# Setsucon

Setsucon is an annual three day anime convention held during January/February at the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The convention's name comes from the Japanese word setsu, meaning "snow". It is organized by the Penn State Anime Organization (PSAO). The convention is family-friendly.

## Programming

The convention typically offers an anime music video contest, anime showings, artist alley, card-game tournaments, dance, dealer's room, Iron Cosplay, Itasha car show, manga library, masquerade, musical events, panels, tabletop gaming, video gaming, and workshops. The 2008 host auction raised $1,200 and was donated to the United Way. Todd Haberkorn participated in the 2013 host auction, raising $510 for charity. The host auction in 2014 raised nearly $500 for Child's Play. Richard Epcar and Stephanie Sheh participated in the 2015 host auction, along with several cosplayers, raising $800 for Child's Play. Setsucon in 2018 had over 130 hours of convention programming. The 2022 charity video game tournaments benefited the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Charities the convention supported in 2023 were the Colon Cancer Coalition and Jared Box.

## History

Due to financial issues, the convention's first year in 2007 was reduced from three days to one day. In 2008, the convention expanded to two days due to additional funding. In 2010 on Saturday, Setsucon reached its venues capacity limit of 900 people before noon. The artists' alley and dealers' room were expanded in 2014. The dance was shut down early in 2015 because of complaints including poor behavior. In 2017, the convention showed never before seen clips from anime licensor Pied Piper, Inc. of the dub for Skip Beat!. In 2018, the convention moved to the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Setsucon due to the COVID-19 pandemic was scheduled to move to April for 2021, and would also have Friday programming. Instead, Setsucon held a virtual event in April, and in 2022 returned to January with a three day event. The 2022 convention had COVID-19 protocols including masking and vaccination/testing requirements.

### Event History

| Dates | Location | Atten. | Guests |
| January 27, 2007 | Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania | 288 | |
| January 26-27, 2008 | Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania | | D-Chan, Kyle Hebert, Dave Lister, and Chris "Kilika" Malone. |
| January 17-18, 2009 | Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania | About 600 | Robert Axelrod, Dave Lister, Chris "Kilika" Malone, Yuko "Aido" Ota, Ananth Panagariya, and This Place is Haunted. |
| January 16-17, 2010 | Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania | | M. Alice LeGrow, Chris "Kilika" Malone, and Vic Mignogna. |
| January 29-30, 2011 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | | Todd Haberkorn and Chris "Kilika" Malone. |
| January 28-29, 2012 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | | Antipode, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Kyle Hebert, Uncle Yo, and Greg Wicker. |
| January 26-27, 2013 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | 1,300 | Antipode, Martin Billany, Todd Haberkorn, Cherami Leigh, Dave Lister, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing. |
| January 25-26, 2014 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | Nearly 1,500 | Antipode, Leah Clark, Richard Epcar, Todd Haberkorn, Kambrea Pratt, Thom Pratt, Ellyn Stern, Alexis Tipton, Uncle Yo, Greg Wicker, and DJ Zing. |
| January 24-25, 2015 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | 1,200 | Antipode, Richard Epcar, Rusty Gilligan, Stephanie Sheh, Ellyn Stern, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing. |
| January 30-31, 2016 | Toftrees Golf Resort & Conference Center State College, Pennsylvania | | Antipode, Chris Bevins, Natalie Rose Hoover, Rachel Robinson, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing. |
| January 21-22, 2017 | Toftrees Golf Resort & Conference Center State College, Pennsylvania | | Antipode, Kira Buckland, DJ-R, Ralph "Ralfington" Edward, Erica Lindbeck, Keith Silverstein, and Uncle Yo. |
| January 27-28, 2018 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | | Antipode, Leah Clark, Amber Lee Connors, Daman Mills, Micah Solusod, Lex Winter, and DJ Zing. |
| January 26-27, 2019 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | | Antipode, Brianna Knickerbocker, E. Jason Liebrecht, Elizabeth Maxwell, and Lex Winter. |
| January 25-26, 2020 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Kohei Hattori, Billy Kametz, Faye Mata, TiA, and Lex Winter. |
| April 10-11, 2021 | Online convention | | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Heroes 4 Hire, Sarah Natochenny, and Lindsay Seidel. |
| January 28-30, 2022 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Heroes 4 Hire, Brittany Lauda, n00neimp0rtant, Otaku Ongaku, Matt Shipman, ThaGataNegrra, and Lex Winter. |
| January 13-15, 2023 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | 2,038 | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Aaron Dismuke, Kohei Hattori, Heroes 4 Hire, Sarah Wiedenheft, Lex Winter, and Fake Idol Project. |
| February 2-4, 2024 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | | Antipode, Chris Hackney, Heroes 4 Hire, ThaGataNegrra, Lex Winter, and Anne Yatco. |
| January 31 - February 2, 2025 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | 2,363 | Antipode, SungWon Cho, Caitlin Glass, and Lex Winter. |

## Associations

Setsucon is a member of the International Otaku Expo Association (I.O.E.A).
Setsucon has sponsored a Costume Contest at Schlow Centre Region Library's BookFestPA event, run during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.