Starting An Anime Convention

You are now anime convention director. You want to put on your own anime convention. GOOD LUCK!

It takes a lot of time, work, and knowledge to plan an event, whether it's a small meeting or a big conference. You shouldn't take it lightly. A wide range of qualities, such as marketing, leadership, and interpersonal skills, are required for the process. At every stage of the event planning process, these abilities are necessary. If you think about how much time and work goes into planning a single wedding, you can begin to grasp the intricacy of event planning. Now picture organizing ten weddings at once. That is the amount of work necessary for an anime convention.

We will only cover the very beginning in this post because it is impossible to cover everything in one article. Being a convention director is hard. You'll want to resign at times if you are not prepared.

An event's success depends on having a distinct objective, a target audience that is well-defined, and an elaborate event strategy. Prior to beginning any awareness-raising efforts, it's critical to choose a direction. Do some research on the subject and learn about your group's objective, goals, and ongoing projects. It is possible to create a theme or message for the event that is in line with the cause if you have a firm grasp on it. For attendees, it will make for a more organized and memorable event. After then, it's crucial to do your homework and choose a location that suits both the theme and the anticipated attendance.

What even does that mean? This implies that you must be aware of your motivation for organizing an anime convention and how you want to justify it.

Is it because your community doesn't have an event? Or you think you can do it better than the existing conventions? Make a call to action to encourage attendees to support the event by purchasing a ticket or volunteering. The event's success depends on participant turnout. If there is one thing you absolutely must do for your first event, it is collecting payment from customers unless you intend to cover the cost yourself.

The first stage in developing an audience is selecting and concentrating on the group that would be most interested in and likely to attend an event. This procedure is divided into many stages:

1. Name the target market in detail: Are there any anime enthusiasts nearby?

2. Conduct market research to learn more about the needs, behaviors, and demographics of the target market. Do you have any Asian shops in your city? Is there already a convention for anime like Taiyou Con or Anime Expo?

3. Social media such as #taiyoucon and online platforms can help you locate your target market.

4. Investigate whether your market has a comparable audience by working with Japanese-based companies. There are instances when people who frequent Japanese eateries and retailers are interested in anime.

5. Use traditional marketing techniques, like as flyers and posters, to connect with prospective attendees. Check to see if anyone expresses interest in a convention.

6. Finally, start bringing it up in conversations and find out who thinks it's a good idea.

This is the VERY FIRST STEP in organizing an anime convention... which is to at least be able to find your sources of money. Don't do anything if you lack those things. Unless your expenditures are really minimal, you won't be able to fund your event if there is no one that wants to go to your anime convention.

Do these 6 steps and see if you want to keep moving forward. Finding directors, managers, and personnel to assist during your anime convention will be covered in the next article. We have hardly even begun!