No Brand Con

No Brand Con
No Brand Con logo.
Status	Active
Venue	Plaza Hotel and Suites
Location	Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Country	United States
First held	2002
Organizer	No Brand Con, Inc. (Formerly the Anime Appreciation Society of UW–Eau Claire)
Attendance	1,271 in 2011
Official website	http://www.nobrandcon.com

No Brand Con is an annual three day anime convention held in Eau Claire, Wisconsin in the United States. It was the first Anime convention in the state of Wisconsin,^{[citation needed]} and is currently its longest running. No Brand Con was originally organized by the Anime Appreciation Society of the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, but is now managed by an independent nonprofit corporation (with the AAS staying on as an official sponsor).

History

Inspired by their past experiences working at conventions, members of the anime club Otaku Anonymous Kevin Tambornino, Terence Clark, Trae Dorn, and Topher Marohl decided to create their own convention. Some of the members, who were also University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire students, formed the official university organization called The Anime Appreciation Society (or AAS).^[1] Through AAS, members were able to meet new people who shared similar interests, recruit new membership at university functions, and utilize university facilities for the nascent convention.^{[citation needed]}

The name for the convention was derived from the closing credits theme of the 1991 anime OVA of Here is Greenwood entitled "No Brand Heroes" which was sung by Chika Sakamoto. The convention mascots primarily composed today of Duct Tape Boy, The Gardening Ninja, Green Boy, and Future Girl refer to themselves as The No Brand Heroes with their headquarters being called The Amazing Justice Center.

The first No Brand Con was held for two days in April, 2002 at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire's Davies Center, with an attendance of 115. The following year, the convention was expanded to a three-day event. Due to its continual growth, the convention was moved off campus into a convention center and hotel venue.

Event history

Dates	Location	Atten.	Guests
April 5-6, 2002	UW-Eau Claire Davies Center Eau Claire, Wisconsin	115	Tiffany Grant and Steve Kurth.[2]
April 4-6, 2003	UW-Eau Claire Davies Center Eau Claire, Wisconsin	250	Tiffany Grant, Brazil Joe Grisaffi, Steve Kurth, and Doug Smith.[3]
March 12-14, 2004	UW-Eau Claire Davies Center Eau Claire, Wisconsin	300	Rob Giffen, Brazil Joe Grisaffi, and Monica Rial.[4]
April 15-17, 2005	Plaza Hotel and Suites Eau Claire, Wisconsin	400	Greg Ayres, Mike McFarland, Chris Patton, and Monica Rial.[5]
April 21-23, 2006	Ramada Inn Convention Center Eau Claire, Wisconsin	605	Tiffany Grant, Matt Greenfield, Brazil Joe Grisaffi, and Kyle Hebert.[6]
April 20-22, 2007	Ramada Inn Convention Center Eau Claire, Wisconsin	905	Lisa Furukawa, Tiffany Grant, Brazil Joe Grisaffi, Kyle Hebert, and Spike Spencer.[7]
April 18-20, 2008	Ramada Inn Convention Center Eau Claire, Wisconsin	1,075	Johnny Yong Bosch, Kyle Hebert, R. K. Milholland, The Slants, and Sonny Strait.[8]
April 24-26, 2009	Ramada Inn Convention Center Eau Claire, Wisconsin	1,249	Robert Axelrod, Tiffany Grant, Jason Griffith, Kevin Tambornino, and Michael Terracciano[9]
April 30-May 2, 2010	Ramada Inn Convention Center Eau Claire, Wisconsin	1,192	Chris Cason, Todd Haberkorn, Wendy Powell, and Michael Terracciano
April 15-17, 2011	Plaza Hotel and Suites Eau Claire, Wisconsin	1,271	Jay Bauman, Brent Black ("brentalfloss"), Colleen Clinkenbeard, Monica Rial, Chris Seward, Mike Stoklasa, and Matthew Taranto
May 4-6, 2012	Plaza Hotel and Suites Eau Claire, Wisconsin

See also

• List of anime conventions

References

1. ^ "No Brand Con - The History of...". NoBrandCon.com. Archived from the original on 2003-02-06. http://web.archive.org/web/20030206201312/http://www.nobrandcon.com/history.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-29. 
2. ^ "No Brand Con 2002 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/254. Retrieved 2008-02-02. 
3. ^ "No Brand Con 2003 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/38. Retrieved 2008-02-02. 
4. ^ "No Brand Con 2004 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/171. Retrieved 2008-02-02. 
5. ^ "No Brand Con 2005 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/592. Retrieved 2008-02-02. 
6. ^ "No Brand Con 2006 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/910. Retrieved 2008-02-02. 
7. ^ "No Brand Con 2007 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/1116. Retrieved 2008-02-02. 
8. ^ "No Brand Con 2008 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/1418. Retrieved 2008-04-08. 
9. ^ "No Brand Con 2009 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://www.animecons.com/events/info.shtml/1638. Retrieved 2008-08-23. 

External links

• No Brand Con official website