Anime Twin Cities Elections

Candidates

These are your Candidates for the Anime Twin Cities elections. Elections will be held electronically. Voting dates and times will be announced before the next election cycle. Please carefully review your choices because these people will be representing Anime Twin Cities for the next two years. Eligible voters can vote for a maximium of one (1) Treasurer and maxmimum of three (3) candidates for Member-at-Large. Write ins are also accepted.

Electoral Procedures for Anime Twin Cities

The procedures by which a member wishes to be considered a candidate for a position on the Board of ATC

A member is not eligible to be a candidate if:

  1. the member is not in good standing (suspended, banned, or currently being investigated for activity that will result in the former two conditions)
  2. a current coordinator

A board member is expected to:

  1. be 18 years old or older
  2. experiences working with non-profit organizations, volunteer organizations, etc. and agree to attend the board training by the organization
  3. has the capacity to commit to 3-4 hours a week of board related work
  4. Reside within state geographic bylaw boundaries

The organization would like to see these characteristics from a candidate:

  1. Some history/involvement with ATC events
  2. Attend ATC events as a representative
  3. Ability and willingness to regularly attend the monthly board meetings

During the period up to the election, candidate is required to:

  1. Prepare and deliver a 2-3 minute oral presentation specific to ATC, including their goals for serving on the board and positions on the future and operation of ATC. This should be viewable by at least all members.
  2. Each candidate will participate, with a membership audience, in a question and answer session with current board members and coordinators. This session will be up to 30 minutes in length.
  3. Each candidate will participate, with a membership audience, in a question and answer session with the organization's membership. This session will be up to 30mins in length.

Jeannette Wallen

Attended 12out of 12 Board meetings in the last year

Volunteerism has been a part of my life since my college years. I am actively involved with my professional associations (medical laboratory field) on both a state and national level. My involvement with Anime Detour began as the solo parent chaperone for my daughter and her group of friends back in 2008. I was an attendee-volunteer within many departments at the 2008 through the 2011 Anime Detour convention cycles before joining the Anime Detour Staff in 2012. Over the years, I have witnessed the immense joy and community that the Anime Detour convention has provided the attendees and Staff. I applied to join the Anime Twin Cities Board to help continue building on this sense of community and camaraderie.

I would like to continue to be an active participant in helping to create a welcoming, inclusive environment for the anime community within the Twin Cities and beyond. If selected as Treasurer, I will continue to revise my processes and create a succession plan for the next elected officer.

Denon Schaefer

Attended 0 out of 12 Board meetings in the last year

Denon has moved through many environments which have taught him how to adjust, survive, and ultimately thrive, shaping the heart of who he is. As Bruce Lee said, “Be formless, shapeless, like water.” Whether by necessity or instinct, he has learned to become water - flowing where he must, crashing when needed, and reshaping himself without losing his essence. Those experiences, paired with navigating life with limited resources, have deeply informed his values of empathy, resilience, and care.

I’m motivated to join the Board because I value creating inclusive and diverse spaces where everyone can find joy, connection, and a sense of belonging. I bring a creative, adaptable approach to challenges and enjoy finding innovative solutions when unexpected issues arise. There’s a special magic to what ATC brings to the community that we all cherish, I want to protect that magic and help it grow so that we and future generations can enjoy it for years to come.

David (Echo) O'Donnell

Attended 0 out of 12 Board meetings in the last year

I first learned of Anime Detour from my schools Anime and Game Clubs in 2007, and it opened my eyes to the greater nerd community. In 2009, my friends and I took our passion for Pokémon and joined Anime Detour Gaming Staff to run our first Pokémon League Challenge. After that I started hosting many other tournaments and events in the Greater Community. In 2013 I hosted my first Pokémon Center Room Party, which is Detour's second longest running Room Party. What had started as a joke between Detour Gaming staff years before became reality in 2014 when I left to start my own convention MN PokéCon, where I've continued to support the local community! In 2024 after chatting with Buttons about how much Detour had changed, I was convinced to come back and I took over the Room Party Department after the previous Head stepped down. I then rebuilt the Department using my experience of hosting Room Parties for over a decade. The Room Party Department has now had two years in a row with no major medical, security, or biohazard incidents and has grown significantly!

I want to continue to better and grow the Community for many years to come! I've seen firsthand how much Anime Detour has grown over the years and since coming back how much it's changed for the better. I want to help to make Anime Detour and the Community even better for many years to come!

Josh Snead

Attended 0 out of 12 Board meetings in the last year

My first year at Detour I volunteered for badging and selling t shirts. I loved the community they built and felt so welcomed. The next year I joined staff and have been working in merchandise since. Anime has a story for everyone and it's great to see the creative ways we can come together and celebrate that.

With as long as I've been just helping on staff I figured it's time to step up and do my part with ATC since there's a need to be filled. The last couple years I've seen us take bigger strides in outreach to other cons and organizations and if elected I'd like to foster our community roots even more.

Write-In

Please prepare a short speech for the day of election to announce your candidacy.