Ambassador Hosts @america’s Second Anniversary Celebration at Comic-Con Event

January 22, 2013

Ambassador Hosts @america’s Second Anniversary Celebration at Comic-Con Event

On January 18, U.S. Ambassador Scot Marciel hosted over 500 guests for the launch of @america’s second anniversary festival.  @america, a one-of-a-kind cultural center for the U.S. State Department, opened in November 2010.  Since opening only two years ago, the center has welcomed more than 260,000 guests and held over 1,300 events.  This year’s second-anniversary theme was @ameri-Con 2013, a three-day festival of comic books, writers, artists, movies, toys, gaming, and costumes.  On the opening night of the anniversary celebration, the Ambassador helped judge a costume competition alongside Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Stevenson and International Information Programs Acting Deputy Coordinator Courtney Austrian, both visiting from Washington, D.C., in addition to two Indonesian panelists.  During his remarks, the Ambassador expressed his condolences for victims affected by recent Jakarta flooding and thanked guests for their continued support of @america.  The grand prize for best costume went to Optimus Prime, a robot from “Transformers”.  The three-day Comic-con festival included 12 separate events and more than 2,800 festivalgoers.

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