Live Events

All event participants (panelists and performers) are required to be aware of and agree to abide by the terms of this policy before being able to submit an Application. If there is anything you do not understand about this policy, please contact us at LiveEvents@ACen.org and we will clarify it for you.

All event applications must undergo a formal submission, review, and approval process before being included in the programming at Anime Central.

• Applications Open – October 15, 2023

• Applications Close – February 1, 2024

• Schedule Change request cut off – To be determined

• Panelist Change request cut off – April 1, 2024

It is an amazing privilege for ACen when you share your knowledge and passion about a topic with the community through an event. This is your chance to show us what you can do. We get 400+ applications every year so we look for quality, not quantity.

A short paragraph about why you think your event would be a good addition to the convention. This is a great way to help us understand your event. Make your panel as unique, and relevant to the convention, as possible to increase your chances of being approved. Make sure to:

• List specific topics/ideas you want to explore or cover.
• List any Q&A type segments.
• List any audience participation activities.
• List any special things you will do to make your panel unique.
• Link to any online media resources.
• Link to or reference any books/groups/clubs.

Topic: Title of your panel
Background: 2-3 sentences about you (and your group)
Qualifications: 1-2 short paragraphs of why you can run the event. For example, if you want to host a Japanese language panel, you need to explain your educational background and experience with the language.
<list any specific credentials or requirements>
Outline: See above

1. The more availability you/your group have over the weekend the better chance you will have of being accepted, just make sure you aren’t selecting times someone isn’t available.
2. PowerPoint can be a great tool but try to be creative with your outlines. Do not just copy and paste us your powerpoint.
3. Struggling with the idea of presenting a panel by yourself? Presenting as a group can help. Having multiple people helps drive questions and discussion can help fill gaps.
4. Audience participation can be a lot of fun. Try to find ways to get your audience involved.
5. Internet service in the Convention Center may be very spotty. Be sure to have your content 100% available offline and/or saved.
6. Time your event before the convention to make sure it will fit into your scheduled slot.
7. Think of a topic/idea that is unique to you and something on which you can comfortably present.
8. Make sure to read and understand the Live Events Participants Policy and/or ask us at LiveEvents@ACen.org if you have any questions.
9. Gameshow or roleplay character panels are not promising ideas and are usually rejected.
10. If you are working with a group, make sure to talk over any changes you wish to make to the panel and make sure everyone agrees.

1. All decisions regarding acceptance or denial of applications are made at the sole discretion of the Live Events Management team. Denied applications may be re-considered if all management requested changes are made.
2. Applications will be considered on a merit-based system. If you have a great panel idea, send it in! After the January 1st deadline, applications will be put on a waitlist and will be considered only if we have space available.
3. A single person may not participate in more than five events total. This is to avoid difficulty in scheduling. If a person participates in five events, the fifth event will likely be scheduled on the Sunday of the convention.
4. Group participants may only be changed prior to April 1st. Changes must be submitted by either the group leader, or a group member with the group leader copied on the request email if the group leader is stepping down. After the April 1st deadline, all events will be locked to the group participants that are registered for it.
5. Attendance at events cannot be limited in any way, outside of the room capacity.
6. Preferred seating is not allowed for events. This includes, but is not limited to, only allowing those in cosplay to enter, allowing family and friends to enter the event first, etc. This excludes attendees with EAS passes (see the Event Management section below).
7. An event cannot charge their attendees money. Participants may not sell anything during their event, including, but not limited to, merchandise or supplies. Any event found engaging in these or similar activities will be canceled and will not be allowed to return.
8. Event participants may not pass out or sell ANY food or drink, store bought or homemade. This includes, but is not limited to, candy, chips/pretzels, pocky, ramen, water, soda pop, tea, and coffee. Any event found engaging in these or similar activities will be canceled and will not be allowed to return.
9. Additionally, panelists are prohibited from giving out stickers as prizes during panels. Panelists will be asked to leave stickers in their hotel rooms and/or at home. Panelists who refuse to comply may have their panels cancelled and blacklisted from running events in the future.
10. Live Events ONLY supplies one projector, sound system, and two mics in Panel rooms. Live Events stages are plug and play only for audio and video. Event participants are required to provide all additional needed equipment.
11. Live Events DOES NOT provide the following:
    • Any sort of computer/laptop/tablets.
    • Electronics outside of those described above.
    • Any sort of cable that is needed to plug YOUR equipment into the technology we provide. If you need to know what type of cable is needed, please email us at LiveEvents@ACen.org.
    • An internet connection. Internet connections cannot be purchased for any specific event space. You will need to purchase a wireless connection through the venue that your event is being held in.
    • Pens, Markers, Pencils, Sharpeners, Paper, Whiteboards, Sign Stands, or any other general office supplies. Participants will need to provide these if they are required for their panel.
12. To conduct a Japanese Language or Educational event, verbal and/or written proficiency in the language or topic must be demonstrated. If you wish to run such an event you may be asked to interview to show proficiency.

Any event that could be identified as inappropriate for minors or that contains adult material will be marked as 18+. This determination can be made by either the event participant(s) or by Live Events Management during the application process. All participants and attendees for 18+ events must be 18 years of age or older on the day of the event, no exceptions.

Event content that may be marked as 18+ upon review include but is not limited to.

• Adult Language/Cursing
• Violence
• Blood/Gore
• Hentai
• Nudity/Nude or Partially Nude images or videos
• Sexual Intercourse
• Sexuality/Orientation
• Yaoi/Yuri

Attendees and the EVENT PARTICIPANTS must have an Anime Central 18+ wristband to gain entry to 18+ events. Wristbands can be acquired by presenting a government-issued ID at a designated wristband location showing that they are at least 18 years of age. No attendee will be admitted to an 18+ panel without the official wristband. This includes ACen staff wishing to attend an 18+ panel.

A panelist membership is issued as a form of compensation for the service of conducting one or more panels for Anime Central. A panelist membership badge provides admission equivalent to the purchase of a Full Weekend membership. It does not provide any backstage or privileged access to the convention beyond the ability to conduct their specific panel during its allotted time.

• Panelist Membership Badges ARE NOT mailed out.
• All membership badges are available for pick up in the Registration area of the convention center.
• A photo ID is required by all Panelists age 16 or older to pick up their membership badge.
• A panelist can only pick up their own membership badge, not co-panelist membership badges.
• Accepted panelists must register prior to May 1 to receive their discount. Discounts are not applicable after May 1.

The discount for hosting one panel is 50% for the first three panelists (Group Lead, Co-Panelist 1, or Co-Panelist 2) listed on a panel. Any additional panelists listed will not receive a discount on their membership. Participation in a second panel as one of the first three panelists listed will provide a 100% discount. Each panelist is tracked separately, meaning that if someone participates in one panel with a group of friends and then participates in a second panel on their own, they would still receive the full discount.

There is no discount provided for panelists listed as Extra Panelists on a panel and no additional discount provided for those listed as one of the first three panelists on more than two panels.

The discount does not apply on top of any other discounts such as tier discounts, group discounts, service member discounts, or child memberships.

1. If a membership is purchased prior to the approval of an event application and a discount, NO REFUND will be provided. NO EXCEPTION will be granted under normal circumstances. If an event is canceled, a refund will not be granted.
2. If an event application is denied, the applicant will have to register under the current tier. No discount will be given for denied panel applications.
3. Attendee memberships are non-transferable and non-refundable, but the status of a Panelist membership can be transferred to another attendee if that panelist is leaving their panel and a new attendee is taking their place. For example – A member of a panel quits, they will lose their panelist membership status, while retaining Attendee status, and the person replacing them gets the Panelist status instead. If a Panelist drops from hosting their panels, they will lose their discount and be required to pay for their membership through Registration in order to attend Anime Central.
4. If you lose your membership badge, there is a $30 replacement fee. A membership badge can only be replaced once; if it is lost a second time, a replacement will be issued at the full “At Con” price.
5. A maximum of three (3) discounted panelist membership may be granted per group (Lead Panelist, Co-Panelist 1 & Co-Panelist 2). You may have more than three panel members, but additional panelists will not benefit from the discount and will need to pay full price for their memberships unless they are involved in other panels where they are listed as one of the first three panelists.
6. All listed panelists for a specific panel must take part in performing the panel. Anyone not performing in the panel they are registered for will have their applied panel membership discount revoked.
7. If you are also an Artist participating in Artist Alley, your Artist Alley membership takes priority over your panelist membership. You will not have two membership badges; you will only have an Artist membership badge, but your panelist discount does still apply.
8. If a group and/or panelist were a no show at the previous year for Anime Central, they will not be eligible to receive a panelist membership or host a panel for the current year.

A performer membership is issued for select events at the discretion of Live Events Management. Please fill out the event application or contact Live Events at LiveEvents@ACen.org for more information.

All events are a minimum of 1 hour long. Time will increase in intervals of 30 minutes. (1 hour, 1:30, 2 hours, etc.) Applicants should consider the time it takes to set up and/or break down their event (10-15 minutes) when requesting their time slot as additional time beyond what is requested will not be provided for this.

1. Events that begin late due to late arrival and/or problems setting up equipment that was not provided by Anime Central will still be required to end as scheduled.
2. Events that have not started within 15 minutes of the scheduled start time due to the late arrival of the event participants will be canceled. Live Events Staff will verify and enforce this.
3. Live Events Staff must be informed in the event of an emergency or other occurrence that will prevent the event participants from conducting their scheduled event(s). You can email us at LiveEvents@ACen.org.
4. Anime Central retains the right to reschedule an event to a different time or location at any time and for any reason. The event participant or Lead Panelist will be notified if any changes are made to their event.
5. Participants may request a change to the scheduled date/time for their event before April 1st. It may not be possible for Live Events Staff to grant all time change requests. Time slots and locations are given out on a first come first serve basis.
6. Participants must inform the Live Events team in the event they are not available due to arrival/departure times, work schedules, or involvement in other ACen events such as the Masquerade while filling out the Application. We will consider this when placing events into the schedule. We must be informed of this on the application form. Any times selected as available will be considered during scheduling.
7. If a situation outside of Anime Central’s control, such as a fire alarm, tornado drill, etc., hampers or prevents any events from running during their scheduled time, the events that were in progress will be notified by Live Events Management once the situation is over if they will be allowed to run past their scheduled end time, and told their new time frame if an extension is possible. Participants who do not return after such an occurrence will be considered a no show and the event will be canceled.

1. Attendees with the appropriate Event Accessibility Services (EAS) indication on their membership badge are given early entry and/or seating and are allowed to bring up to three companions. Event participants must be aware that people using wheelchairs or scooters will be requested to park in front of the first row. Live Events Staff may, at their discretion, either A) allow them to enter during setup time (preferred), or B) allow the party with disabilities to enter first once the room is ready and hold the line back until they are seated.
2. All events are on a first come first serve basis. Event space will be cleared of attendees after each event has ended.
3. Event participants MAY NOT seat friends or family before anyone else in line unless they fall under the EAS Policy.
4. ACen does not allow priority entry. Event participants may not only allow certain groups to enter the room, such as only attendees in cosplay outfits, or allow certain groups to enter before others are admitted into the event. The line will be let in as a first come first serve while keeping the EAS policy in mind.
5. Event participants must yield to Live Events Staff and Management decisions. Any violation of this may result in the event being canceled and the offending participant(s) being prohibited from applying to participate in future Anime Central conventions. This includes following directions given by staff and conduct with staff. Belligerent and/or rude encounters will be subject to disciplinary action.
6. Participants must begin their event within 10 minutes of the start time. If pre-setup is required, it needs to be done and the line let in by 10 minutes past start.

Performers and panelists are expected to behave in a professional manner when coordinating with Anime Central Staff and while conducting events at the convention. For policy violations see the section on Disciplinary Actions.

1. Inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated. It is Anime Central Staff’s right to determine what is considered inappropriate.
2. Participants may not consume alcohol just before or while conducting an event.
3. Participants may not offer food and/or drink to attendees while conducting an event. This includes, but is not limited to, candy, tea, pocky, etc.
4. Behavior deemed inappropriate during events where legal minors, defined as those under 18 years of age, may attend could result in the termination of the event in progress and/or the cancellation of all the participant’s scheduled events.
5. 18+ events – Government issued ID will be checked at the issuance of 18+ wristbands. We require people attending to have one of these wristbands on them prior to entry. If there are any signs of tampering entry to the panel can be denied. No participants in this event may be below the age of 18.
6. Participants may not present materials that violate copyright or other intellectual property rights within the United States. Reasonable Fair Use exceptions may apply. FanSubbing – fan-subtitled content is a violation of copyright laws in most countries including the US unless permission is granted by the party holding the copyright to the material. See this link for more information https://www.copyright.gov/title17/.

All disciplinary actions are at the discretion of Live Events Management and may vary in severity based on the violation. Violation of the terms of this policy may result in:

1. Termination of an event in progress and/or cancellation of all the participant’s scheduled events.
2. Panelist or performer membership badges will be revoked on the spot.
3. Probation for the next convention year that a participant/group requests to conduct an event.
4. Event participants violating the terms of this policy while on probation will be subject to being banned from conducting an event for a minimum of two convention years. During this time, banned participants may not submit event applications to Anime Central or function as event participants during the convention.