Registration Information

YOUMACON 2019 REGISTRATION INFO

Planning on attending this year’s Youmacon? Here’s what you need to know about convention registration. Remember, attendees traveling from outside the United States are now required to bring a passport or enhanced drivers’ license to enter the country.

PARENTAL CONSENT FORM

Unattended minors 18 and under must have our Parental Consent form filled out by their legal guardians to be allowed to attend Youmacon. Download your’s here today!

THREE TYPES OF BADGES:

A Three-Day Badge (weekend) will get you into all general events for the entirety of this year’s convention. Three-day badges are available for purchase both online and at-the-door.

A One-Day Badge (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday) will get you into all general events for the day purchased. One-Day badges may only be purchased at-the-door.

A Platinum Badge has all of the benefits of a Three-Day, with these extra perks:

• Priority positioning for the first 20 minutes in all autograph lines
• Priority positioning for Main Events
• A 2018 Youmacon T-Shirt
• Admittance into either the Maid Cafe, Charity Ball, or entrance into one (1) video game tournament
• The Dealers’ Room will be open 30 minutes early each day for Platinum Attendees

Platinum badges are limited to 500 for the event, and are only available for purchase online.

Volunteerng? Sure!

VOLUNTEERING

Youmacon has a great set of staff members who help put the convention together every year. However, as the convention grows so to does our need for more staff to help keep the convention working smoothly. So what do you need to know if you want to be a member of staff?

• WHAT DEPARTMENT IS HIRING?

Each department hires according to it’s needs and some may still be looking for last minute staff. However there are currently no departments that are specifically looking for new staff at this time.

• HOW DO I BECOME A MEMBER OF STAFF?

The easiest method to become a member of staff is to take advantage of our Volunteering and Intern programs. More info on these are posted to the website and forums. If you are a good volunteer or Intern, work directly with a department that you want to join and that department head likes you then you can easily get hired. Department Heads often need staff and will put out feelers on social media, the forums, and even post to our website that they are hiring. Keep a look out for these. You can also contact the department heads directly or staff members to get you in contact with a department head in order to find out if they are hiring and would like to consider you to be a member of staff.

• WHAT REQUIREMENTS ARE NEEDED TO BE A MEMBER OF STAFF?

All staff must be at least 18 years old as of the time of the convention.

All staff must be willing to work at least 24 hours during the convention.

All staff must follow all convention rules and regulations.

All staff must adhere to a specific staff code of conduct and non-compete agreement.

Each department has other specific requirements which will be outlined by them.

Would you love to sign up? Fill out our form!

Where is Youmacon?

Youmacon 2019 will be held October 31st – November 3rd at two of the most iconic locations in Downtown Detroit: The world famous Cobo Center, and The Renaissance Center. Separating these locations is the beautiful Detroit Riverwalk.

*Remember, attendees traveling from outside the United States are required to bring a passport or enhanced license to enter the country. 

For Youmacon attendees, the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center and Greektown Casino–Hotel will both be offering their rooms at special discounted rates. We will add overflow hotels when needed. It is recommended to get rooms as soon as possible because they do sell out fast. There are so many Hot Spots to hit while here from great bites to eat to great spots for pictures. (Also a lot of PokeStops) 
      Ways to travel to the convention:

• BY TRAIN 🚆

The Detroit Amtrak station is located approximately 4 miles from the convention. From there it’s just a short ride on the Q-line or bus to the hotels of Downtown.

• BY AIR 🚁

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is located 21 miles from the convention. It’s approximately $40 by taxi, or $25-$30 by Rideshare, or $2.00 by the new FAST Bus’ Michigan Ave route. The hotels do not provide a shuttle service from the airport.

• BY BUS 🚌

Additionally, The Metro Detroit area now features the SMART FAST buses. These buses run with limited stops along Metro Detroit’s most popular arterial roads (Michigan Ave, Woodward, and Gratiot), and each express bus will take you to Downtown Detroit for $2.00. Most importantly, the FAST Michigan Ave route begins at Metro Airport. Follow us to keep up to date on great spots to find in downtown Detroit. 

What is Youmacon?

Youmacon is a popular culture event similar to most “Comic Cons”, however instead of focusing on comic books, Youmacon is a celebration of Japanese popular culture and its influence on our own culture over the past few decades. Common themes throughout the event are Anime (Japanese animation), Video Games, Japanese style artwork and comics, and the rising internet culture influenced by all of the above.

Youmacon brings a unique all-ages mix of interactive events, celebrity guest panels, and live musical performances to Downtown Detroit. 

Wearing costumes, or “Cosplay” as it's known at conventions, is very popular with attendees of Youmacon. It is not uncommon to walk into a pair of Italian plumbers in overalls on the escalator, only to meet someone dressed as Edward Elric or Master Chief from Halo minutes later.

In the past ten years, we’ve grown from about 1,000 attendees at the Detroit / Troy Hilton in 2005, to becoming the first event to ever fill the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center to capacity in 2011, marking Youmacon as one of the fastest growing fan events in North America. In 2014, over 16,300 individuals came to Downtown Detroit for Youmacon! Although Youmacon is larger than most Anime Conventions, we’re not as big as San Diego Comic Con, Otakon, or Anime Expo. TL;DR: Youmacon is just the right size.