Hello Min'na...

Well, we tried... and tried... and tried...

...

and tried...

Unfortunately, after much deliberation, discussion, cursing our bad luck, and so on, I regretfully have to inform you all that Animensity has been POSTPONED until next year.

Alas, let me tell you a tale of woe... the one which led up to this decision...

WAAAAY back when {actually, more like a year and a half ago} we decided it was about time the BC Interior had itself an anime convention. Being that our club is based out of Kamloops, {which happens to be on a crossroads of two major highways in BC, not to mention 2 major rivers, and the self proclaimed sports capital of BC, but we won't hold that against the people who live there...I hope...}, we figured it would be the perfect place to hold such an event. Basically, it was the perfect place for people in the Interior of BC, who may not have much money or means to get to Vancouver, or any of the other conventions as often as they'd like to, to congregate and rejoice in that which is the wonderful art of manga, and Japanese Animation, with a bit of Japanese culture, and a LOT of insanity thrown in for good measure... Everything sounded great...

So, still in the early stages of planning {the [i]REALLY[/i] early stages}, I suggested that we plan a group trip to Anime Evolution 2005 so that our members would get a feel of what a convention atmosphere was like {as many had never been to one before}. The plans were set, and we made it to AE 2005 {and subsequently managed to pull off winning Best Master Skit in the Cosplay while we were at it, a feat as to this day I'm STILL trying to figure out how we managed to do it..., but I digress... lol} I asked everyone to keep an eye out for things they saw that worked really well, and a few things that maybe could be fixed to allow for a more relaxed, and enjoyable time for patrons of the anime convention, while they had fun at the same time.

I have to say, it was a great success! EVERYONE had a blast, and we picked up a lot of excellent information. In the meantime, I began my research into what it takes to run a successful convention behind the scenes by contacting various individuals from the AE staff, as well as Calgary's Otafest staff. To them, I owe a LOT of thanks!! So, once we returned, plans went into motion.

It took a while, but we banded together and worked out the events and showings and so on which would work, being that it was our first year. We had originally decided to hold the convention in mid to late June, as most High school and University stuff is finished in late May / early June.

The name had been chosen well before we went to AE, in an almost unanimous vote I might add. ANIMENSITY looked like it was going to come to fruition this year... That is until we started to press for information reguarding the best venue in town... Hands down, we decided, would be the Thompson Rivers University {TRU} campus, specifically the Student Activity Centre, and brand new International Building {which would house the viewing rooms}. Barring any problems with these buildings, we planned a back up for the Old Main and Clock Tower buildings... First of all, I went up to speak to someone at the Campus Student Society, who are in charge of building bookings and so on. We were informed that as long as we had a club based on campus, officially recognized as a TRU specific anime club, then we'd get use of the Activity Centre for free!! This was wonderful news, and thus we set out to campaign for support for a TRU specific anime club... We got enough signatures, and now have a branch of the Kamloops Anime Club up at the University specifically geared towards the TRU student population... Step 1, completed... Then we went to contact the Student Society again...

This is where all hell brakes loose... joy...

We went to the information desk, and were sent to speak to a gentleman reguarding building rental... He told us that we had to see someone else in another building... fine, we did so... She told us we had to go and talk to someone in yet ANOTHER buidling... okay, we did so... From there we were sent to another department in, yes, you guessed it, ANOTHER building on campus... We went THERE, and can you guess what we were told?? Go and see the Student Society Information desk, and they'll point you in the right direction... lol So, the vicious circle began...

So I tried e-mailing the head of the Student Society... to no avail...

5 TIMES...

...and to no avail...

Then there were tentative phone conversations... but again, no one "had time" to talk to us... This brings us up to last week {about Thursday I believe} where we finally decided there's not enough time to seek out another venue, and we had to be fair, and inform all of our prospective guests about this year's cancellation... and of course, apologize PROFUSELY for this indescretion...

Let me assure you, I myself am EXTREMELY disappointed with the postponement of Animensity this year, but in retrospect, let's look at the possible pros of this situation...

1) By holding it off for another year, we now have more time to fundraise and prepare an even better program for next year, than we would have had this year.

2) I now have time to work out the finalities of the Anime Crossover Musical, and we have time to practice it to present an excellent show for our guests.

3) We have a chance to return to AE this year, and allow more of our members a chance to get another year of an anime convention under their belts to see if there's anything else we can improve on our basic standing plans for Animensity right now, in order to bring you, our prospective, honoured guests, a much more entertaining and well run venue.

4) I plan on gathering more information from our prospective 'clientelle' about when would work best for most of you for next year's convention {as we're still currently thinking about June of 2007}.

5) We have MUCH more time to continue to harrass the Student Society to AT THE VERY LEAST get a response or find SOMEONE who will at least HEAR US OUT!! lol. {Please wish us luck on this!!} If not, then we still have time to find another venue if needed...

A few interesting things to note... I continually asked everyone we spoke to in reguards to the building planning, if we could get copies of the map layouts of each building, so we could use them in our presentation to the Student Society board. I figured it's best to get ALL of our plans out in the open so we can work things out... And for some reason, they kept dodging the issue... It's like they figured we were terrorists or something. Yet, they have maps of the room layouts and stuff in the doorways of EVERY BUILDING ON CAMPUS PRACTICALLY!! I suppose we could just draw up crude copies ourselves, but it would have made sense to me if they would have let us have some that they give out to all of the other venues {such as high school grads} who use the buildings on campus...

And that's another thing that urks me... how do these other groups get in contact with the right people to rent out the buildings? Oh well...

Sorry this is so long, but I figured I'd give you all the FULL story.

So, instead of feeling sad that this year's plans are on hold, we have resolved ourselves to delve into next year's plans. We have a mascot chosen for next year {you can see her at www.geocities.com/kamloopsanimeclub}. Every year there will be a new mascot completely, not just a variation on the same one. Here are other things we plan for next year:

*Anime Crossover Stage Musical

*Vendors

*Anime Viewing Rooms / Live Action Specific Room {stuff like the Sailor Moon Musicals, HunterXHunter Musicals, Live Action Cutey Honey Movie, etc...}

*Artist Alley

*AMV contest

*Cosplay Contest {of course}

*We'd like to bring in some guests like the 404's, and maybe, JUST MAYBE a voice actor or singer {I know it's pushing it, but dreaming big is a piscean trait, so please bear with me... besides, nothing happens without dreams right?}

*Dance

*Karaoke

*Anime based Arcade {With Step Mania (the 5 step DDR, my personal favourite!!)}

*And Much more!!

And now in closing, I again offer you my sincerest apologies, and my thanks for supporting us so far in our effort at creating another possibility for fans in BC, Western Canada, and the Northern USA to attend an anime convention; to get together with their peers and have a blast. Please rest assured that we are fighting to get this festival up and running for next year! I will continuously keep everyone posted as to what is happening!!

We hope to see you at Animensity "The Poor Convention" {A Celebration of Insanity at it's Finest} tentatively set for late June 2007!!

Thank you once again,

~Jeremy Androsoff~

~President of the Kamloops Anime Club~

~Winners of Best Master Skit - AE 2005 Cosplay Contest~

http://www.geocities.com/kamloopsanimeclub