Well, it's not Turbo Con, but ...

Hello,
	Anybody living on campus at Virginia Tech or in the surrounding areas 
probably already knows about this. But since I am pretty sure most of you 
don't live anywhere near here, I figured this bears mentioning here. And 
yes, this post is very Turbo related, it's just long winded (but that's the 
nature of the beast).
	Club RoAnime and VTAS (Va. Tech Anime Society) have been working together 
for the past two months laying the ground work for a new Anime convention. 
For a while, we were pretty stumped. First off, since there are already a 
half dozen Anime shows in the Mid Atlantic, that another ordinary Anime Con 
is no big deal. Second, our location in Southwest Virginia makes us very 
unattractive to Dealers. So we needed an original spin, something unique to 
make us stand out and attract a crowd. About the time, someone to this list 
(thank you:-) posted a message about a previous idea about having a Turbo 
Mini Con. Then it hit us, an Anime Con for the Video Game Otaku is 
something that has broad enough appeal for a new audience and still 
supports that status quo tradition of current Anime Cons.
	So this is it, we have the Holiday Inn Tanglewood in Roanoke, Virginia 
book for April 12-14 2002. It has 10 Ballrooms/Meeting Rooms. We will have 
access to a 3500 ft^2 Main Events Hall, a 2500 ft^2 Dealer's Room, and a 
1000ft^2 video game room, as well as 4 programming rooms, art room, and 
everything else you've come to expect from fan based Anime/Game Cons. What 
separates from us ordinary Anime Cons is our larger better equipped game 
room that will run for a straight 65 hours with anything goes for systems. 
That means, as many Duos as we can get our hands on. A game based Con also 
means guests different from the standard Anime Guests. If you've ever been 
to an Anime Con, you expect to see a specific set of guests and we hope to 
bring in some fresh game related semi celebrity faces that perhaps you 
haven't seen before. Finally, it means programming (discussion panels and 
video rooms) with a game related theme.
	I suppose the credibility of my claim is a little shaky. Rest assured, we 
have been staffing and learning about Cons for the past two years. We have 
been stashing away a nest egg for quite some time and we have been making 
these plans for a while as well. We have a contract worked out with the 
Hotel that we sign later this week. You should be able to check 
(www.clubroanime.com) later this week for all current 
information(admission, hotel rates, cost of dealer's tables, confirmed 
guests OF WHICH WE DO HAVE ONE, list of main events, etc.)
	Now, what am I asking of you guys besides listening to this shameless 
plug? Well, since we are doing no hold barred for the game room, the more 
Turbo enthusiasts we have, the more it becomes Turbo Con. So right now the 
ball is in your hands, we are setting the background for the event (thas me 
and the two dozen some staffers I have locally helping), everyone else help 
with the foreground. Want to see Turbo panels? Send us ideas. Have an idea 
for a guest? Let us know. Want me to shut up and never mention this again? 
Let me know. Seriously, I hope this comes as good news to the community. To 
my knowledge, except for the E3 which is commercialized, nobody has 
attempted a convention based around games. So we feel an event like is just 
what everyone has been waiting for. Please send us all your thoughts and 
ideas, your enthusiasm and support and even your disdain and contempt. I 
certainly hope this letter doesn't go as unreplied to as everything else I 
post to this list. But if it does, I get the picture. And if you are 
reading this on the Saturn or PSX list, please consider everything just as 
applicable. Don't think we'll be leaving Sega or Sony out of the mix.
	I have one last issue to discuss. Our organization has one major obstacle 
we've encountered on this project. We can't collectively decide on a name 
for this Convention. It has to be something that describes games both retro 
and new, domestic and import. It also has to describe Anime. Unfortunately, 
our two original ideas, Baka Con and Chibi Con have already been taken 
elsewhere. We were hoping that someone out in cyber space on one of these 
many mailing lists would have a stroke of genius for us.
	I suppose that's all I have to say for now. As I said before, it's not 
Turbo Con, but we are hoping it will be close enough. And finally, I hope 
this is an announcement that more people look upon with enthusiasm than 
skepticism. With enough support, we can make this work beautifully. From 
RoAnime and VTAS, hoping to hear from all of you soon,
	Joseph Yamine
	RoAnime Admin.
	??? Con Chair
	xxxxxx@home.com
	www.clubroanime.com