Pacific Media Expo


The Pacific Media Expo is an annual two day multi-genre convention held during November at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California. PMX was created in 2003 by Mike Tatsugawa, founder of Anime Expo. Pacific Media Association, the parent of Pacific Media Expo is based in Los Angeles, California.

Programming

The convention typically offers art exhibitions, artists market, anime music video contest, anime video rooms, autograph sessions, concerts, live performances, exhibit hall, fashion show, gaming tournaments, iron cosplay, masquerade, panel discussions, swap meets, video rooms, and workshops.

History

PMX was formed by staff members from several conventions and former staff of Anime Expo after several years of planning and research. The convention was created as a for-profit event due to concerns over the restraints of non-profit status. Miyavi cancelled his appearance at Pacific Media Expo in 2004 due to the lack of an engineer and the convention offered a registration refund. Silver Ash was unable to attend due performer visa backlogs.
Several issues affected the success of the 2004 convention, including the concerts being on a separate day from the convention, and the concerts and convention having separate tickets. The convention utilized the same space as Anime Expo. Potential attendance was overestimated, as PMX prepared for 10,000, but only had 3,000. Concert turnout was considered a success, but only an estimated 25% attended the convention afterwards. Also complicating the event was the Memorial Day weekend with graduations, proms, and FanimeCon. The convention for 2005 moved to Labor Day with adjustments made to the space required.
Pacific Media Expo did not occur in 2017 due to schedule conflicts with NCAA football and the convention's traditional November date.

Event history