Normal

Announcing FanimeCon 2022 Schedule, Hours, and More!

May 18, 2022

We’re super excited that the FanimeCon 2022 schedule is now live! Check out all our events for 2022 at grid.fanime.com

Due to the unique planning challenges this year, FanimeCon 2022 will not be a 24 hour event. We hope to return to our usual hours in 2023. Our modified hours are: 

  • Thursday May 26 (Day 0): 6:00 pm to 2:00 am
  • Friday May 27 (Day 1): 9:00 am to 2:00 am
  • Saturday May 28 (Day 2): 9:00 am to 2:00 am
  • Sunday May 29 (Day 3): 9:00 am to 2:00 am
  • Monday May 30 (Day 4): 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

Some events will not be in their usual rooms. A few events affected by this include Maid Cafe, all Panel Rooms, and Manga Lounge. 

The following events or departments are sleeping for 2022, meaning they are not occurring or putting on events. We’re looking forward to their return in 2023! 

  • Asano Taiko USA
  • Cosplay Chess
  • Cosplay Workshop panels
  • Fanime Music Videos (FMV) 
  • Fan Storage
  • Fan Events 
  • Video
  • Indie Video Games
  • Meet the Guests
  • MusicFest (But we still have a mini virtual MusicFest with Guest of Honor & 2.5D Musical Superstar Keisuke Ueda, who will be joining us for a virtual panel!)
  • Masquerade/Cosplay Contest
  • Silver Island 
  • Swap Meet
  • Speed Painting

Please note that these events will be operating under a limited capacity:

  • Info Desk (There is only one desk this year located in the SJCC near Stage Zero)
  • Cosplay Gathering (All gatherings will be outdoors)
  • Dance (Only one room this year in the SJCC Room 230)
  • Lost & Found (Limited hours, located in ConOps at the Hilton San Carlos)

Despite these changes, we are happy to unveil a brand new department operating this 2022: J-Fashion! They will have two fashion shows, a trunk show, and lots of panels and events so please check them out! 
While there are a lot of changes this year, there’s still a smorgasbord of things to see and do this year including: four panel tracks, all the events at Stage Zero, tons of exciting tournaments on our SAGE Stage, Artist Alley, Dealer’s Hall, Maid Cafe, the Black & White Ball, Karaoke, Speed Dating, our Charity Auction for the Make-A-Wish® Greater Bay Area, and so much more. This is the perfect year to try new things and make all kinds of new memories at FanimeCon 2022!

See you soon!

SmashGG Tournament Registration is Now Open!

May 02, 2022

The 2022 FanimeCon eGaming SmashGG page and the pre-con tournament registration is now live. Compete for a chance to win a part of the $3000 prize pot!

Registration is open until Sunday, May 15th, 2022 at 12:01 am for the following titles:

  • Guilty Gear -Strive-
  • The King of Fighters XV
  • Skullgirls: 2nd Encore
  • SoulCalibur VI
  • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Singles & Doubles)
  • Tekken 7

You can register for these events on this page: https://smash.gg/tournament/fanimecon-2022/

Missed out on pre-con registration? Do not worry! All leftover registration spots (and all other tournament titles not mentioned) will be offered in the Gaming Hall in Hall 3. Ask the eGaming Console Front Desk to sign-up!

Visit the eGaming page for more information on tournaments and events.

*FanimeCon 2022 badge is required to participate on-site.
**During finals on the Top Eight Gaming Stage, stage participants and staff will be required to use masks at all times, as per convention policies.

FanimeCon Partnering with CLEAR to Verify Vaccination Status Prior to Badge Pick Up

May 02, 2022

FanimeCon has partnered with CLEAR Health Pass to provide verification of your vaccination status in order to pick up your badge. Please complete your Health Pass before arriving at FanimeCon to avoid delays in picking up your badge at Registration! To get started, download the CLEAR app and enroll for free here:  https://clear.app.link/fanimecon

For the most efficient experience possible, all attendees ages 14 and up should sign up for CLEAR and complete their proof of COVID-19 vaccination, and any booster shots they are eligible for,  before arriving. For details on how to complete your CLEAR Health Pass please see the instructions below:

For attendees ages 18 and up

  1. Download the CLEAR app and tap the white Health Pass tile.
  2. Select ‘Events’ and scroll to locate FanimeCon.
  3. Easily enroll and verify your identity with a quick selfie.
  4. Follow the prompts to select your screening type. Complete your proof of vaccination and booster.
  5. Before you arrive, reopen the Health Pass tile and produce your pass. Be ready to show upon arrival.

Attendees ages 14 to 17 will need a parent or guardian to set up a CLEAR account for them. 

Parents/Guardians: 

  1. Download the CLEAR app on your mobile device. 
  2. Open the CLEAR app.
  3. Tap on the profile icon on the bottom right corner. 
  4. Under “My Account”, tap “Accounts for Minors.” 
  5. Follow the prompts to create a minor account.

Attendees: 

  1. Once the minor account is created, you can download the CLEAR app on your mobile device. 
  2. Log into the account created by your parent/guardian and finish setting up your account, including a selfie and proof of vaccination. 
  3. Under Events, tap on FanimeCon to get your health pass

Attendees 13 years of age and younger: 

You will need to bring your proof of vaccination to have your information manually verified before entering Registration to pick up your badge. 

Trust and transparency are our partner CLEAR’s top priority, and with Health Pass, users are always in control of their health information. You can read more details about this in CLEAR’s Privacy Policy here.

  If you have any questions about enrolling in CLEAR, please reach out to memberservices@clearme.com or tap “Get In Touch” in the app for assistance. 

Announcing FanimeCon 2022!

January 19, 2022

Hi everyone! We hope you are safe and doing well. With the start of the new year, we are sharing our plans for FanimeCon 2022. Our staff has been hard at work planning for this year’s FanimeCon, and we’d like to recognize and thank them for their efforts during these difficult years, as we are an entirely volunteer-run convention, by fans for fans. 

We are planning for FanimeCon 2022 to take place in person in Downtown San Jose on Memorial Day Weekend, May 27-30, 2022. We’ve gone through a lot of changes these past few years, and so your favorite con may be different this year. 

COVID-19 Policies

We are working hard to modify and update FanimeCon events to ensure the safety of our community attending the convention. At this time, we’d like to share the following COVID-19 policies for FanimeCon 2022. 

  • Everyone attending FanimeCon 2022 must be fully vaccinated prior to May 26, 2022. This means you will need the final vaccine dose 14 days prior to the convention, which is on or before May 12, 2022.
  • Masks will be required to be worn in indoor event spaces and outside the convention center entrance. Please see CDC masking guidelines for the appropriate type of mask to wear. 

We will be following up on how you can verify your vaccination status in the coming months. 

Our COVID-19 policies are based on the guidelines of the City of San Jose, the County of Santa Clara, the California Public Health Department, and the CDC. FanimeCon has been closely monitoring the evolving public health situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and will update our community when changes to our COVID-19 policies arise. 

We ask for your help in following our COVID-19 policies and your understanding as we are all navigating this unique year at FanimeCon.

Registration is open

Registration for FanimeCon 2022 is open. You can register at this link. If you have any questions regarding registration, please check out the Registration FAQ

Hotels

FanimeCon Housing will be opening soon!
It has opened and the link can be found on our front page!

All attendees who had their pre-registration rolled over from FanimeCon 2020 will receive a priority booking window notification on January 13, 2022. Booking windows will start on January 19, 2022 and conclude on January 21, 2022. 

After 4pm on January 21, 2022, all attendees will be free to book housing regardless of their registration date. 

How to Contact Us

For questions about registration, please reach out to the Registration staff at registration@fanime.com

For dealers, artists, and programming participants, the relevant departments will be reaching out (or have already) and will be making announcements about how to participate in FanimeCon 2022. Please reach out to your contacts if you have any questions. 

For questions about COVID-19 guidelines or other general questions, please reach out via email at feedback@fanime.com or feedback.fanime.com. 

We’re looking forward to seeing you all at FanimeCon 2022. Until then, we hope you and your families stay safe and healthy. 

Erica Eco, Alicia Chow, and Camille Roderiguez
FanimeCon 2022 Chair Team

FanimeCon 2020 Deferred to 2021

April 13, 2020

Dear FanimeCon Community,

On behalf of the FanimeCon staff, I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy during this unprecedented time. 

We are reaching out to you today to announce that FanimeCon will be deferred to May 28-31st, 2021. We thank you for your patience while we worked to establish a healthy and safe solution for the convention in the midst of a pandemic. Until recently, we did not have a viable solution, but with the hard work of our partner management team, we were able to come to this resolution.

Those that have pre-registered for FanimeCon will have their tickets automatically deferred to 2021. A confirmation for FanimeCon 2021 will be sent out prior to the launch date, in Fall of 2020. FanimeCon is operated by the non-profit Foundation for Anime and Niche Sub-cultures (FANS) and all revenue goes back into our events’ operational costs. By deferring your ticket to 2021, you help us remain financially stable and cover expenses we have already incurred this year.

Hotel rooms reserved through the FanimeCon block will be automatically cancelled without penalty. Hotel room selection windows for FanimeCon 2021 will remain the same and will be based on your FanimeCon 2020 registration time. Reservations made directly through a hotel or a third party vendor must be cancelled directly with that hotel or vendor.

Exhibitors in our 2020 Dealer’s Hall and Artist Alley should expect communication from those departments in the coming days.

Programming participants, such as Panels, Cosplay Gatherings, and other events, should expect communication from those departments in the coming weeks.

We are working to inform the community as soon as possible. Please bear with us as we continue to organize the logistics and disseminate information concerning the impact to the many who make this convention possible.

Thank you to our hosts at Team San Jose, the City of San Jose, and our partner hotels for diligently working with us to offer this resolution to our attendees. We would also like to thank our attendees, staff, volunteers, Guests of Honor, vendors, partners, artists, dealers, and panelists for all the passion, effort, and faith you put into this community. There are innumerable elements that come together to make a convention possible. Even during the “normal” times, it takes immense effort to have these elements to align, let alone during these uncertain times.

Anyone would be hard pressed to find someone in this world not touched by this pandemic. We hope that you remain safe and healthy (physically and mentally) in the coming weeks and months of this crisis. We hope that come May 28-31, 2021, our world will be in a more stable place and that we may once again celebrate with this wonderful community that you have helped us create in and around FanimeCon.

Until then, please continue to monitor updates from the CDC, the World Health Organization, and your local government for news and guidance on the pandemic. If you have any questions, please see our FAQ page, or if you have feedback, please let us know at feedback@fanime.com or https://feedback.fanime.com. Your questions and comments would be best served through this avenue compared to calling the phone numbers listed at our registration partner. Please do not call the phone numbers listed on the web page of our registration partner, CMR.

Thank you,

Eric Wu
FanimeCon Chairman,
on behalf of the FanimeCon Staff

COVID-19 Update from FanimeCon Chair

March 22, 2020

To the FanimeCon Community,

On behalf of the FanimeCon staff, I hope you and your loved ones are safe during this tumultuous time and are able to address the challenges that lie ahead. The FanimeCon staff is made up of volunteer staff primarily located in the Bay Area, so our focus has currently been on the well-being of all of our families and ourselves. However, we also recognize that we serve a very important role to the larger FanimeCon Community.

During this unprecedented COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, FanimeCon is taking all precautionary measures, with guidance from the CDC, WHO, local health officials, and other appropriate government and health organizations, to protect our Fans, staff, and community. It is our role and responsibility during this time to prioritize the health and well-being of the FanimeCon community, while also playing a constructive role in supporting local health officials and government leaders as they work to contain the virus.

We are working with our partners to monitor the potential impact that COVID-19 may have on FanimeCon 2020. In the inevitable aftermath of this unusual period of social isolation, we hope to host the convention as a place for our community to heal and come together once again. We are taking the optimistic view that the situation will improve by Memorial Day so we can offer a safe and fun event to continue to serve the FanimeCon Fans. Please understand that there may be some changes to programming in order to maintain a healthy environment and accommodate changes in scope. We will continue to make decisions informed by the latest fact-based information, and we will adhere to any and all policies set forth by the Santa Clara Public Health Department.

We ask you to join us in continuing to monitor updates from the CDC, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Santa Clara Public Health Department for their assessments on the outbreak. We will keep you in the loop on any updates or changes. If you have any questions or feedback, please let us know here: feedback@fanime.com and https://feedback.fanime.com.

Thank you,

Eric Wu
FanimeCon Chairman,
on behalf of the FanimeCon Staff.

Goodbye, Farewell, auf Wiedersehen, Good Night

May 27, 2019

All parties must eventually end, including FanimeCon. As last calls ring out through Dealer’s Hall and Artist Alley, cosplayers and fans alike must start packing up their cosplay and purchases to travel back to their everyday lives. We have one last event to close out this celebratory weekend: Closing Ceremonies!

Please join FanimeCon in saying farewell to our wonderful Silver Celebration! We hope you had an excellent time exploring all the events, panels, and entertainment throughout the convention halls and Silver Island. Closing Ceremonies will be on Monday from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm in SJCC Room 212. Here you can see highlights from the convention and announcements for next year’s FanimeCon, including our next theme!

FanimeCon staff would like to thank all the fans again for joining us in commemorating our 25th Anniversary! Farewell con-goers, we will see you again next year!

Another Year, Another FMV Awards Ceremony

May 27, 2019

We’ve watched the submissions, we’ve tallied the votes, and we’re ready to show you the best Anime Music Video this side of the convention hall! These AMVs are the best of the best, and have been submitted from all over the world! We even have multiple categories of AMV, ranging from action, to comedy, to trailers. Finish off the con with style by meeting up with us to celebrate those who have won in the official awards ceremony.

The AMV Award Ceremony will take place at Stage Zero. The winners will be announced starting at 2:00 pm.

Let’s Go to Dealer’s Hall! Today!

May 27, 2019

Time to finish strong! Today is your last chance to pick up that print you’ve been eyeing and the figure you’ve been drooling over. Take advantage of those clearance deals and fill your luggage with merch! As a reminder, the Dealer’s Hall is in the San Jose Convention Center, in Hall 1 & 2. The Artist Alley is in Room 220 across the Concourse. The Artist Alley and Dealer’s Hall both open at 10:00 am, and close for good at 3:00 pm. Get those deals before it’s too late!

Keep Your Bags Safe with Fan Storage!

May 27, 2019

Alas, it’s the last day of the con. It’s bittersweet, for sure. We can put your mind at ease in one area though, because Fan Storage will be open from 8:30 am until 3:00 pm so you can enjoy the last hours of the con without lugging around your suitcases. The hotel checks tend to fill up quickly, so we got you covered!

For a small fee, you can store your bags in a secure location at the Hilton Market Room on the first floor of the Hilton Hotel next to the Affinity Restaurant & Bar.