Anime Anime Japan symposium held on March 27th, Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008,

Title: “The Anime industry of North America and Anime Fans”

Location; Theater I, Tokyo big Site
Time schedule: PM2:30 – PM4:00

Panelists:
Mr.Christopher Macdonald,
　　（Anime News Network Editor in Chief, Protoculture Addicts Publisher.）
Mr.Ed Chavez,
　　（Freelance-Journalist, Editor）
Mr.Sean Chiochankitmun
　　（Convention Chairman, Otakon 2008）
Mr.Jim Vowles, Jr.
　　（Guests, Industry, and Press Relations Chief, Otakon 2008）
Ms.Trulee Karahashi,
　　（the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), CEO）

Total coordinator:
Tadashi Sudo, （President of Anime Anime Japan）

In recent years, as Japanese Anime gets more popular in North America, problems such as slump in Anime DVD market and needs that are different from Japan are becoming subjects of discussion.
We would like to think about this change in North American Anime industry by knowing tastes and changes of the local Anime fans. We will invite management groups of Otakon, Anime News Network, and guests from publications and discuss about current trend of Anime fans and its influence on the industry of North America.

Profiles of panelists:

Mr. Christopher Macdonald,
　　Anime News Network Editor in Chief, Protoculture Addicts Publisher.

A network engineer by trade, Christopher Macdonald joined Anime News Network in 2001 when the small website was just a hobby for its maintainers. Since then, through the dedication of its staff, and it’s unique position as a media outlet that understands anime fans and the anime industry, Anime News Network has grown into one of the largest, most respected anime websites in the world and a successful business.
In 2004, Anime News Network took over the publishing of Protoculture Addicts, North America’s oldest running anime magazine and rebranded it “Anime News Network’s Protoculture Addicts.” The magazine’s circulation has more than tripled since then.
Macdonald’s day to day work focuses on the management of these two companies, however he continues to be involved with and direct the editorial focus of both website and magazine and interact with the readers on a daily basis.

Mr.Ed Chavez
　　Freelance Journalist & Editor

An avid manga reader since his early childhood, Ed Chavez began writing about manga in 2002 for the online web community AnimeOnDVD.com. More than 600 reviews and articles later, Ed, along with fellow AoD writer Jarred Pine, founded the manga podcast and blog MangaCast.net in 2005. Through the blog, Ed and his staff, cover the manga scene through text and audio reviews, interviews, event recordings and their annual North American Manga Award, the Yomi’s. Outside of his blogging duties, Ed is a regular contributor to Publishers Weekly’s Comics Week web magazine. He also covers the Japanese manga scene for the bi-monthly magazine Otaku USA. Ed is also a freelance editor for comic publisher CMX/Wildstorm and a manga script adaptor for Seven Seas Entertainment.

Mr.Sean Chiochankitmun
　　Convention Chairman, Otakon 2008
Mr.Jim Vowles, Jr.
　　Guests, Industry, and Press Relations Chief, Otakon 2008

Both Mr Chiochankitmun and Mr Vowles currently serve as Members at Large in Otakorp, Inc’s Board of Directors.

Involved with Otakon since 2000, Mr. Chiochankitmun has held many positions inside of Otakorp Inc., Otakon’s parent company. He is formerly Otakorp Recording Secretary, Correspondence Secretary,Treasurer, Vice President, and finally Otakorp President and Otakon
Chairman in 2007. Given the opportunity to return for a second year in 2008 to chair the largest anime and Japanese culture convention on the east coast of the United States, Mr. Chiochankitmun could not be happier. A firm believer that the best conventions are run by fans
for fans, he has dedicated himself towards this goal, and continuing to make Otakon the best convention in the USA.

Though he programs interactive websites for a living, Jim Vowles began volunteering in 1997, and has spent most of his free time since 2002 helping to run Otakon as staff. While most of his time has been spent working with guests, he has also been a prominent advocate of
outreach within the fan community and among onvention organizers.
He is also well known to Otakon’s members through his work on the Otakon forums. He served a term as Otakon Chairman and Otakorp President in 2006 (after serving as Vice Chair and Vice President in 2005), and since 2007 has led the Guest, Industry, and Press section. Since 2005, Jim has led Otakon’s delegation to Tokyo in
hopes of strengthening the ties between fans in the Uited States and the creative talent in the anime, manga, and music scene in Japan.

ABOUT OTAKON AND OTAKORP, INC.:
Now entering its fifteenth year,Otakon is an annual celebration of Japanese and East Asian popular culture, and also one of the largest gatherings of fans in the United States. Otakon celebrates popular culture as a gateway to deeper understanding of Asian culture, and has grown along with the enthusiasm for anime, manga, video games, and music from the Far East. Since 1999, Otakon has been held in Baltimore, Maryland; currently, Otakon is one of Baltimore’s few large, city-wide events,
drawing over 22,000 individual members for three days each year (for a paid attendance of over 60,000 “turnstile” attendees).
Otakon is a membership-based convention sponsored by Otakorp, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based, 501(c)3 educational non-profit whose mission is to promote the appreciation of Asian culture, primarily through its media and entertainment. Otakorp, Inc. is directed by an all-
volunteer, unpaid staff — we are run by fans, for fans.

Otakon 2008 will be held from 8-10 August 2008 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

Ms.Trulee Karahashi
　　the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), CEO

Prior to becoming the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ms. Karahashi held the position of Chief Financial Officer for the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), Ms. Karahashi was a Financial Consultant for Merrill Lynch Private Client Group in the San Francisco Bay Area. A graduate from the University of Berkeley, Ms. Karahashi has been involved with Anime ExpoR since 1996 (beginning as a volunteer staff) including positions such as Industry Liason, Division Director and Department Manager. As the CFO for the organization that puts together the nation1s largest Anime/Manga convention, Ms. Karahashi deal with the internal/external financial needs of its members as well as the analysis of industry trends, industry relations and financial projections for the organization.

About Anime Expo
Located in Los Angeles, California - Anime ExpoR, the nation1s largest anime/manga convention, serves to foster trade, commerce and the interests of the general public and animation/ comics industry. AX 2008 will be held July 3 - July 6, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Southern California. More information can be found at its website (www.anime-expo.org).

About Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit organization with a mission to popularize and educate the American public about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate communication between professionals and fans. More information can be found at its website (www.spja.org ).

Anime Anime Japan official site
http://www.animeanime.jp/

2008 Tokyo International Anime Fair official site
http://www.tokyoanime.jp/ja/index.php