Setsucon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Setsucon
Status	Active
Genre	Anime, Manga, Japanese culture
Venue	Blair County Convention Center
Location	Altoona, Pennsylvania
Country	United States
First held	2007
Organizer	Penn State Anime Organization (PSAO)
Attendance	Nearly 1,500 in 2014
Official website	http://www.setsucon.com/

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

Programming

The convention typically offers anime showings, artist alley, card-game tournaments, dance, dealer's room, Iron Cosplay, manga library, masquerade, panels, tabletop gaming, video gaming and workshops. 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. The host auction in 2014 raised nearly $500 for Child's Play. Richard Epcar and Stephanie Sheh participated in the 2015 host auction, along with several cosplayers, raising $800 for Child's Play. Setsucon in 2018 had over 130 hours of convention programming.

History

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

Setsucon due to the COVID-19 pandemic was scheduled to move to April for 2021, and would also have Friday programming. Instead, they will hold a virtual event in April, and in 2022 return to January with a three day event.

Event History

Dates	Location	Atten.	Guests
January 27, 2007	Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania	288
January 26-27, 2008	Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania		D-Chan, Kyle Hebert, Dave Lister, and Chris "Kilika" Malone.
January 17-18, 2009	Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania	About 600	Robert Axelrod, Dave Lister, Chris "Kilika" Malone, Yuko "Aido" Ota, Ananth Panagariya, and This Place is Haunted.
January 16-17, 2010	Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania		M. Alice LeGrow, Chris "Kilika" Malone, and Vic Mignogna.
January 29-30, 2011	Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania		Todd Haberkorn and Chris "Kilika" Malone.
January 28-29, 2012	Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania		Antipode, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Kyle Hebert, Uncle Yo, and Greg Wicker.
January 26-27, 2013	Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania	1,300	Antipode, Martin Billany, Todd Haberkorn, Cherami Leigh, Dave Lister, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing.
January 25-26, 2014	Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania	Nearly 1,500	Antipode, Leah Clark, Richard Epcar, Todd Haberkorn, Kambrea Pratt, Thom Pratt, Ellyn Stern, Alexis Tipton, Uncle Yo, Greg Wicker, and DJ Zing.
January 24-25, 2015	Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania	1,200	Antipode, Richard Epcar, Rusty Gilligan, Stephanie Sheh, Ellyn Stern, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing.
January 30-31, 2016	Toftrees Golf Resort & Conference Center State College, Pennsylvania		Antipode, Chris Bevins, Natalie Hoover, Rachel Robinson, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing.
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.
January 27-28, 2018	Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania		Antipode, Leah Clark, Amber Lee Connors, Charles Dunbar, Daman Mills, Micah Solusod, and DJ Zing.
January 26-27, 2019	Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania		Antipode, Charles Dunbar, Brianna Knickerbocker, E. Jason Liebrecht, and Elizabeth Maxwell.
January 25-26, 2020	Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania		Antipode, DJ Awesomus Prime, Charles Dunbar, Kohei Hattori, Billy Kametz, Faye Mata, and TiA.
April 10-11, 2021	Replaced with a virtual-only event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
January 28-30, 2022	Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania

Associations

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