Youmacon

by: Jawa Juice

It’s called Youmacon, which is an anime convention located in Detroit Michigan.  I have been going since 2008 and have never missed a single year.

photo courtesy of Jawa Juice

Let me start off with a little history lesson -- nothing too much -- just talking about what the convention is and why people attend it.  Youmacon got it start as a small little gathering of Anime nerds.  Every year the convention gained more publicity and grew from a small hotel in Troy Michigan to the Renaissance Center and The Cobo Arena today. 

Over the years, Youmacon has become less about anime and more about pop culture and just an excuse for people to get together and have a good time!  These days Youmacon still has a heavy focus on Anime and Japanese media, but Star Wars has found a home there in the hearts of the con goers and it looks like we are there to stay.

Now that I said what Youmacon was, now I’ll go over what I did there.  Over the weekend I had a lot of fun, mostly just talking to people.  I even had the opportunity to meet several of my new comrades from Great Lakes Base, along with meeting some old friends as well.  I went over to the dealer’s room, where one can purchase just about anything: video games, clothes, pictures, you name it.  There were many panels there that were silly and fun, others featured famous voice actors or YouTube stars.  Saturday was the busiest day of the convention, with most people attending that day.  There were a few members of Great Lakes Garrison in attendance on Saturday.  Later that evening, Youmacon hosted an event known as “The Rave” -- which is more or less a techno party where people can just go to have fun and burn off energy. 

For more information, please visit http://www.youmacon.com

Youmacon has such a big future ahead of it; I can see this convention getting bigger and more popular over time.  Hope to see all of you at next year’s Youmacon!