User:Mk200114/Otaku
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[edit] History
In August of 2002, a small group of teens put together an anime club in the town of Flower Mound, Texas. This club was called Otaku Kyokai no Flower Mound (roughly translates to "The Anime Fan Society of Flower Mound"). The two co-founders were Honoré and Becca. The Kyokai met in a small spare room in the Wellington Athletic Center every two months, and any anime fan could come and mingle. Very little anime was watched at the early meetings of the Kyokai, the club patrons preferred to watch Anime Music Videos or play anime-themed games (such as "Oekakitionary"...an anime-themed version of Pictionary). Many others would sit in a corner and draw. Becca would often draw short four-panel comics featuring members of the Kyokai in various situations. Although crudely-drawn, the comics became a big hit with the Kyokai members due to their humor. May would be a month of change for the Kyokai. Soon after A-kon, a popular anime convention in Dallas, Honore was forced to move.
[edit] Original Officers
Becca - The leader of the Otaku Kyokai. Has an obsession with the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Honore - The forefather of the Kyokai and former owner. Phased out after losing touch throughout the years.
Vince - Vince doesn't have the best history with women, but he is persistent, and someday his persistence will pay off. He refuses to wear any other clothing than his Miroku costume when picking up chicks. Was phased out for a while, but started to come back.
Melissa - Becca's little sister. Cynical and an expert cosplayer.
Jeff - The resident hardcore gamer of the Kyokai group. Also in charge of the technical aspects of Kyokai. Becca and Jeff are dating in real life.
[edit] Changes in the Meetings
Michael and his friend Robert came to their first Otaku Kyokai meeting in October 2004. By this time, Otaku Kyokai was held in the media room of the Flower Mound Public Library for approximately 3 1/2 hours once a month except during June and July. During each session, free snacks and sodas are provided, and members vote on what anime DVD to watch, which is mostly brought in by the members themselves.
[edit] The New Otaku Kyokai
In April of 2006, none of the three Officers showed up to the meeting and Michael and Robert stepped up to take their place. In the middle of this meeting Michael's friend Taylor arrived and was invited to help Michael and Robert run the meeting.
The final meeting of the year was held a month later. Once again, the original officers did not arrive and Michael, Robert, and Taylor once again had to take their place. In order for the club to be able to continue next year, one of the ladies who worked there gave the three friends the business card of the library's Youth Service Manager.
[edit] New Officers
Robert - He stands at the podium during the voting time for the next anime, and is the speaker of the meetings. He is also in charge of controlling the audience if they are disobeying the rules.
Michael - The Official Technical Officer of Otaku Kyokai. Michael handles everything about the club on the internet, including the Otaku Kyokai MySpace group and forum.
Taylor - The Official Voting Officer of Otaku Kyokai and also handles public relations. He takes count of the votes when it is time for the members to vote on what anime to watch next, and also tells the members what a certain anime is about if they don't know about it.
Jonathan - The Assistant Officer of Otaku Kyokai. Jonathan will take the place of any Officer who is absent to a meeting.
[edit] Expansion
Despite the change, the club is still called Otaku Kyokai no Flower Mound. The first meeting didn't begin until September 2nd, 2006, but the new club had grown in many ways already just over the summer before. For starters, there is now a MySpace group for the club. Also, group meetings were organized throughout the summer. For example, members met each other at GameWorks to play games together or simply even had a huge chat on AOL Instant Messenger. This is just a few examples of how the new Otaku Kyokai has built upon its predecessor.
[edit] The Forum
Arguably, the most significant change to the club has been the addition of a forum, which was intended so that members could still keep in touch with each other even when the meetings were not going on. This is perhaps the outer hub of Otaku Kyokai, because it is frequently updated with new news about the club, forum, and (of course) anime in general. The forum was created by Michael on May 23, 2006, and is hosted by ProBoards.
[edit] Staff and Events
The forum (which is also called Otaku Kyokai no Flower Mound -- or OKFM for short) is staffed by the same people who run the club, with the exception of the Member of the Month.
Every month, new changes happen on the forum. First off, there is the Anime Pic of the Month (APM) contest where members are allowed to submit one anime picture, and a winner is voted on at the end of the month. Furthermore, every three months, the APM Elimination takes place where the APM with the least about of votes from the previous three gets eliminated from the Anime Pic of the Year Contest. After every 12 APMs, an Anime Pic of the Year contest is held where the APMs that did not get eliminated from the APM Elimination get for on to decide the APM of the year.
The Member of the Month is chosen by the staff of the forum, and is kept secret from the members, as it is discussed in the Moderators Only board that only staff members can access. The Member of the Month is rewarded with their own topic thread in the Member of the Month board, has their screen name displayed in the news fader, and is also given forum moderator powers for that month.
The Otaku Kyokai no Flower Mound forum theme changes every month, displaying a background from a different anime and usually a video of the intro of the anime, underneath the banner.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
--Mk200114 08:59, 19 July 2006 (UTC)Michael Kumar
