Contrast to San Japan here in San Antonio, TX. It really is a feather in the hat as far as anime conventions go.
Really, SA hasn't been the sort of place you'd think there'd be a major conclave of anime fans. The city is riddled with ghettos and barrios where people are more concerned with just scraping by than the latest spring anime releases. But somehow that's changed over the decade and San Japan reflects that. It's had some very humble beginnings where they willingly scaled back their first con from a three day event to single day gathering. Now they're in their seventh year and have four more planned out in advanced. They had almost 15,000 attendees this year, and every hotel in the area was completely booked - we had cheap motel rooms going for $300/night!
Point is, I'm glad we have San Japan. It will help keep any Dash Cons at bay. :p
Really, SA hasn't been the sort of place you'd think there'd be a major conclave of anime fans. The city is riddled with ghettos and barrios where people are more concerned with just scraping by than the latest spring anime releases. But somehow that's changed over the decade and San Japan reflects that. It's had some very humble beginnings where they willingly scaled back their first con from a three day event to single day gathering. Now they're in their seventh year and have four more planned out in advanced. They had almost 15,000 attendees this year, and every hotel in the area was completely booked - we had cheap motel rooms going for $300/night!
Point is, I'm glad we have San Japan. It will help keep any Dash Cons at bay. :p