Shoujocon was an American fan convention

Fan convention

A fan convention, or con , is an event in which fans of a particular film, television series, comic book, actor, or an entire genre of entertainment such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and...

 for anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 and manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 which focused on the shōjo

Shojo

The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...

 (girls') subgenre. Founded in 2000 by women identified as "Nora" and "Katchan", and initially financed through eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

 sales of fan-donated merchandise, Shoujocon quickly grew from 456 attendees to a peak of 1,252. In addition to its unique audience, Shoujocon attempted many other organizational and programmatic innovations during its time, such as an international staff which held meetings entirely online, support for doujinshi artists and writers, and cultural workshops.

In 2002 Nora and Katchan stepped down, turning leadership over to the newly formed Shoujo Arts Society (SAS), a non-profit organization incorporated to manage Shoujocon and promote the shōjo subgenre via other events. For the 2003 convention, Shoujocon moved to Rye

Town of Rye, New York

Rye is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 45,928 at the 2010 census. It is a separate municipality from the city of Rye...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, where difficulties with the hotel and the change of location triggered a severe drop in attendance and poor reviews of the convention. The 2004 convention was first postponed, then canceled altogether.

Working the with organizers of Yuricon

Yuricon

Yuricon is an anime convention geared toward fans of yuri anime and manga. The first Yuricon event was held in 2003 in Newark, New Jersey with about 200 attending, although Yuricon has existed as an online entity since 2000. The event was organized by Yuricon, LLC., which continues to run...

, the Shoujo Arts Society later announced a joint event called Onna! which was held in October 2005.

Event history

Dates	Location	Atten.	Guests