AnimeIowa is an annual three-day anime convention held during July at the Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel & Conference Center in Coralville, Iowa. The staff are all volunteers and the convention is run by the non-profit Mindbridge Foundation.[2][4]
Programming
The convention typically offers artist alley, cosplay contests, dealers room, Maid Café, masquerade, tabletop gaming, video gaming, and video rooms.[5][6][7] In 2011, the Maid Café benefited We Heart Japan, a charity supporting 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami victims.[8] AnimeIowa held a fundraiser to benefit Swisher's Miracles in Motion in 2014.[6]
History
AnimeIowa's first convention in 1997 was organized by the SFLIS Wing of Anime and Manga People (SWAMP).[9] Technical issues occurred during the 2008 masquerade and some attendees rooms were relocated to a different hotel due to the Iowa flood of 2008.[7] The 2011 convention occurred during the RAGBRAI bicycle ride.[8] Cassandra Hodges was scheduled to attend the 2011 convention, but died on June 27, 2011.[10] Iowa River Landing was used by both the RAGBRAI bicycle ride and AnimeIowa in 2015.[11][12] AnimeIowa 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13][14] The convention later held a virtual event in August.[15]
Christopher Ayres, Greg Ayres, Kyle Hebert, Cassandra Hodges, Helen McCarthy, Evan Miller, Richard Townsend, Shannon Townsend, and Maxey Whitehead.[31]
July 29–31, 2011
Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa
Robert Axelrod, Christopher Ayres, Greg Ayres, Jillian Coglan, Samurai Dan Coglan, Allie Dyal, Kyle Hebert, Lea Hernandez, Helen McCarthy, Carli Mosier, Steve Raffill, and Jan Scott-Frazier.[32]
July 27–29, 2012
Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa
Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa
Robert Axelrod, Greg Ayres, Jessie James Grelle, Chuck Huber, Trevor A. Mueller, Peter Pixie, Raj Ramayya, Mimiru Riley, Tyson Rinehart, Jad Saxton, Sarah "Sully" Sullivan, David Wald, and Young Wang.[1]
July 25–27, 2014
Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa
Robert Axelrod, Greg Ayres, Chris Cason, Jillian Coglan, Samurai Dan Coglan, Russell Lissau, Trevor A. Mueller, Mimiru Riley, Lucas Schuneman, Uncle Yo, and Greg Wicker.[34]
July 24–26, 2015
Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa
Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa
Greg Ayres, Steve Bennett, Steve Blum, Chris Cason, Fredd Gorham, Kyle Hebert, Chris "Kilika" Malone, Trevor A. Mueller, The Pillowcases, Spike Spencer, Paul St. Peter, Brooke Stephenson, Doug Walker, Shinichi Watanabe.[36]
July 28-30, 2017
Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa
Greg Ayres, Steve Bennett, Jillian Coglan, Samurai Dan Coglan, Fredd Gorham, Briana Lawrence, Russell Lissau, Chris "Kilika" Malone, Jessica Walsh, and Lisle Wilkerson.[37]
Greg Ayres, Morgan Berry, Crusher-P, Kohei Hattori, IA, Lauren Landa, Matthew Lassiter, Daniel Mohr, J. Michael Tatum, TiA, Vedetta Marie, and Sarah Wiedenheft.[39]
July 30 - August 1, 2021
Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa
^Walz, Edward (September 21, 1997). "Midwest greets the East - Devotees bring Japanese animation and comics to Iowa City convention". The Gazette (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City).