JoMoCon Origin Story
Joplin Missouri Convention, knows as JoMoCon, was spearheaded by former director Jason Bright back in 2021 with colleague Matt Fussell. JoMoCon was built on the dream to provide an affordable space to experience local vendors, entertainment, and support our businesses to further enrich the community. This dream goes a step even further because JoMoCon is designed as a convention for a cause, meaning a large portion of our proceeds are donated to a different Joplin based charity every year!
The first ever JoMoCon was conducted digitally because a famous plague beset the land. Thanks to our very first sponsor, Full Bore Studios, we were able to host a 10 hour livestream convention on Twitch from Pennington Station. This virtual-con featured panelists who joined us via Zoom as well as live in our makeshift studio. We were joined by cosplay guru Caroline Barto, (Who has now joined the JoMoCon Committee), local anime entrepreneur Jeremiah Johnson, Japanese culture enthusiast Amanda Almich, Hawaii based artist Michael Cannon, and anime voice actor Spike Spencer!
Over 140 viewers tuned in during the livestream. Unfortunately, the recording of the convention has been lost to the subspace forever. Despite setbacks, the first ever JoMoCon was able to raise a small donation for Hearts and Hammers, a local charity that specializes in various construction tasks for local home owners of limited means. You can learn more about this charities in our interview that preceded the 21’ virtual con by clicking here
