SNAFU Con
Sierra Nevada Anime Fans Unite!
SNAFU Con is an anime convention in the Reno/Sparks area of Nevada. Friday, October 9th through Sunday, October 11th, 2026 in The Reno-Sparks Convention Center, 4590 S Virginia St, Reno, NV 89502
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Guests of Honor
Kenny Loui Index
A jack-of-all-trades, Dr. Kenny Loui wears multiple hats in his professional career: He's a criminology professor, award-winning graphic novelist, scriptwriter, and voice actor. A nominee for the One Voice Awards’ Voiceover Newcomer of the Year in 2025, Kenny ventured into VO to fulfill his long-deferred childhood dream of “becoming a toon.”Since then, Kenny has lent his voice to leading and supporting roles in various productions including the South Korean animated series Supertrons. Kenny also serves as Supertrons’ script adaptation writer, bringing his expertise in penning smart, engaging and witty dialogue to the English version of the series.
When not moonlighting as a talking dinosaur or other quirky cartoon character, Kenny is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Loras College and often incorporates the visual and performing arts and pop culture elements into his classes, including anime, manga, and K-pop. One of his most popular classes at Loras is Crime, Justice & Pop Culture Diplomacy, a class that blends comparative criminology, international relations, and Korean and Japanese pop culture.
Kay Kennedy Index
When Kay Kennedy enters the recording booth, she brings a decade of experience in creative collaboration with her. She’s a three time Telly Award winning voice actor known for anime dubs including Nukitashi and Chuhai Lips, and the live action dub of the Pusher film trilogy. She’s the voice of both the Tiefling and Elf in Dungeons & Dragons Reel Quest™, voiced big brand commercial content, and narrated 11 steamy romance novels. As a Reno local, she’s passionate about making professional voice acting accessible to people everywhere. When she’s not recording, she’s reading murder mysteries and snuggling with her cat, Chibi.
Christopher Escalante Index
Christopher Escalante is a voice actor & musician. Chris is so excited to be coming back for another year at SNAFU Con!He has voiced many roles in anime produced by Funimation, Crunchyroll, and Ascendent Animation such as Kinji Ninomiya in The Dungeon of Black Company, Ken Sonozaki in Higurashi: When They Cry - GOU, Kozo Yukawa in Isekai Onsen Paradise, Kenzo and Enjoji in The Prince of Tennis, the narrator in Ingoku Danchi as well as Banished from the Hero’s Party, A Couple of Cuckoos, Henkei Shoujo, Lovely Complex, Ishida & Asakura, and video game roles such as Batman in DC: Battle Arena, Rattrap in Transformers: Tactical Arena, The Nameless in Anima: Gate of Memories, Erik in the Seduce Me otome series, and is also the voice of Ein, the gold-loving prankster in Aphmau, the with over 25 million subscribers and over 10 million views per day.
Steve Warky Nunez, a.k.a. Warky T. Chocobo Index
Steve “Warky” Nunez is an award winning jack-of-all-trades in the entertainment industry.Hailing from New York, he started out narrating audio books for the blind and from there he branched out into all facets of media. He is widely known as the CEO of the award winning studio Ascendent Animation, and for his work on The Yaoi Xmas Carols, Sonic The Hedgehog, Wendy Pini's Masque of the Red Death: A Musical Thriller, Card-en-Ciel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Kakushite! Makina-san!!, Ant-Man, Yandere Simulator, Aphmau, Henkei Shoujo, Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger Ix-2, Camp Buddy, Fire in His Fingertips, Everything for Demon King Evelogia, Unexpectedly Naughty Fukami, and Anima: Gates of Memories.
Warky looks forward to what the future has in store for him and hopes there will be singing and dancing along the way!
Shane Tay Index
Shane Tay is a multi-award winning actor from Utah, currently working at Ascendent Animation. Though a lifelong fan of anime, he studied for a career in the non-acting side of traditional theatre. Much to his surprise, his dream came true when he was picked up by Ascendent Animation. Shane never believed he would make it from fan to guest, but never giving up his whimsy paid off.He's worked on shows and movies including Makina-san's a Love Bot?!, Show Time! (1 & 2), Henkei Shoujo, Masque of the Red Death, XL BOSS, Ishida and Asakura, and Even in Dreams.
When he's not working, Shane enjoys building plastic models, laughing, and learning things he didn't know he didn't know. If you hear laughter that you can't locate, it's probably coming from him on the other side of the convention!
Gavin Black Index
Gavin Black is the author of Crop Burner: The Tale of Fearn and the Deamhon and The Friend Exchange. His fantasy novel Journey Through the Forgotten earned five stars from The Wishing Shelf and was short-listed for the Ozma Award. He writes for the stage as well: his pilot adapting The Friend Exchange was a Cinequest semi-finalist, and his play The Last Turn is in development. A frequent convention guest and writing workshop instructor, he lives in Reno, Nevada with his wife, two sons, and an unreasonable number of cosplay costumes.
Spencer Stoner Index
Celebrating his tenth anniversary as an author, Spencer has had quite the journey. Since his first appearance at SNAFU Con: he has gotten married! He also has taken up voice acting but, really, he got married!In addition to the three prose novels and graphic novel of his Ophelia Legacy series, he has also written a modern audio drama adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol called Carole’s Christmas Carol! His first acting role was “Captain Fearless” in the audio production Captain Fearless and the Time-Traveling Nazis of Doom.
The “acting bug” has also inspired him to start a production company called Ohana Honua Productions, which has released short films and is developing a new audio fantasy series!
Jade Griffin Index
Jade Griffin is a character-driven creative firestorm. Though her usual genre is sci-fi and fantasy, discovering Call of Cthulhu lit her imagination down a darker path of Lovecraftian horror and she published and ran several Call of Cthulhu TTRPG adventures. The NPCs didn’t stop talking when the players left the table, so now she’s chronicling their adventures, starting with The Journals Of Lacy Anderson Moore: Monster Hunter of the 1800s. Everything is connected, so look for nods and Easter eggs in all of her publications. Pick up the first, any, or all of her Call of Cthulhu tabletop roleplaying games on DriveThruRPG.com or her NPC novels on Amazon!
Steven Yu Index
Steven Yu is an illustrator and comic book creator. Steven worked as a storyboard artist for major companies including Toyota, Taco Bell, and Google. Growing up, he was fueled by a steady diet of 80’s and 90’s action films, Jackie Chan movies, and martial arts themed manga. Those inspirations explode off the pages of his newest graphic novel, “JOAN,” a high octane martial arts medieval western reimagining of Joan of Arc, where the Saint is resurrected and given infinite ammo to seek revenge. His work can be found at sydstudiopresents.com
GumiV4 Index
Maggie, better known as GumiV4 Cosplay, is a 24-year-old self-taught seamstress, prop maker, wig stylist, and cosplayer of over a decade! GumiV4 has won numerous awards for her craftsmanship both locally in Nevada and out of state, and was a chosen competitor for the 2025 Cosplay Central Crown Championships. With dozens of intricate, head-to-toe handmade costumes under her belt, Maggie loves sharing her own knowledge via online tutorials and in-person panels to make cosplay less intimidating and more accessible for everyone!
Astro Index
Astro is a 60+ award-winning, master level competitive cosplayer from central California! They specialize in sewing and needlework but dabble in a lot of different techniques, mediums, and materials. They've competed and judged all over the United States. They've been cosplaying for eight years and have made well over 30 unique costumes. Astro is also a chronically ill/disabled and queer cosplayer who wants to carve out a space for everyone within the cosplay community.Come meet Astro and talk shop! They're always willing to give advice on cosplay, build books, and more.