June 26, 2009
News for EXP Convention 2009:
EXP Con adds Steve Downes, Vic Mignogna, and Troy Baker to guest list
St. Augustine, FL – June 26, 2009 – EXP Con adds Steve Downes, voice of Halo's Master Chief, Vic Mignogna, and Troy Baker to guest list.
EXP Con: North Florida's Video Game and Japanese Animation Convention
EXP Con has been determined to bring the fans of video games and Japanese animation some of the biggest names from the industry, and so far this year is no exception.
We are proud to announce as a Guest of Honor for EXP Con 2009 Steve Downes, the voice of iconic video game character Master Chief of the Halo series. Fans will get a chance to meet the man behind the mask at EXP Con 2009 for one of his rare convention appearances. He also works as the morning disc jockey for 97.1 WDRV "The Drive" in Chicago, Illinois.
Making his first trip over to the North Florida area is popular voice actor of both anime and video game fame, Vic Mignogna. Vic has been acting for stage and screen since he was 8 years old. But he started his career in anime about ten years ago as Vega in Streetfighter II. Since then Vic has been in more than a hundred shows, known for such roles as Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist, Tamaki Suou in Ouran High School Host Club, Fai in Tsubasa Chronicle, Dark in DN Angel, Kurz in Full Metal Panic, Broly in Dragonball Z, Kougaijji in Saiyuki, Ikkaku in Bleach, Yukito in Air, Takanaga in Wallflower, Tatsu in Peacemaker, Luciano in Code Geass, Virgil Walsh in Trinity Blood, Hikaru in Macross and many more. Vic has also voiced roles in a large number of video games including Soul Calibur, Disgaea, Persona III, Project Sylpheed, DBZ, Bleach, FMA and more. But even longer than his voice acting, Vic has been a professional music composer / singer / producer who has written and produced hundreds of songs for TV, radio and CD. He sings the themes for shows like One Piece & DBGT, and has produced several CDs of his own original music. And finally, in addition to anime and music, Vic has a degree in film and works regularly writing, producing and directing video and film productions.
Also joining the guest list for his first Florida convention appearance is another popular voice over artist, Troy Baker. A native of Dallas, Texas, Troy first began working as an actor in TV and Radio commercials. He quickly became a mainstay voice actor of the anime community with such roles as "Frank Archer" in Full Metal Alchemist, "Abel Nightroad" in Trinity Blood, "Gennosuke" in Basilisk and "Action Bastard" in Shin Chan. Troy can also be heard in lead roles for blockbuster video game titles like Kanji Tatsumi in Persona 4 (Atlus), Yuri Lowell in Tales of Vesperia (namco), Red Faction: Guerrilla (Volition), the Brothers In Arms Franchise (Ubisoft), Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Atari),Bloodrayne 2 (Majesco), Aeon Flux (Majesco), Resistance 2 (Insomniac), Trauma Center:New Blood (Atlus), and Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (FunCom).
Other guests whom will be in attendance are Guest of Honor Terrance Carson, voice of God of War's Kratos, artists Ashley "AnimeBelle" Clark and Heather Scott of Dragonmun Studios, cosplayer CJ "Kefka" Collins, comedy troupe aniRAGE, and bands The Man Power and Random Encounter. The guest list is in for many more exciting surprises in the near future.
About EXP Con: EXP Convention is a weekend long all ages event to be held at the Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village's St. John's County Convention Center. The main purpose of EXP Con is to celebrate and promote American and Japanese video gaming, Japanese animation also known as anime, manga which are Japanese graphic novels, cosplay which is the act of creating and modeling costumes based on characters from Japanese and American media, and other facets of Japanese culture.
The first EXP Convention which carried the tagline of "North Florida's Video Game and Anime Convention" was a weekend-long event which occupied all of and took place in World Golf Village's Renaissance Resort and St. John's County Convention Center during the weekend of October 17-19 2008. Last year's participants were given the opportunity to meet popular industry guests such as Steve Blum, Beau Billingslea, and Johnny Yong Bosch, take part in fun and informative industry and fan driven panels related to their interests, free play and compete in tournaments in our 5,000 square foot video game lounge filled with 40 consoles and 40 high definition televisions, view both old and new Japanese media screenings, and attend multiple fan and industry driven events such as stage shows, fashion shows, contests, and live music. In the event's inaugural year an attendance of close to 1,000 was achieved, which was no small feat for a first time event.
