Every year in July, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation raises money through the AIDS Walk. Last year, my wife,
A week ago, I was chatting with a friend and he asked me when I was going to start running my own anime convention. Interestingly enough, he was the millionth person to ask me because I seem to be getting that question A LOT. I figured, hey, if people want me to run one, it seems like people want to go to it if I do. I think somehow there’s a guaranteed audience right there, but I didn’t really want to do for profit, yanno? If we were going to raise some money, I wanted the proceeds to go somewhere that needed it and so I’ve chosen to combine the idea of running an anime-related event and a donation to the AIDS Walk.
So, here is my plan:
- Hold an anime marathon in San Francisco, at the Red Vic Movie House
- Find 20 people to donate $100 each ($2000 total) in seed money to cover the venue.
- Sell the remaining 127 seats at $35 each for a 12 hour show.
- $35 times 127 people is $4,445 which would go straight to the AIDS Walk for my wife’s team.
- We’re calling it “Big Mike’s Anime Festival” on the advice of others.
The event would be held two weeks before Anime Expo on a Saturday, to help ease the cost. Plus, I think people can do $35 for charity given enough notice, and they get: 12 hours of anime with good friends, a special badge (which I’ll create), and a ‘program guide’. If we do this every year, I think we can start helping to make a difference.
Who’s with me on this?
