the Japanese word otaku, which roughly means fanboy. Otakon is traditionally held some Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during the month of August at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland's Inner Harbor district. Run by the Pennsylvania-based Otakorp, Inc., Otakon is one of the largest and longest-running Japanese animation conventions in the United States.
Typical Otakon programming includes:
Thousands of people attend Otakon each year. Attendees arriving in the morning on Friday or Saturday should expect to wait hours in line to pick up their registration badges. Attendees can arrive on Thursday to pick up their registration badges so they can gain instant access to all the convention events on Friday.
Otakorp maintains relationships with many hotels in the Inner Harbor area, allowing attendees to reserve a certain number of rooms at a discounted rate. These specially reserved rooms are usually booked well in advance of the convention date.
Otakon started in 1994 at the Day's Inn hotel located at State College, Pennsylvania with 350 attendees, 4 dealers, 9 American guests, and 16 staff members.
In 1995, Otakon moved to the Scanticon hotel in State College, Pennsylvania and hosted 450 attendees (a 29% increase from 1994), 25 staff members, 15 dealers, 2 Japanese guests, and 14 American guests. It was Otakon's first and only four-day convention. This was the first year to have an live-action video track and the first year to feature live-action role-playing.
In 1996, Otakon moved to the Hunt Valley Marriott hotel in Hunt Valley, Maryland and hosted 1,000 attendees (a 122% increase from 1995), 35 staff members, 20 dealers, 1 Japanese guest, and 9 American guests. There was a impromptu rave at Otakon '96. One staffer developed and released a custom DOOM level based on the layout of the hotel.
In 1997 Otakon remained in the Hunt Valley Marriott hotel in Hunt Valley, Maryland and hosted 1,750 attendees (a 75% increase from 1996), 45 staff members, 22 dealers, 3 Japanese guests, and 15 American guests. It was the first year for Otakon's popular event "Mystery Anime Theater 3000" (based on Mystery Science Theater 3000). The "www.otakon.com" domain was offially registered, and the impromptu rave of Otakon '96 became an official event.
In 1998 Otakon moved to the Hyatt Regency hotel in Arlington, Virginia and hosted 2,500 attendees (a 43% increase from 1997), 60 staff members, 25 dealers, 2 Japanese guests, and 22 American guests. This was the 5th Otakon held. Otakon 1998 was the last Otakon convention to be held in a hotel and this Otakon had female characters on every membership badge given out to Otakon '98 attendees.
In 1999 Otakon moved to the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland, which would remain its official venue for the next 5 years. Otakon '99 hosted 4,500 attendees (an 80% increase from 1998), 80 staff members, 30 dealers, 5 Japanese guests, and 22 American guests. Otakon's tradition of inviting musical guests began this year with composer Yoko Kanno.
In 2000 Otakon remained in the Baltimore Convention Center and hosted 7,500 attendees (a 67% increase from 1999), 114 staff members, 45 dealers, 6 Japanese guests, 20 American guests, 6 British guests, and 1 guest from Hong Kong. Otakon '00 was host to the British indie band Bôa.
In 2001 Otakon remained in the Baltimore Convention Center and hosted 10,275 attendees (a 37% increase from 2000), 180 staff members, 65 dealers, 4 Japanese guests, and 14 American guests. This was the first Otakon to have the "Otachan" event, a children's programming track. One memorable event of Otakon '01 was the late-night, early-morning "explosions" along Pratt Street due to the July train fire that occurred just weeks before Otakon '01. The BCC was evacuated, and all of the Otakon attendees poured out onto Pratt Street. Fire hydrants were opened, and Pratt Street and adjoining streets became like a river. Many of the evacuated attendees took a break from the con to play in the gushing streams of water. Pictures of Pratt Street when it was flooded and attendees were playing in the water are available on the internet.
In 2002 Otakon remained in the Baltimore Convention Center and hosted 12,880 attendees (a 25% increase from 2001) and 6 Japanese guests, employed a staff of 285 (mostly volunteers), and attracted over 130 vendors from all over the world. This was the first year that Otakon occupied the entire Baltimore Convention Center, which is over one million square feet (over 100,000 square meters) in size.
For its tenth convention in 2003 Otakon remained in the Baltimore Convention Center and hosted an estimated 17,000+ attendees. Major musical guests for 2003 were Kristine Sa and Takanori Nishikawa, also known as T.M. Revolution, a popular musical performer in the anime and J-Pop world.
2003 marked the last year of the popular fan event "Mystery Anime Theater 3000".
New at Otakon 2003 was Thursday Night Pre-Registration pickup, where the Convention Center was open the Thursday night before the convention so those who had pre-registered could pick up their badges in advance. An estimated 2,000+ did so.
In 2003, Otakon officially became the largest anime convention in North America. Its official attendance count was 17,338, a 35% growth from 2002. The previous largest anime convention, Anime Expo, had 17,000 attendees in 2003 .
In 2004 Otakon remained in the Baltimore Convention Center and hosted an estimated 20,000 attendees. Thursday Night Pre-registration pickup was again widely attended.
The Baltimore Area Convention & Visitors Association gave Otakon 2004 the status of a "citywide event".
New events at Otakon 2004 included a collectible card game tournament and a "manga library" in which attendees could read donated copies of various manga. A convention-produced manga magazine, featuring original manga by U.S. artists, also made its first appearance this year.
Japanese rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel made their first U.S. appearance as Otakon 2004's musical guest. The concert was held in a separate venue, the nearby 1st Mariner Arena. The concert drew an estimated 12,000.
Otakorp, Inc. expects to announce dates and hotels for Otakon 2005 soon. It is expected that the Baltimore Convention Center will remain the official venue.
In light of Otakon's consistent growth and the continuing popularity of anime in North America, it seems likely that Otakon conventions will contuinue to be held for the foreseeable future. The Baltimore Convention Center is likely to remain the venue for Otakon in future years, partly because alternative venues of sufficient size are few in number.
The possibility of once again holding a four-day convention, as in 1995, has been considered. With several years of experience and an established fan base, Otakorp is theoretically in a better position than ever to hold a longer convention. However, staff opinion is generally against such a plan. Most staffers are volunteers and already have to take a significant amount of time off from their jobs to set things up for and clean up after the convention. Thus a four-day convention seems unlikely in the near future.
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