2012 V3 Steering Committee: The Steering Committee was comprised of representatives from AAJA-LA, IW Group, and the former Banana Conference. (L-R) Craig Tomiyoshi, Gil Asakawa, Shawn Wong, Shraddha Swaroop, Anh Do, Jocelyn “Joz” Wang, Denise L. Poon, Jen Ju, Henry Fuhrmann, Sarah Ford, David Iwata. Not pictured: Bill Imada, Lac Su.

AUGUST 2012

By Mariecar Mendoza

More than 200 people kicked off of the first-ever V3 Conference on August 24, under the stars and lanterns that dotted the sky of the open-air courtyard at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena.

Visibly armed with smartphones and digital cameras illustrating just how interactive society has become in the new digital world, attendees diligently tweeted about the sights and sounds of the night’s festivities and helped #v3con trend in the Twitter world.

Videos were also almost immediately posted online of live performances from musicians Ipo Pharr, Andrew Figueora Chiang and June Lui.

Phil Yu — The Angry Asian Man himself — even became a digital topic at the V3con reception as Chiang dedicated his first song to Yu, sparking hoots and laughter from the crowd.

Highlighting Asian American pioneers of digital media, the opening reception brought together powerful voices in the Asian American media and entertainment industry, including Lisa Ling to Tamlyn Tomita, all who nommed on Asian eats provided by Panda Inn.

“This is a perfect evening,” said Los Angeles-based said comedian/actress and blogger Amy Anderson. “It’s just really great to see such a cool combination of journalists, media people and entertainment from the the Asian community together all at once.”

The celebration of Asian American vision, visibility and voice continued August 25 with a daylong conference at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles.