Dave Simon

Dave is a professional illustrator and theme park concept artist. He has always loved everything to do with art, manga, and anime his whole life. Currently, Dave is working as a concept designer for Falcon's Creative Group in Orlando Florida, who are busy creating the official Dragonball theme park. Dave graduated from Utah Valley University in spring of 2024 studying entertainment design and illustration. Dave also taught youth art and design courses for six years at the University of Utah, where he was always inspired by his students’ passion and ability to create.

Claire Pettingill

Claire Pettingill is a freelance artist and current student at Purdue University. Known to the ToshoCON community previously as Lori, Claire attended ToshoCON every year throughout high school and is honored to serve as a judge for the 2025 event as an alumna. Her primary artistic focus is cartoon-style illustration, though she has recently been exploring neoclassical techniques. While she will not be attending in person due to her studies in Indiana, Claire wishes to extend her admiration to all contestants for their exceptional talent and dedication.

Jeremy Hodges

From endless hours of video games and anime to teaching himself basic animation by flipping through hundreds of Microsoft Paint files, Jeremy’s passion for creativity started early. Today, he’s the Lead Technical Artist at Tripwire Interactive, where he recently released the highly anticipated Killing Floor 3 for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox. Jeremy earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Entertainment Arts and Engineering from the University of Utah, where he now serves as an adjunct professor, teaching technical art to graduate students. Outside of work, he enjoys playing guitar, going for walks with his Maltese named Ghost, and cosplaying as characters like Zack Fair from Final Fantasy, Joker from Persona 5, and Jon Snow from Game of Thrones with Ghost playing the part of his loyal direwolf.

Anika Nacey

Anika is a library assistant for the County Library and an enthusiastic nerd. Beyond libraries and books, they love Dungeons and Dragons, Magic: The Gathering (Commander specifically), board games, and they're starting to get into more anime series, with an existing love for FMA:B, Castlevania, and Demon Slayer. Hit them up if you want to talk about those things, similar watches, or fiber arts! Picrew is by @komoworm

Sydnie Brewster

Sydnie is a library assistant with the County Library. She attended the very first ToshoCON as a teen, was the president of her high school anime club, and remembers a time when every popular ship had an AMV set to Cascada's "Everytime We Touch." In her free time, Sydnie can be found hiking the local mountains, saving Hyrule, or crying over fictional characters.

Amber Saffen

Amber Saffen is a nerdy high school teacher by day and an even nerdier GM by night. She is an avid fan of fantasy, TTRPGs, cosplay, video games, and of course anime/manga! Some of her favorites are Yu Yu Hakashu, Fruits Basket, Death Note, Princess Tutu, and A Place Further Than The Universe.

Chrissy Anjewierden

Chrissy is a children’s librarian at the Draper branch of the County Library. She has been on the ToshoCON planning committee in years past (including the very first one!) and has loved anime ever since she was a kid and her mom rented My Neighbor Totoro from the video rental store in their small town. For years, she got her anime fix from bad quality VHS recordings of Sailor Moon she taped off Cartoon Network, but now she has the whole series on Blu-ray. She lives in the Salt Lake Valley with her equally nerdy husband and their two children. And, yes, they do family cosplays.