January 26, 2006

New York Comic-Con announces anime programming

Mari Iijima, Youka Nitta and Other Guests Will Join Many Celebrities at Convention

Norwalk, CT, January 26, 2006: Officials at New York Comic-Con have announced exclusive programming devoted to anime which will include numerous guest appearances; interactive educational sessions and games; seminars involving industry leading companies; screenings; musical performances; parties; and other public events and exhibits. New York Comic-Con is a new trade and consumer event for comics, games, anime and other related industries and will take place in New York City at the Jacob K. Javits Center, February 24th – 26th, 2006.

Some of the guests who will be bringing their formidable talents and skills to New York Comic-Con will be Greg Ayres, Mari Iijima, Youka Nitta, and Sook Sim, among others. Notably, Ms. Iijima and Mr. Ayres will be lending their talents for a special New York Comic-Con evening of entertainment called Anime Exodus, which will take place at The Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St. (TriBeCa) beginning at 8pm. Mari Iijima will sing at 10pm and Greg Ayres will be spinning music for the entire evening. Shuttle buses will be available from the Javits Center to The Knitting Factory beginning at 8pm (there will be no return service available).

Numerous leading anime companies will be participating in various conference panels at New York Comic-Con, including Viz, ADV, TokyoPop, and CPM, among others. Terry Chu, the anime programming organizer, is quick to point out that many of the conference sessions will not only be interactive, there will also be prizes offered as a result of people's participation. Among the panels and special events are several game shows, including Anime Name That Tune and Anime Parliament. There will also be a public stage in the main lobby where there will be musical performances as well as Cosplay on the Stage, where cosplayers may go to the viewing stage to show off their costumes. Some of the specific panel sessions will include Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, The Geg Ayers Show, and Meet the Fuucons!, among others.

Mr. Chu also notes that another added attraction is that AnimeNEXT is bringing its Manga library to New York Comic-Con. This will provide a comfortable environment at the Javits Center where convention-goers can relax, and peruse over 250 volumes of Manga on the shelves in a private reading area.

Tickets for Anime Exodus cost $15 if you have a New York Comic-Con badge; $25 without a badge, and are available at www.nycomiccon.com, www.knittingfactory.com, at The Knitting Factory door, or at New York Comic-Con. Convention officials note that tickets for New York Comic-Con itself are also available on the New York Comic-Con Web site. Exhibitor inquiries should be directed to: Bill Butler (203) 840-5350 or [email protected]. Event or Guest inquiries should be directed to Steve Rosato at (203) 840-5463 or [email protected]. Press inquiries should be directed to: Roger Bilheimer (203) 966-0792 or [email protected].

Overseeing all the anime activity at New York Comic-Con is Terry Chu, who was brought on board by convention officials to direct anime programming for the event. Mr. Chu has been involved in event planning and coordination for Otakon® and is a recognized persona in the anime convention community.

New York Comic-Con is managed by Reed Exhibitions (RX), a division of Reed Elsevier plc. Reed Exhibitions, the world's largest organizer of business-to-business events. Each year Reed events assemble over 90,000 suppliers and over 5 million buyers from around the world. Today, Reed events are held in over 30 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia/Pacific, and are organized by 26 fully staffed offices. Reed's portfolio of events serves 49 industries in 12 key sectors.

BEA is one many Reed Elsevier properties within the Reed Global Book Publishing Network, whose trade events include the Asia International Book Fair, London International Book Fair, Salon du Livre: Paris Book Fair, Tokyo International Book Fair and BookExpo Canada, and whose Reed Business Information (RBI) properties include Publishers Weekly, Variety Magazine, Playthings, Video Business, Library Journal, and School Library Journal. As a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group, a world-leading business and information provider, Reed offers integrated market access programs covering exhibitions, trade publications, direct marketing and the Internet over a database of more than 9 million.

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