Otakon

Programming

As one of the longest running and largest conventions of its type, Otakon offers a very broad range of programming, exhibits, and other events. Typical Otakon programming includes:

Multiple video rooms in which anime and live action East Asian films are shown on big screens throughout the convention. Fan-produced content including fan-parodies and anime music videos (AMVs) are also shown. For several years, Otakon had a dedicated 35 mm film theater, but replaced it in 2008 with an HD theater to take advantage of the wider array of offerings in that format. Panels and workshops on subjects such as voice acting, how to draw manga, Japanese culture, and a variety of other topics. Industry professionals announce new acquisitions, and expert guests discuss or show tricks of their trade and field questions from the audience. Many panels and workshops are conducted by fans rather than pros (ex. Create a Comic Project). Cosplay and a skit-based Masquerade show, which in recent years had taken place inside the Royal Farms Arena.

1995 Four-day convention

While the idea of a four-day convention has some support among the general membership (especially among younger members), the idea has been summarily dismissed as unworkable by Otakon staff. It was attempted in 1995, over a holiday weekend, back when Otakon fit comfortably in a small hotel, and even then it was an exhausting prospect that didn't pay off. In those days, the entire convention could be set up in a matter of hours, while it currently takes two full days to prepare the site. At its current size and functional requirements, Otakon would face a significant additional expense in running an extra day, and both industry and dealers have said that it would not be worth their time and money to attend a fourth day. Finally, it is clear that few staffers would be able to afford the extra day (most staffers already use as much as a week of vacation time to help run the con). With almost zero support from staff, industry, or dealers, there is virtually no chance that Otakon will ever attempt a four-day convention again.

Otakon 2010 fire alarm incident

During Otakon 2010, at approximately 2:00 PM on Saturday, the entire Baltimore Convention Center had to be evacuated due to a fire alarm, although there was no fire. Hours of certain events and rooms were adjusted accordingly to accommodate for lost time.

This was only the second safety incident of this sort to take place during Otakon. Nine years earlier, in 2001, the convention center was evacuated due to after-effects of the Howard Street Tunnel fire. Residual tripropylene from an earlier train accident reacted with electrical sparks, and the resulting explosions launched manhole covers 4 feet into the air on Saturday, August 11, 2001 25 days after the Howard Street Tunnel fire, very early in the morning of Sunday, August 12, 2001 city workers opened 48 fire hydrants in downtown Baltimore for approximately 1 hour to 90 minutes in an attempt to flush out and recover the remaining traces of tripropylene, as a result, the Baltimore Convention Center was evacuated during this recovery effort causing thousands of attendees to leave the convention center to encounter inches of water rushing down Pratt Street. This incident was spoofed in Otakon's 2008 Opening Animation: in the video, one of the convention's mascots causes a barrage of manhole covers to strike a giant robot menacing the convention center.

Otakon Vegas

Otakon has announced that in 2014 a new convention would be held at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada where they hope to create a smaller convention and test new ideas.

Facilities

Otakon has been located in the Baltimore Convention Center at least in part for every year beginning in 1999, though it soon expanded to require the entire convention center and more recently, other buildings as well. Events such as the masquerade now place in the Royal Farms Arena, located one block away, and at least some programming takes place in the Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel, connected to the Convention Center by its skybridge, since 2009 (see the section below titled "Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel and Otakon" for more details).

From 2014 to 2016, Otakon utilized meeting space within the nearby Hyatt Regency Baltimore hotel (see the section below titled "Hyatt Regency Baltimore and Otakon" for more details) which is connected to the Convention Center via a now-demolished skywalk that also connected the Convention Center with the Sheraton Inner Harbor hotel, McKeldin Square (which contained a now-demolished fountain that was linked with the skywalk where Otakon attendees held photoshoots at during the majority of the time Otakon was held in Baltimore) and the Harborplace Light Street Pavilion.

Otakon 2016 was be the final year for the Baltimore facilities as Otakon 2017 will be held in Washington, D.C. at the much larger Walter E. Washington Convention Center allowing Otakon to return to having every event under one roof in a single venue which was the idea of moving to Baltimore in 1999.

Royal Farms Arena

As Otakon has outgrown the convention center alone, it had increasingly made use of the Royal Farms Arena for large events, most notably for the Masquerade.

Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel and Otakon

The Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel opened on Friday, August 22, 2008. In 2009, Otakon had been promised a minimum of 30,000 square feet (2,800 m²) out of a total 45,000 square feet (4,200 m²) by the Hilton Baltimore. and had confirmed that they would use the Hilton for the convention itself; however only a limited number of events and panels took place at the Hilton with the major of events taking place in the more-spacious Baltimore Convention Center.

On February 7, 2009, Otakon posted information on its panels for Otakon 2009, confirming that panel space will be in the Baltimore Convention Center and will be expanded into the Hilton Baltimore. Otakon 2009 utilized in the Hilton, the Poe meeting room for its Manga Library and the Key Ballroom for two additional panel rooms and one additional autographs room.

Otakon 2010 further expanded into the Hilton, using not only the space used in 2009 but also what essentially amounted to all of the convention space on the second floor of the Hilton.

Otakon 2011 further expanded into the Hilton, using the entire space on the second floor, and one room on the first floor of the Hilton for the first time.

Otakon 2012 continued the trend of utilizing the convention space at the Hilton Baltimore, using the entire space on the second floor and two rooms on the first floor. Otakon 2012 utilized on the 1st floor Peale for Jamspace and Johnson for the Maid Cafe and utilized on the 2nd floor, Poe for the Manga Library, the entire Holiday Ballroom for a video room, Calloway for a panel room, and the entire Key Ballroom that was divided into three separate rooms, Key 1-6 combined was used as a panel room, Key 8, 11, and 12 combined into a single room also was used as a panel room and Key 7, 9, 10 combined was also used as a panel room.

Otakon 2013 continued the trend of utilizing the convention space at the Hilton Baltimore, using the entire space on the second floor and only one room on the first floor (Peale for the Maid Cafe). The 2nd floor layout changed between 2012 and 2013 with the Holiday Ballroom being split into two separate rooms, Holiday 4-6 was used for panels, Holiday 1-3 used for videos, Poe was used for the Manga Library, Calloway was used for the OtaMuseum, and Key 1-6 was used as a panel room, Key 8, 11 and 12 was used as a video room and Key 7, 9, 10 was used as a panel room.

Otakon 2014 and 2015 continued the trend of utilizing the convention space at the Hilton Baltimore, again using the entire space on the second floor and using three rooms on the first floor (Peale for Live Programming and Johnson for Maid Cafe in 2014 and 2015 and Ruth for Hiro's Dance Academy in 2015). The 2nd floor layout remained the same between 2013 and 2015.

There is a third level of meeting/convention space at the Hilton Baltimore but it has never been utilized for public programming by Otakon between 2009 and 2015.

Hyatt Regency Baltimore and Otakon

Otakon 2014 utilized for the first time ever, convention space at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore for a new event called Hiro's Lounge held in the 2nd floor Constellation Ballroom. The Hyatt Regency Baltimore hotel is connected to the Baltimore Convention Center via a skywalk system that connects the Convention Center with the Sheraton Inner Harbor hotel, McKeldin Square (which contains a fountain that is linked to the skywalk where Otakon attendees hold photoshoots at) and the Harborplace Light Street Pavilion.

Otakon 2015 continued the trend of utilizing the convention space at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore by using 2nd floor meeting rooms Maryland Suites and the Constellation Ballroom. The Constellation Ballroom again was used for Hiro's Lounge (renamed to Hiro's 21) and the Maryland Suites was used for autographs.

Walter E. Washington Convention Center/Marriott Marquis Washington D.C. Hotel and Washington, D.C.

At Otakon 2013's closing ceremonies, the convention staff officially announced that Otakon will be held in Washington, D.C. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, citing overcrowding of the BCC. This new venue will be used starting with Otakon 2017 and will last until at least through Otakon 2021. At Otakon 2016, convention staff officially announced that Otakon will remain in Washington, D.C. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center until Otakon 2024. In the FAQs for Otakon, it's been mentioned that programming for Otakon during its time in Washington D.C. will be located in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and the attached Marriott Marquis Washington D.C. hotel.

Otakorp

Otakon is run by the Pennsylvania-based non-profit organization Otakorp, Inc. whose primary purpose "is to promote the appreciation of Asian culture, primarily through its media and entertainment."

Otakon is the annual meeting of Otakorp, Inc. Otakon attendees do not purchase "tickets" to Otakon; they actually become a member of the non-profit organization that runs Otakon with their paid attendance to the convention. Everyone who pays the annual membership fee to attend Otakon is also a supporting member for Otakorp and is able to participate in sanctioned events, contests, or giveaways that might occur during the year.

All staff are unpaid volunteers (certain staff who meets certain defined requirements are allowed to vote on issues affecting Otakorp and Otakon, for example, in 2013, the voting membership (voting staff) of Otakorp, Inc. voted on the issue of whether to remain in Baltimore after Otakon 2016 or to move to Washington, D.C.), although registration tasks are supplemented by temporary workers provided by Visit Baltimore, and certain services such as legal and accounting work are by contract. Otakon also enlists the help of non-staff assistants, who are referred to as gofers. Otakon 2006 listed over 500 staff on its roster, though not all work the convention directly, though in a similar count, at the time immediately following Otakon 2013, Otakorp listed 861 staff on its online roster.

Otakorp, Inc. also sponsors film screenings as part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC, and assists with programming at other film festivals.

Otakorp, Inc. also operates Otakon Vegas, a spin-off convention of Otakon held in Las Vegas, Nevada and the Otakon Matsuri (a free one-day festival held on the Thursday prior to Otakon itself).

Economic impact on Baltimore

As of July 30, 2010, Otakon has had a great economic impact with its host, the City of Baltimore. Otakon has had the highest economic impact in Baltimore for 2009, 2008 and 2007 and has been a top convention for Baltimore since 2003. Otakon 2009 had an economic impact of $12.5 million in direct spending and booked over 4,500 hotel rooms. Otakon 2010 had a great impact in terms of food vendors. According to the Baltimore Business Journal on December 10, 2010, Otakon 2010 had 4,575 booked hotel rooms and an estimated economic impact of $15.3 million, up from $12.5 million the year before.

Visit Baltimore in their published Annual Reports has listed Otakon multiple times, starting with Otakon 2009 listed as simply "Otakorp (Otakon)" with a reported room nights total of 4,475 and an estimated economic impact of $15,263,859, Otakon 2011 listed as simply "Otakorp, Inc." where Visit Baltimore reported the attendance for Otakon 2011 was 31,000 people, way above the officially reported attendance count of 29,337 people, reported room nights total of 5,740 and a reported estimated economic impact of $11,300,000 a significant decline between 2009 and 2011 (2010's information wasn't reported in the FY 2011 annual report), Otakon 2012 listed simply as "Otakorp, Inc." where Visit Baltimore reported the attendance for Otakon 2012 as 27,000 people, way below the officially reported attendance count of 30,785, reported room nights total of 5,740 and a reported estimated economic impact of $10,634,730 a decline of $665,270, Otakon 2013 listed simply as "Otakorp, Inc. (Otakon)" where Visit Baltimore reported a start date for Otakon 2013 as Monday, August 5, 2013 instead of the correct start of Friday, August 9, 2013, reported attendance as 25,000, way below the officially reported attendance count of 34,211, reported room nights total of 5,450 and a reported estimated economic impact of $5,099,611 (A picture of Otakon was also featured in the FY2014 annual report in which Otakon 2013 was listed), a significant decline of $5,535,119, Otakon 2014 listed as "Otakorp, Inc. (Otakon 2014) with the correct start date of Friday, August 8, 2014 reported attendance for Otakon 2014 was 33,852 which was much closer to the officially reported attendance count of 33,929, reported room nights total of 9,255 and a reported estimated economic impact of $10,252,139, a significant increase of $5,152,528, and as of November 18, 2016, the latest listing is for Otakon 2015 listed simply as "Otakorp, Inc. (Otakon)" where Visit Baltimore reported a start date of Otakon 2015 as Friday, July 17, 2015 a full week prior to the correct start date of Friday, July 24, 2015, reported attendance for Otakon 2015 was 26,877 which correctly matches the officially reported attendance count, and an estimated economic impact of $10,993,850, a slight increase of $741,711. Seeing how the actual year is one year behind the fiscal year that Visit Baltimore uses for their convention reporting, and that Otakon has been listed annually since their FY2012 annual report, it likely means that the Visit Baltimore FY2017 report that will be released sometime in 2017 will list the information for the final Otakon (Otakon 2016) held in Baltimore for the foreseeable future.

Otakon Awards and Recognition

In 2011, Visit Baltimore (Baltimore City's tourism agency) awarded Otakon with a "Customer of the Year" award for "hosting their annual tradeshow and convention in Baltimore since 1999. They have demonstrated ongoing commitment to Baltimore, bringing more than 27,000 attendees to the city every year, a much-anticipated event by the local community and media" and that Otakon "have also selected Baltimore as the host destination through 2016."

Crisis Heart Brawlers

At Otakon 2012 Otakon officially announced a partnership with indie game development studio, Studio Nasu, to develop an official video game, Crisis Heart Brawlers: Clash at Otakon! to be released to celebrate the 20th anniversary at Otakon 2013. The game was successfully funded on Saturday, September 22, 2012 with 531 backers and a total amount of $33,642. In March 2013, the game had missed its deadline of release and in August 2013 failed to fulfill a promised Thursday release party before Otakon 2013 with the developer gone silent about the status of the game.

On July 30, 2014, Otakorp, Inc. terminated the business relationship with Studio Nasu and revoked all intellectual property rights. At the convention feedback panel of Otakon 2014, the president of Otakorp, Jennifer Piro said that there cannot be any more comments on the subject as it has become a pending legal matter.