Yuricon
From Fan History Wiki
Yuricon was founded in 2001 by Erica Friedman as AniLesboCon, with the mission of bringing together fans of lesbian images in Japanese animation and comics. Initially, ALC was designed to be a "virtual" convention only, with real contests to foster community and creativity. This mission gathered people from all over the world; to discuss and create stories that represented an entire continuum of lesbian experience, from youthful crushes to adult relationships.
As the ALC community rapidly grew from a few members to nearly 200, events were planned where members could get together off-line. The name was officially changed to Yuricon in 2002, to better represent the mission: to celebrate shoujoai and yuri in anime and manga. Yuricon members have since contributed programming and subject expertise to conventions, film festivals and academic programs across North America and Europe.
In 2003, Yuricon sponsored a full three-day anime and manga convention in Newark, NJ. The convention brought together 200 fans of yuri and shoujoai, with panels, an academic lecture series, games, several dozen vendors of anime and manga and related items, and video programming.
2004 and 2005 saw the expansion Yuricon efforts in events, from academic lectures at leading universities, to a ground-breaking all-yuri event in Tokyo, Japan, and anime conventions across the US. Yuricon and its spin-off sister company, ALC Publishing, continue to plan and participate in events. Another Yuricon event is scheduled in September 2007, and Yuricon presence at other anime conventions is ongoing.
