# AnimeIowa

AnimeIowa is an annual three-day anime convention held during July at the Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel & Conference Center in Coralville, Iowa. The staff are all volunteers and the convention is run by the non-profit Mindbridge Foundation.

## Programming

The convention typically offers artist alley, cosplay contests, dealers room, Maid Café, masquerade, tabletop gaming, video gaming, and video rooms. In 2011, the Maid Café benefited We Heart Japan, a charity supporting 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami victims. AnimeIowa held a fundraiser to benefit Swisher's Miracles in Motion in 2014.

## History

AnimeIowa's first convention in 1997 was organized by the SFLIS Wing of Anime and Manga People (SWAMP). Technical issues occurred during the 2008 masquerade and some attendees rooms were relocated to a different hotel due to the Iowa flood of 2008. The 2011 convention occurred during the RAGBRAI bicycle ride. Cassandra Hodges was scheduled to attend the 2011 convention, but died on June 27, 2011. Iowa River Landing was used by both the RAGBRAI bicycle ride and AnimeIowa in 2015. AnimeIowa 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The convention later held a virtual event in August.

### Event history

| Dates | Location | Atten. | Guests |
| September 19–21, 1997 | Highlander Inn Iowa City, Iowa | 150 (estimate) | Steve Bennett and Kuni Kimura. |
| September 18–20, 1998 | Highlander Inn Iowa City, Iowa | 300 (estimate) | Steve Bennett, Robert DeJesus, and Kuni Kimura. |
| September 3–5, 1999 | Collins Plaza Hotel Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 420 | Hiroshi Aro |
| September 1–3, 2000 | Crowne Plaza Five Seasons Hotel Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 700 (estimate) | Steve Bennett, Robert DeJesus, Shimpei Itoh, and Toshifumi Yoshida. |
| August 24–26, 2001 | Collins Plaza Hotel Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 900 (estimate) | Steve Bennett and Robert DeJesus |
| August 23–25, 2002 | Collins Plaza Hotel & Convention Center Cedar Rapids, Iowa | | Steve Bennett, Robert DeJesus, Tiffany Grant, Lea Hernandez, and Stan Sakai. |
| August 22–24, 2003 | Collins Plaza Hotel & Convention Center Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 1,608 | Greg Ayres, Steve Bennett, Max Allen Collins, Robert DeJesus, Lea Hernandez, Jay Hickman, Kevin Lillard, Rob Mungle, and Jan Scott-Frazier. |
| September 17–19, 2004 | Hotel Fort Des Moines Des Moines, Iowa | | Kia Asamiya, Greg Ayres, Ron Kaulfersch, Dr. Susan Napier, Monica Rial, and Mike Schwark. |
| September 9–11, 2005 | Hotel Fort Des Moines Des Moines, Iowa | | Greg Ayres, Johnny Yong Bosch, Keith Burgess, Emily DeJesus, Robert DeJesus, Tricia Dickson, Bamboo Dong, Lea Hernandez, Taliesin Jaffe, Zarah Little, and Felipe Smith. |
| August 4–6, 2006 | Crowne Plaza Hotel Cedar Rapids, Iowa | | Greg Ayres, Steve Bennett, Emily DeJesus, Robert DeJesus, Kyle Hebert, Lea Hernandez, Richard Kekahuna, Shawn Kleckner, Rob Mungle, and Carrie Savage. |
| August 10–12, 2007 | Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | | Christopher Ayres, Greg Ayres, Carrie Savage, Richard Torrance, Richard Townsend, and Shannon Townsend. |
| August 15–17, 2008 | Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | 2,468 | Christopher Ayres, Greg Ayres, Clarine Harp, Kyle Hebert, Carrie Savage, Richard Townsend, and Shannon Townsend. |
| August 14–16, 2009 | Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | | Robert Axelrod, Greg Ayres, Emily DeJesus, Robert DeJesus, Michael McConnohie, Melodee M. Spevack, Richard Townsend, and Shannon Townsend. |
| July 30–August 1, 2010 | Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | Attendance capped at 3,000 | Christopher Ayres, Greg Ayres, Kyle Hebert, Cassandra Hodges, Helen McCarthy, Evan Miller, Richard Townsend, Shannon Townsend, and Maxey Whitehead. |
| July 29–31, 2011 | Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | Attendance capped at 3,500 | Robert Axelrod, Christopher Ayres, Greg Ayres, Jillian Coglan, Samurai Dan Coglan, Allie Dyal, Kyle Hebert, Lea Hernandez, Helen McCarthy, Carli Mosier, Steve Raffill, and Jan Scott-Frazier. |
| July 27–29, 2012 | Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | 3,000 | Christopher Ayres, Greg Ayres, Johnny Yong Bosch, Svetlana Chmakova, Jillian Coglan, Samurai Dan Coglan, Patrick Delahanty, Terri Doty, Eyeshine, Jessie James Grelle, Stephen Hoff, Brittney Karbowski, and Chris "Kilika" Malone. |
| July 26–28, 2013 | Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | | Robert Axelrod, Greg Ayres, Jessie James Grelle, Chuck Huber, Trevor A. Mueller, Peter Pixie, Raj Ramayya, Mimiru Riley, Tyson Rinehart, Jad Saxton, Sarah "Sully" Sullivan, David Wald, and Young Wang. |
| July 25–27, 2014 | Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | | Robert Axelrod, Greg Ayres, Chris Cason, Jillian Coglan, Samurai Dan Coglan, Russell Lissau, Trevor A. Mueller, Mimiru Riley, Lucas Schuneman, Uncle Yo, and Greg Wicker. |
| July 24–26, 2015 | Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | | Greg Ayres, Caitlynn French, Briana Lawrence, Andrew Love, Chris "Kilika" Malone, Carli Mosier, Trevor A. Mueller, Peter Pixie, Steve Raffill, Xero Reynolds, Micah Solusod, Paul St. Peter, Brooke Stephenson, Alexis Tipton, Jessica Walsh, and Shinichi Watanabe. |
| July 29–31, 2016 | Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | | Greg Ayres, Steve Bennett, Steve Blum, Chris Cason, Fredd Gorham, Kyle Hebert, Chris "Kilika" Malone, Trevor A. Mueller, The Pillowcases, Spike Spencer, Paul St. Peter, Brooke Stephenson, Doug Walker, Shinichi Watanabe. |
| July 28-30, 2017 | Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | | Greg Ayres, Steve Bennett, Jillian Coglan, Samurai Dan Coglan, Fredd Gorham, Briana Lawrence, Russell Lissau, Chris "Kilika" Malone, Jessica Walsh, and Lisle Wilkerson. |
| July 13-15, 2018 | Iowa Events Center Des Moines, Iowa | | Greg Ayres, Chris Bevins, Jillian Coglan, Samurai Dan Coglan, Joel McDonald, Daniel Mohr, Trina Nishimura, The Pillowcases, Rachel Robinson, and Austin Tindle. |
| July 12-14, 2019 | Iowa Events Center Des Moines, Iowa | | Greg Ayres, Morgan Berry, Crusher-P, Kohei Hattori, IA, Lauren Landa, Matthew Lassiter, Daniel Mohr, J. Michael Tatum, TiA, Vedetta Marie, and Sarah Wiedenheft. |
| July 30 - August 1, 2021 | Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | | Brian Beacock and Derek Stephen Prince. |
| July 22-24, 2022 | Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | | Derek Stephen Prince |
| July 28-30, 2023 | Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | | Samurai Dan Coglan |
| July 26-28, 2024 | Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel & Conference Center Coralville, Iowa | | Corina Boettger, Sean Chiplock, The Shake Ups, and Michael "Knightmage" Wilson. |