Well you might have noticed that the website looks a little different. We updated the look a little and moved all the forums to one big forum for all of our conventions. I’m sure your first thought is that you have to remake your log in info. Well one of the great things about this change is the new forum system will already have your log in info. There are a couple things you will have to do, you will have to enter your password twice on your first log in, your posts will have to be remade, and you might have to modify a bit of your personal info on the boards. We hope this will make a more active and drawn together community. If you have any issues with logging in please feel free to email me at yatesanime@gmail.com with your user name and the issue and i will try to help. I want this transition to be as smooth as possible. Hope you enjoy the new site and hope to see you at the show!

Hello Animelanders!! We wanted to give you all a quick update as to what’s going on with ALOM 2011. We are currently looking at a date in November for this year’s show as to not conflict with the balloon festival. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have brought you and thank you for your patience. Please check back for updates!

So we have this show, see?

We’ve confirmed some guests for it already, along with a multitude of vendors, panelists and artists for the alley. There are events set up and the dance is showing signs of being the best party we’ve ever done at ANY of our shows. We’re excited about the details and plans coming together for Albuquerque, one of our favorite places to run. The thing is, the best laid plans of mice and men can often end in a network error 80710A06.

We’re looking for a place to put it.

There were conversations about whether to keep Otaku Mex in the same location. We loved the staff, we loved how they worked with us, but they were so SMALL. So we started shopping. Hotels were asking us to change the date, put the entire thing in just one big room (!), or put our main events in a room that would only hold 75 people…with no stage! Well, that would never do. And then our decision started to get made for us. Our “tried and true” hotel asked us to move the date. SIGNIFICANTLY. Now we should SERIOUSLY consider moving the location. It was about time anyway.

So we’re looking for the right place. The right amount of room, the right price (we aren’t ready to jack up the prices on registration to cover), the right dates and the right…atmosphere. We found out not every hotel is ready to be overun by exuberent cosplaying fans. Remember that first year when we had to take ALL the weapons down? We want to solve that problem on the front end. And that takes time. A little longer than we prefer, but we’re confident.

“Confident?! Aren’t you worried sick?!”

Nope. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you veiw the bottle of ramune) we’ve been through this before. We had a venue pulled out from under us the Friday afternoon before a show. Seven days. And made it work a few blocks away, with not quite a week to tell everyone about the change. We’ve had another hotel change OWNERSHIP the weekend OF the show. So while everyone was looking for Hotel This (that we’d been promoting), all the signs had been changed to Hotel That. We never even had a chance to tell people about the changes. The universe usually has a way of working things out, though.

“Well, good for you, but WE’RE worried sick! I need to ask for time off of work!”

Hopefully we’ve brought you a great show the last few years. We didn’t let you down on a good time in September. We’re going to ask you to use that credit that we’ve built with you to…trust us.

There WILL be a show in late September!
A venue WILL be chosen by the first week of August!
The events, panels, gaming and guests WILL be worth the wait!

We apologize for not having more information for you than we do right now. The instant WE know which hotel meets your standards (and ours!) and the paperwork is in, YOU’LL be the first to know. Until then, keep the input coming. Locations, panel ideas, bands, ALL of it.

And for all of you still frustrated and needing to vent…thank you, and please do. It means you care enough to see Animeland come back that it’s touched a nerve with you. We are listening…

…and we WILL NOT let you down.