It truly fills my heart with much joy to see the years of dedication from organizers, vendors, special guests, and of course con-goers alike, ultimately transform this once free to attend small gathering in a practically defunct mall (sorry, Manchester) into a full-fledged operation taking place at the Fresno Fair Grounds. From 2013 up until about 2016 or so I had attended every convention from the first one, and slowly saw the growth over such a short span of time. It overlapped with the discontinuation of Ani-Jam, our previous staple of Central Valley anime conventions. Thus, providing some comfort in the fact that it would not be the end of our community gatherings. I think Ani-Me also paved the way for a lot of other small conventions to pop up here, and there; providing more opportunities to gather with cosplay buddies and promote small vendors frequently. I hope to see bigger and brighter things for this convention as each one seems to expand its horizons. read more