Founder of Risucon Brings Non-profit Comic-Con to Montgomery County

Story by Maestro Joyner. Photo courtesy of RisuCon.  

On May 15th, 2024, I got the opportunity to meet with the owner and main coordinator of RisuCon, John Ayche, at the Marriott Hotel in Rockville, Maryland. We spoke about what it's like to operate a 501(c)7 non-profit organization as well as the event itself.

RisuCon, formally named MonkeyCon before insightful feedback from former black attendees led to a name change, will take place on August 17th from 11 am to 9 pm, and on August 18th from 10 am to 5 pm.

Attendees can arrive from the North Bethesda metro station on the red line, by car with free parking, or via the Montgomery County bus service, Ride On. The con will be held on the lower floor of the Marriott Hotel, which holds up to 1,200 people! 

The space is designed to be a roundabout with different split sections. It will showcase a board gaming area, a kids activities room where there’ll be acrobatics and hands-on experience with comics, four vendor rooms with fifteen vendors in each room, four-panel discussion rooms that will cover topics that range from anime to personal experiences from authors, a small room that transforms into a huge area for major gatherings, a disco party, and a cosplay parade. 

There will also be many specials from people like Alyson Rosenfeld, who voices popular characters such as Promare in Strawberry Shortcake, Musa from Winx Club, and Fran Bow from Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. Campbell Cooley, a veteran voice actor for Power Rangers, Alpha 6, Snide, Slither and Scrozzie, will also be speaking.

RisuCon is not just a convention for people in the Montgomery County area, but a con to give back to the community. All the profits made from the convention will go to different causes in the Montgomery County area. For example, there is a $500 scholarship for art students to learn about drawing manga. 

In addition, RisuCon is connected with other anime and cosplay nonprofits, such as Superhero Support Causeplayers, who do nonprofit fundraising, host community-building events, and visit ill and injured superhero fans of all ages. To find out more about Superhero Support Causeplayers, click here. To attend RisuCon and help them reach a larger audience, click here.

Maestro Joyner is a junior at Friendship Collegiate Academy.