The biggest anime convention in New England is almost here: Anime Boston starts on Friday! Since many of PAC’s staff are also part of Anime Boston staff, most of us are gearing up for tomorrow’s arrival and set-up… and the PAC panel on Sunday! But before we grab that last full night of sleep, we have an interview with Jeni Duschak, PAC’s Costume Programming Manager, who explains along the way just how PAC’s cosplay events will be different:

What are your responsibilities as Costume Programming Manager?

Jeni: Organizing and running any PAC events that involve costumes. (Except for the Costume Expo, that event falls under the Art Expo.) I will be designing the format of these events as well as designing the registration processes and rules for said events.

We hear you’re a cosplayer yourself. How long have you been cosplaying and what’s your favorite out of all your costumes?

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There are many reasons why people go to anime conventions: socializing, cosplay, shopping, and oh yes, the screenings and events. In advance of the upcoming PAC panel at Anime Boston, we took some time to ask Patrick Delahanty, PAC’s Director of Programming and the bane of Sailor Moon dolls everywhere, about his plans for PAC programming:

What are your responsibilities as the Director of Programming?

Patrick: Overseeing everything at Providence Anime Conference that people come to see… aside from the dealers’ room and our smiling staff. If it’s on the schedule, it very likely falls under Programming. It’s my job to make sure that the conference will have a wide variety of anime and manga-related events of interest to everyone.

PAC includes classic anime convention programming such as an artist alley, game shows, and a charity auction, but PAC also promises unique programming as well. Can you tell us more about that?
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Anime Boston is just a few days away and everyone here at Providence Anime Conference has the date circled on their calendar–not only will many of us be working at Anime Boston, our sister convention (since both Anime Boston and PAC are run by the New England Anime Society), but we’ll be presenting a panel there, too.

The PAC Panel is currently scheduled for 1 PM Sunday (March 23rd) in Room 309, but be sure to check the at-con schedule updates to confirm. We’ll have introductions, information, free buttons and magnets, plus some special announcements we’ve been saving just for this event. This is a chance to ask us questions and tell us what you’d like to see at PAC! We’ll even give you something to ask us about at the panel: check back with this blog later this week for interviews with our Director of Programming and our Director of Costume Programming.

Just as importantly, you can also register for PAC in person at the PAC booth in the Dealer’s Hall. Take advantage of the $65 registration rate while it lasts!

Of course, you don’t have to come to Anime Boston just to see our smiling (and slightly sleep-deprived) faces. Come to Anime Boston to see our panel and the Pillows, tokyo pinsalocks, MC Frontalot, and lots of industry and voice-acting guests. So remember: Anime Boston, coming to Boston’s Hynes Convention Center from March 21st to March 23rd, 2008!

For more Anime Boston details and at-con registration information, just visit animeboston.com. We hope to see you there!

I’d like to thank everyone who’s expressed interest in Providence Anime Conference 2008. Although we’ve been quiet lately, we’ve been busy putting together all the pieces for what’s shaping up to be a fantastic event. You’ll be hearing more from us in the coming months! In the meantime, feel free to visit our forums, where you can meet other fans and we’ll answer any questions as best we can.

We also encourage you to pay a visit to our sister convention, Anime Boston, next month. Many of the PAC staff will be there, working to bring you the first-class experience you’ve come to expect from Anime Boston. We’ll also have a booth in the dealer’s room where you can register for PAC. Finally, come to our panel where we’ll discuss PAC, answer your questions–and maybe even make a few new announcements.

Don’t delay–Anime Boston preregistration ends this coming Monday!

–Jon Niehof, Conference Chair, Providence Anime Conference 2008

The PAC exec staff took a tour of the Rhode Island Convention Center (RICC) and the Westin Providence last week, which went well. The RICC struck everyone as attractive and comfortable with lots of carpet; PAC will occupy one floor, which will keep all the programming and events convenient to each other. The next step is to finish allocating the space — speaking of which, the RICC has a nice rotunda with lots of windows, and we’re already brainstorming nifty ways to use that room. By all means, check it out at the convention just to see what it’s like and whether PAC Unplugged: The Acoustic Sessions has become a reality. (Well, probably not.) We’ll also have to give some thought to what concessions will be in the RICC. There’s already a chocolate and nuts kiosk on the first floor, and one PAC executive has put in a strong vote for bringing out the Dipping Dots cart…
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First Night attendees watching Negima and… hey, is that guy reading?

Happy belated New Year, everyone! It’s been a productive year for PAC so far — we held a staff meeting and toured the Rhode Island Convention Center, but more details about that soon. For now, we’ll briefly backtrack to New Year’s Eve and First Night Boston, when we held our first in-person preregistration event at the New England Anime Society’s anime screening. Despite a misprinted schedule in the official program guide, the screening ran pretty smoothly. And to our pleasant surprise, some people even bought a First Night button just so they could come register for PAC! To our first 10 registrants, thank you very much and hope you enjoy the show.

Speaking of registrations, the man in charge of them at PAC is Doug Wilder, the Director of Memberships. We asked him a few questions about how registration is set up for PAC 2008 — as well as a few questions for our own amusement. See if you can tell the difference…
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If you’re planning to be in Boston for New Year’s Eve, you might want to consider checking out First Night Boston. New England Anime Society (NEAS), the organization behind Providence Anime Conference, will be holding anime screenings in Room 100 of the Hynes Convention Center as part of First Night Boston, and you can register in person for PAC 2008 as well. (Cash or check only, please!) We’ll be there from 1 PM to 11 PM–you can view the schedule at firstnight.neanime.org. To enter the Hynes, you’ll need a First Night Boston admission button, which is $15 at local retailers like Shaw’s and Au Bon Pain. It’ll get you into all the First Night Boston arts and entertainment activities, and the New England Aquarium, Franklin Park Zoo, Museum of Fine Arts, and Museum of Science are offering some special bonuses for First Night Boston attendees too. Lots of good stuff out there–download a program guide at firstnight.org for all the details.

If you do join the First Night party, stop by the Hynes to watch some anime, say hello to our staff, and register for PAC at the lowest rate of $65. (Consider dressing for posterity, because we will have a camera in case we decide to take pictures of the first registrant. Or perhaps the second, or the third, or… we’re not picky.) We’ll even toss in a PAC 2008 button while supplies last! But wherever you are, stay warm, stay safe, have a great holiday, and we’ll see you in 2008!

Welcome to the official blog for the Providence Anime Conference (PAC)! Our inaugural event in 2008 will be Rhode Island’s first anime conference as well as the first anime conference exclusively for fans 21 and older, so we’re more than a little excited about it.

But why start a blog when we already have a forum? Well, first, so we can share all kinds of news and updates with you in handy-dandy RSS-feedable form, and second, because it’s fun. As we prepare for our inaugural event in October, we’ll regularly update this blog with news, interviews, information on the city of Providence, and even the occasional behind-the-scenes look at what goes into running an anime conference (besides many, many meetings and a lot of take-out). Once PAC 2008 starts, we’ll continue to update this blog on a daily basis with photos and articles, too.

Speaking of regular updates, we’ve got several updates planned for the upcoming weeks. So stop by again soon to learn what makes PAC programming different and hear about our plans for cosplay events. Maybe you have an idea of your own for something you’d like to see us cover here, so if you do, let us know!