Youmacon

Youmacon is an anime convention held annually in the Metro Detroit area during November. Youmacon's inaugural year brought a variety of guests together from various facets of anime and Japanese culture inspired fandom. These guests included well known American voice actors in Japanese animation, American television and film actors (Power Rangers), professional and fan-based music performers, and comic artists and creators.

Youmacon 2010 will be held from October 28-31, 2010 at the Renaissance Center in Detroit.

Programming
Like many anime conventions, Youmacon includes cosplay events, video gaming, and panels on popular Japanese anime series, J-rock, Power Rangers, Japanese fashion, and webcomics. There is also a cosplay event, Cosplay Shogi, where cosplayers act as "living pieces" of a shogi game. Similarly there is a Live Action Mario Party and Mario Party After Dark where mini games are acted out with an audience to recreate the video game series. Each year also includes a formal costumed ball for charity in addition to an informal rave. Youmacon was the first event in North America to introduce Maid Cafes as a live event. Additionally Youmacon is the first convention to have its own CCG(Customizable Card Game), and its own energy drink(Yenergy).

History
Youmacon's inaugural convention took place on November 11–13, 2005 at the Detroit Hilton in Troy, Michigan, where it returned for a second year from November 3–5, 2006.

The Guests of Honor included former professional wrestler "Captain" Lou Albano and Matt Hill, the voice of Captain N: The Game Master. Albano's presence was accredited to his role as the face and voice of Mario in the animation/live action The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!.

The convention expanded into a 4-day convention in 2007, offering additional events on Thursday at no cost to attendees. In 2008, the convention (which coincided with Halloween) was moved to the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, Michigan to accommodate Youmacon's continued growth. This was the first year that it was not held at the Hilton Detroit/Troy.

The 2009 convention was held October 29th through November 1st, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn. Of note is the fact that Caitlin Glass and The Spoony Bards have attended all five Youmacons as of 2009's convention, and are the only guests to have done so thus far.

For 2010, the convention will be held October 28-31 (again, coinciding with Halloween) at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, Michigan.

Documentary
As mentioned in the opening, significant parts of the documentary Cosplayers: The Movie (2009) were filmed at Youmacon 2007 and several staffers were interviewed in the film. http://www.crunchyroll.com/library/Cosplayers:_The_Movie