Along with a great lineup of Comics and Media Guests, MegaCon ’08 plays host to some incredible anime events. MegaCon has become the “go-to” destination for anime and manga fans and this year will only be better.



Come meet members of the band Vidoll. Vidoll is an indie visual kei band that was formed in February 2002. Their music is a mix of melody and groove, sometimes mellow, sometimes deranged, but always contagious. Vidoll has become increasingly popular in the Japanese indie circuit and abroad. Members Jui and Rame will make their first East Coast appearance at MegaCon ’08. The band members are scheduled for a variety of events including an autograph and photo opportunity on Friday, March 7 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, a question and answer panel on Saturday, March 8 from 11:40am to 12:30pm and another autograph and photo opportunity on Sunday, March 9 from 12:00pm to 2:00pm. The band will also appear at the jpophouse booth located in the exhibit hall.



Naruto is making a live appearance at MegaCon ’08. He will be available for a limited number of photos at each session and a Session Card is necessary to have your photo taken. You can preorder your Session Card by going to: http://narutofest.com/megacon.html.



Once you have your Session Card, bring it with you to Booth 1129 on the date and time which are shown on the Session Card. Your photo will then be taken and available for pick up after the session is over.



Sessions occur on the following days and times:

Friday 1 photo 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Friday 2 photo 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Friday 3 photo 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Saturday 1 photo 11:30am - 12:30pm
Saturday 2 photo 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Saturday 3 photo 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Sunday 1 photo 10:30am -11:30am
Sunday 2 photo 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Sunday 3 photo 3:30pm - 4:30pm



The Annual Costume Contest is happening once again at MegaCon ’08. For the 8th year in a row, the best anime costumes will be on display. The contest is being held on Saturday, March 8 at 4:30pm.


To enter the Costume Contest you must fill out a registration form and be a convention attendee. Registration forms will be available all day Friday, March 7 and on Saturday, March 8 before 11:15am. No entries will be accepted after 11:15am. Pre-registration is available online from now until February 19. Online registrants will be first in line for prejudging. Registration links are available at www.animesushi.com.

Prejudging begins at 11:00am in room S330-C on Saturday. You must be present to enter. Online pre-registered contestants will be judged first so you are asked to arrive by 10:45am. You must be registered, in costume and provide reference images at the time of judging. You will receive an entry number that you are required to remember and not lose. This number will be used to determine your judging and stage order. The earlier you are registered, the lower the number, the earlier you will go on stage.


Stage presentations begin at 4:30pm in rooms S330-E-F-G. Contestants must be in the staging hall no later than 4:15pm for line-up. All contestants will be allowed on stage. There will be no pre-eliminations.

Awards are based on the Technical Merit, Creativity, Accuracy, Originality and Quality of the costume. Prizes to be given out include:
BEST OF SHOW = $200 cash, trophy and $100 plus worth of merchandise.
BEST GROUP = $100 cash, trophy and merchandise.
BEST INDIVIDUAL = $50 cash, trophy and merchandise.
BEST CHILD = trophy and merchandise.



Here is a list of simplified rules that you must follow to be eligible for the contest:
1) Only costumes from Japanese anime, manga, video games or J-pop/J-rock.
2) One minute on stage.
3) Skits aren’t required, contestants will be prejudged.
4) Music on audio CD only and will start when you come on stage.
5) One entry per person/costume/group.
6) No commissioned costumes.
7) You must be prejudged AND appear on stage to qualify for an award.
8) Provide reference material.
9) Peace-bond and be careful with weapons and props.
10) No swinging of props and weapons.
11) No messes.
12) No jumping off stage.
13) Anime Sushi and MegaCon are not responsible for injury, theft or damage.
14) No obscene costumes, language or skits.
15) Children under 13 judged separately.
16) Be courteous and kind.
17) Drink plenty of fluids and stay cool.
18) Registration ends 11:15am Saturday.
19) Prejudging begins 11:00am Saturday in room S330-C.
20) Be ready by 4:15pm on Saturday in rooms S330-E-F-G.



After the Costume Contest, hang around and attend the Cyberia Dance from 8:30pm until 11:30pm at the convention center. If you have a MegaCon wristband you are invited to attend.



On Sunday, March 9, MegaCon ’08 plays host to the Anime Music Video contest. This year’s event will be different than in the past. For the first time ever only digital entries uploaded through Anime Sushi's website Gallery will be accepted. If you’re interested in entering, here’s what you need to know.



RULES AND REGULATIONS:

The deadline to have your video in is Sunday, February 24 by 11:59pm. Entries will not be accepted at the convention so that they can be judged and a presentation put together for viewing at the con.

All submissions must be uploaded to the Anime Sushi website in one of the following formats:

QuickTime (.mov)
Mpeg 4 (.mp4)
Mpeg 1 or 2 (.mpg, .mpeg, other mpeg1 and 2 extensions)
AVI (mpeg4, divx, xvid and DV compressed AVI’s ONLY)

Files should be no more than 250MB in size. If you would like to submit a file larger than 250MB, please email SushiAdmin@gmail.com or private message Sushiboy on the Anime Sushi forum for permission to do so.

Videos will be converted and burned to DVD and will be displayed at the contest via a DVD player. Please be sure that your video is in as high a quality format as possible. 720x480 Pixels is Standard Definition video size.


The maximum length for videos in the contest is seven minutes. Videos over seven minutes will be disqualified.



You may submit one video for entry into the contest.


UPLOAD INSTRUCTIONS:

Entrants into the AMV Contest must send an email to SushiAdmin@gmail.com with “MegaCon 2008 AMV Contest Entry” as the subject line. In this email you must include:

1.) Your Real Name
2.) Your Studio Name / Nickname (if you have one)
3.) Your Video Title

4.) The Settings/Program you used to convert/edit/compress your video
5.) Your email address or other pertinent contact information

6.) Your Sushi Forum User ID

Your video should then be uploaded to the “MegaCon 2008 AMV Contest Submission Dropbox” gallery in the Gallery section on the Anime Sushi forum at www.animesushi.com.

If you’d like to participate in any of these exciting events, be sure to get your convention tickets now. You can purchase them online at: https://protected6.purehost.com/d30063092/ordering.asp, or by stopping into any Coliseum of Comics store.



MegaCon would like to recognize this year’s sponsors, Coliseum of Comics, Blam! Ventures, Students of the Unusual and Hot Flips, and thank them for their support.



We look forward to seeing you in Orlando, Florida for MegaCon ’08 on March 7-9, 2008. For more information, stop by www.megaconvention.com