Over the last few months, I interviewed voiceover actress Abby Trott (found here) and Chicago legend Joey D’Auria (found here) for Global Traveler. When I saw they were appearing at Anime 414 in Milwaukee, I made the trip with my friend Tony.
Debuting in 2007 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Anime 414 is an annual three-day anime convention. After a few different locations, Anime 414 moved to the Baird Center in 2024. Expected to attract 25,000 attendees and bring $5 million to Milwaukee’s economy, Anime 414 is Wisconsin’s largest anime convention and one of its largest conventions in general.
Our first stop was Trott’s booth. Well-known for her work in anime, Trott also can be heard on video games and animation. Since our interview was via Zoom, it was great to catch up a bit in person. 
Tony and I met and interviewed D’Auria at a Chicago event, but we were happy seeing him again. Having portrayed Bozo the Clown for many years, D’Auria is a Chicago television icon. D’Auria also acted in many other projects as well doing voiceover work.
The rest of the time we wandered around the many vendor booths, seeing all sorts of amazing creations. It was also fun people-watching, as many attendees cosplayed.
A huge convention center in downtown Milwaukee, Baird Center is part of a complex which includes Miller High Life Theatre and UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Baird Center opened in two phases, starting with its opening in 1998 and the second phase completed in 2000. It was the largest architectural project in Wisconsin. 
— John Wroblewski, podcaster
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