Where is otakon held

You can occasionally get lucky with someone dropping their reservation. Also, a sold out room rate doesn't necessarily mean the hotel is completely sold out.

We cannot secure or guarantee any prices outside of our room blocks. Room rates generally do NOT include parking fees. Please check with the hotel for the exact rate. Parking rates will depend on the hotel and the lot used. If you made reservations through the link above and need to make changes or have questions, please call or email:. Because we don't have one room that can hold over 30, people. Thus, we try to have really cool stuff scheduled opposite other really cool stuff, so if you miss out on one Cool Thing, there's another Cool Thing that you can enjoy.

We've never been a one-event convention! At the end of , the group behind MAT3K announced that it would be the last. There were many reasons, but chief among them was a desire to quit while they were still funny, rather than see the quality degrade. While we'll miss them too, we respect their decision. Otakon and Otakorp, the organization that runs Otakon are run entirely by volunteers.

We have two "levels" of volunteers:. Joining our Volunteer Staff requires an invitation, but anyone who is registered for the convention can sign up to volunteer as a Gofer.

To become staff for Otakon, you must be recommended by two current staffers and be approved by our chief of staff. The most reliable way to earn such recommendations is to work as a gofer and show your dedication. Nope -- not one penny. Otakon has never had paid staff. The entire organization is volunteer-run, though we do contract out for certain things such as legal and accounting services. Additionally, whenever there is a membership rate increase, our staff pay that increase as well.

Otakorp, Inc. It's an educational non-profit that promotes understanding and appreciation of Asian culture, by means of celebrating its popular culture. Its funding comes from memberships and fees primarily from Otakon, which is also where most of the money goes , and its officers are elected from among the ranks of voting members.

By the terms of our bylaws, members can earn the right to vote by working in support of the organization generally as volunteer staff , paying dues, and attending meetings. All of our officers must be volunteers, and may not receive material compensation for their efforts on behalf of the organization. In accordance with usual practices for officers of a corporation, they are eligible to be compensated for travel expenses, but in practice this seldom happens.

The only people who have a direct say in how Otakorp conducts its affairs, or how it runs the convention, are the voting members. Neither are there any industry reps on our board of directors, and it would be difficult for industry reps to satisfy the requirements to be a voting member in the first place. We do work closely with the industry and maintain good relations with them, but they don't pull the strings or pay the bills. Otakon takes place at the Walter E.

The address is: Mt. Vernon Place, N. Washington, DC Washington Convention Center. You can even get there by boat! Driving by car? Our main Location page has the address and map information to get you there. DC has a robust public transit system that we highly reocmmend making use of over driving.

You can also check out the official DC Events page. Hot and humid. Anywhere from 75 to is possible in a District summer, and the humidity is about the same. Rain is a distinct possibility. Prepare for the worst, especially if you have a long walk to your hotel, or plan to wait outside for the convention to open.

Dress comfortably, and remember that while you'll be outside in blistering heat occasionally, most of the time you'll be in a nice cool building. If you tend to get chilly, bring a lightweight shirt in case you need it. Perhaps most importantly, wear comfortable shoes, and ideally bring a pair for each day. You'll be spending a very long time in them, and doing a lot of walking. Don't park on the streets--it's generally going to cost far more in the way of tickets than it's worth.

Parking is available in many nearby lots, but if you're not used to downtown prices, prepare for sticker shock. Hotels tend to be the most expensive. Important: make sure you note the closing time of your garage--many close earlier than programming ends.

Most hotels have a cash machine these days, but it's a good idea to come prepared. We have a huge number of people coming, we eat up most of the convention area's hotel space. And because the cheap seats always sell out first. We generally negotiate our room blocks at the same time in advance as our event schedule. If you book ahead of the officially announced hotel availability block, you won't have the protection of our contract should the hotel be oversold. Otakorp has worked hard to establish good relationships with all the nearby hotels, and pretty much every downtown hotel works with us to give a good convention rate.

If the hotel doesn't offer one, it's not from lack of trying on our part. Depends on the hotel, but generally no more than four. Yes, we've heard of people cramming 10 or more people into a standard double room, but it's unwise and violates your hotel's rental agreement and the fire code , and they're perfectly within their rights to kick you out, or charge you for the extra people. They are less likely to worry about your extra body or two if you don't make a nuisance of yourself -- so don't put extra demands towels, pillows, key cards on the hotel for your extra people.

But we encourage you to follow the rules. Ask your hotel about its party policy, and please follow it. Otakon has a good reputation with hotels because our guests are generally well-behaved.

Please don't jeopardize our ability to continue to get good rates. Convention room rates are negotiated with the local hotel based on how many rooms we guarantee to fill. There are any number of reasons why a hotel might be able to offer a room at a cheaper rate than they offer the convention, and they're all beyond our control. If you can get a cheaper rate outside the room block or the hotel's loyalty program, then congratulations!

But you're unlikely to get more than one or two rooms at that rate, and Otakon has to work out rates for thousands of rooms at over a dozen hotels.

The short answer is that staff have to stay somewhere, and you can't have a convention without them. One of the few perks of being on staff is that you don't have to worry about where you're going to stay, but putting up nearly people for nights doesn't come cheap.

It's in the best interest of the convention to put the staff up in the cheapest, closest hotel that we can fit into, and there are only so many rooms available. Additionally, there are plenty of nearby locations within easy walking distance, and a map will be provided with your convention materials.

DC's nearby Chinatown area is filled with restaurants, and there are many nearby fast-food and takeout places. Another option is to bring your own food and keep it at your hotel room or in your car. All concessions are handled through Centerplate. Some things like Pocky and Ramune are available at the Centerplate concession stands.

Make sure you get at least one good meal in every day -- a real meal with real nutrition. Ramen won't cut it, not by itself. And make sure you drink plenty of water, not just fruit juice or sodas or coffee. If you pass out on us, we'll be annoyed. If Otakon's your first convention, expect to be just a bit overwhelmed. There's so much to see, so much to do, you may not know where to start. So try to sample a bit of everything.

Just go with the flow, have fun, make friends, and share in the celebration. You should dress for comfort. But quite a lot of people do dress up, and if you're feeling creative, feel free to show off your skills. How much do you plan on spending? Make sure you have enough money to get home!

Primarily because of our venue; the hour convention is something limited to conventions that fit in a single hotel, and is generally something you do with a single track of programming.

When we last ran in a hotel for 24 hours, very few people actually stayed up watching the videos; they used the video rooms to sleep. Otakorp tried a four-day con some time ago, when Otakon was a fraction of the size we are now, and it nearly killed us. Remember that all of our staff volunteers their time to run the convention, and most staffers are already sacrificing an entire week of vacation or taking the time off without pay to put on a three-day convention.

By the end of the convention, the staff are utterly exhausted. If by some miracle we had an abundance of staff, we'd still have to work out a large number of logistical and funding issues to start earlier or stay later. So don't expect to see a four-day Otakon anytime soon! We've tried. Trust us on that. But not all escalators are able to put up with the heavy use that Otakon and its atendees inflict on them. There are some escalators that only have a top step weight restriction of lbs while others have lb weight restriction.

We will do our best to make sure as many escalators as possible are running. However the ones we and the WEWCC have flagged as being unable to handle the stresses our members put on them will be turned off. If you cannot climb stairs for the course of the weekend, please ask to be directed to the Member Accessibility booth at registration where you can receive a sticker that will allow you access to the elevators. However rest assured that we have your safety and comfort the foremost in our minds when planning Otakon.

All of the escalators have a built-in safety feature that stop them when the railings and the stairs travel at a separate speed. Which is why you will see some escalators working one time and then not another time. If you see this, report it to the information desk and we will do our best in conjunction with the WEWCC to get it up and working again.

Don't contribute to the problem. Anytime you have a lot of people in one place, and it's hot out, you're going to get the occasional whiff of B. Please shower with soap! No matter how cool your outfit is, the acrid smell of pleather and human sweat will ruin the effect by the second day, we guarantee it.

Make sure your sleeping arrangements allow for proper hygiene. You can't, as a rule. While it's true that we record and archive several aspects of Otakon, there are layers of legal and intellectual property rights issues that would prevent it being available for distribution, even if we didn't charge. The problems with AMV rights ought to be obvious fan-assembled content with multiple rights holders involved.

For concerts or masquerade performances, broadcast or resale rights must be negotiated separately and there are additional fees involved that can add up very quickly. You'd have to sell a lot of DVDs to generate enough income to cover those costs. Individual panelists sometimes allow their panels to be recorded and shown, but most don't because it diminishes the value of their appearance.

In the case of Mystery Anime Theatre ; however, there's simply no way Otakorp could ever release those shows. The people who put on that show retain the rights to their commentary and skits, but the anime they riffed on isn't theirs to redistribute -- not to mention Best Brains owns the format for MST3K, the obvious inspiration.

For those reasons, we didn't make archive copies of the performances. Try checking our lost and found located in Salon F. If it is not there, you will need to purchase another membership. We will not be replacing lost or stolen badges this year.

All unclaimed items are handed over to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center at the end of Otakon. Yes and no. It depends on what you mean by sponsorships.

Yes, we can accept donations, but no, we don't use the traditional trade show model for such things, mostly because we are not a trade show. Otakon takes great pride in being entirely fan-run, and our membership has traditionally been suspicious of a too-cozy relationship with corporate interests. Because the bulk of our budget comes directly from membership fees, the needs of our membership will always come first, and large donations never come without strings attached.

Thus, we do not accept direct sponsorships from anyone -- by which we mean that while we frequently work with our friends in industry on specific projects, we do so within very specific boundaries. Follow Otakon on Facebook, Twitter, and more for all sorts of updates and news about the upcoming year.

Otakorp, Inc. And we promise to use it only for Otakorp, Inc. Fair enough? Member Login. Get Ready for Otakon