11/13/2021
Dear Friends and Family of both Animore and Star City Anime Con,
I don’t really know how to say this, so I am going to give it my best; I’m sorry that it wasn’t more.
It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce that we will not be putting on anymore Black Material Inc. Conventions (which would be all of our conventions).
We know that Covid has been really hard on everyone, emotionally, physically, and financially, and most of us have lost people we loved to it. The pandemic has put a strain on our staff's mental health in general, but the rumors that pop up every couple of years have become too much.
I am sure you all have seen our posts explaining that our conventions are run by us (The Bear Family) and only us. We post this each time we see where people have started rumors saying that we are owned by someone else, which is simply untrue. Any of you who have been to one of our conventions (or many of them) knows that the rumors are not true and we are run by a VERY small staff/family + some good friends that volunteer to help when they can.
The truth is, we are all out of fight. The past few years have been very emotionally draining; it takes a lot to put on a convention, but it was always worth it when we got to see all of you and how much fun everyone was having. It was like having family in Roanoke and Baltimore that we got to visit once a year each. We started the conventions because my siblings and I loved Anime, conventions, and the world around them, so our parents helped us make a dream into a reality of running a family-safe convention. But now, what was a bright dream has become too much of a burden on our family and staff.
I don’t know if we will ever try conventions again or not since we are still young, but I do not see any in the foreseeable future.
For those of you who have come to Animore and Star City Anime as an attendee, a volunteer, a vendor, an artist, a panelist, a guest, etc., I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for supporting us. Thank you for being part of what made the conventions beautiful in so many ways, and thank you for being part of memories I will never forget.
~Wishing you and yours the very best, and with love,
Logan and the Bear Family.
