First BayCon Staffers Resign, Now Anime Expo Staffers Resign Too?
I reported earlier tonight that over a dozen staffers for BayCon resigned over a disagreement with the owning company. Now we’ve learned that several staffers over at Anime Expo have now resigned as well. The Anime News Network reports that ” the majority of the convention’s division managers have resigned over disputes with the Board of Directors of the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA).” This is not at all surprising, as Convention Fans had reported about these problems between staff and the SPJA before.
Some of those who apparently resigned are:
Veronica Hernandez (exhibits division manager)
Jay Lee (exhibits assistant division manager)
Joe Woo (interactive events division manager)
Rob Wu (operations division manager)
Derf Tang (operations assistant division manager)
Miko Estacio (operations assistant division manager)
Jason Shuai (programming division manager)
Joseph Kitzman (programming assistant division manager)
Even worse is that approximately 80% of those staffers still left are ready to follow suit in support. Anime News Network has a very lengthy history about the whole ordeal, which you can read here.
Anime Expo is currently scheduled to happen July 1 – 4, 2010, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Of course, if 80% of the staff resigns, it may put a real kink in those plans.
Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
