Today we’d like to introduce you to Winji Mesadieu.
Winji please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started my career at Florida Supercon (the same producers of Animate! Florida, and Paradise City Comic Con) ten years ago as the Creative Director.
Music and anime played a huge part in my upbringing. As a convention goer myself, I noticed that not enough people were incorporating music into their shows, even though there is so much fan overlap. I wanted to host something that merged two of my passions and featured different genres, from rap and hip hop to rock and electronic.
After more than a decade in the industry, I decided it was finally time to go out on my own and bring my passion project to life. In December 2018, I started working on the concept that would later become OtakuFest.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Anytime you are starting a new venture, you’re taking a gamble. It is very difficult for a new show to secure a venue, dates, and talent. Once I had the logistics figured out, it was all up to the marketing. I am a one-man show so it was up to me to travel to every convention and event in the area to promote myself.
As the show neared, things were looking up. We had outsold our expected number of pre-sale tickets and the show was starting to trend on social media. And then Hurricane Dorian started to form and was headed to South Florida. The safety of the attendees was my top priority, so we kept an eye on the storm’s projected path and updated our audience daily. Luckily, the storm shifted a few days before the show and the convention center gave me the go-ahead to continue as planned.
Luckily, I have many friends who believed in me and helped me throughout the weekend.
Please tell us about OtakuFest.
OtakuFest is a two-day festival that celebrates anime, manga, cosplay, gaming, comics, and more. You can dress up as your favorite character or come as you are, we aim to be a very inclusive convention.
While the larger conventions may feature more vendors and bigger celebrity guests, our number one focus is the attendee experience. Our goal is to serve as a hub for like-minded fans to explore their interests while making life long friendships and memories.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Whether it was rushing home from school to watch The Disney Afternoon or waking up early on Saturday morning for Kids WB, I really miss having cartoons on local channels. Growing up we didn’t have cable, so it was always great to have shows like Darkwing Duck, Tailspin and Gargoyles to come home to. I know we have tons of streaming services now, but there was no better feeling than eating your 3rd bowl of cereal while watching X-Men and Batman the Animated Series.
Pricing:
- Saturday Pass – $30.00
- Sunday Pass – $25.00
- 2-Day Weekend Pass – $45.00
Contact Info:
- Address: Venue Location:
Miami Airport Convention Center
711 NW 72nd Ave, Miami, FL 33126 - Website: https://www.otakufest.com
- Phone: (786) 734-3458
- Email: info@otakufest.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/otakufestfl
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/otakufestfl
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/otakufestfl
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/c/otakufest
Image Credit:
Dustin Herrera (personal), and Skyp3r Photography (event)
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