StreetPass NYC Celebrates Pokemon X & Y Launch and New York Comic Con with Wedding Proposal and Panel

Oct. 17, 2013 - NEW YORK -- StreetPass NYC, the largest unofficial Nintendo 3DS fan club in the United States of America, celebrated the New York Comic Con 2013 weekend at the Jacob Javits Center with various memorable fan-run events that will make the convention's eighth year one for the New York video game history books.

The festivities started on October 11th at 11:00 PM EST with a once in a lifetime announcement that shocked all the Pokemon Trainers at the Pokemon X & Y Launch (located at the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Center New York); a surprise proposal of marriage from StreetPass Long Island Co-Founder "Jeff Weinstein" to Co-Founder "Debbie Lee Gluzband" on the main stage in front of hundreds of Nintendo gamers lined up to purchase the game at midnight.

 http://youtu.be/VC7rqlKPaRo

"It's hard to gather the words necessary to accurately describe my thoughts and reactions to the events that took place this weekend. Debbie (Lee Gluzband) and I had the opportunity of a lifetime to get engaged on stage at the Pokemon X & Pokemon Y midnight launch event at Nintendo World Store in NYC and share our experience with hundreds of fellow Pokemon fans", said Jeff Weinstein, panelist and Co-Founder of StreetPass Long Island. "In hindsight, all I can say is 'WOW!!!' I would like to give thanks to Jordan White from StreetPass NYC, Nintendo of America, The Nintendo World Store Staff, Golin Harris, The Pokemon Company, New York Comic Con and everybody else who made this weekend possible."

"The weekend of New York Comic Con 2013 was a whirlwind of awesome for me!  On Friday night, I became engaged to the love of my life in true Poke-fan fashion, with a public proposal in front of hundreds of Pokemon X and Pokemon Y fans at the Launch Event at Nintendo World Store", said Debbie Gluzband, panelist and Co-Founder of StreetPass Long Island. "I was so surprised and overjoyed, and to all of those who helped make the proposal possible, I cannot thank you enough.  The Nintendo Communities panel the following day was a BLAST and a great success.  It was so great to see the panel room completely filled with so many enthusiastic StreetPass and Pokemon gamers.  I only wish we could do this all over again next weekend!"

For more information about the wedding proposal, visit this blogpost by the future bride herself at http://streetpasslongisland.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/spli-proposal-at-the-pokemon-xy-launch-event/

The following day on October 12th from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM, Jordan White (Founder & Event Organizer of StreetPasss NYC) hosted a panel titled "Nintendo Communities: StreetPass, Pokemon and Beyond!" along with Geoffrey Kappenberg (StreetPass NYC), Jeff Weinstein (StreetPass Long Island), Debbie Lee Gluzband (StreetPass Long Island), Matthew Rodriguez (Pokemon DS NYC) and KC Smithsen (Official NYC Pokemon Castelia League) in Room 1A10.

Nintendo and Pokemon Fans camped out at the previous panel to attend the Nintendo Communities presentation and also created a long line that bisected the other panel lines at the convention hall. The room quickly reached max capacity with every seat filled with a Nintendo 3DS gamer and other fans gathered shoulder to shoulder in the back row to get a few of the action. The panelists talked about the past, present and future of Nintendo Handhelds and the Pokemon Franchise culminating with a Q&A session, raffle of exclusive Nintendo merchandise and a moment of silence to honor former Nintendo Co. LtD president and chairman Hiroshi Yamauchi who passed away on September 19th 2013.

 http://youtu.be/Pkb7GbQ7iZc

“It was incredibly fun to work with all these passionate and knowledgeable Nintendo fans,” said KC Smithsen, one of the panelists and founder of The Pocket Players blog. “The turnout bowled me over! I’m sorry so many people had to be turned away at the door because we ran out of seats, but it just goes to show the power of Nintendo and Pokémon communities.”

"Pokemon DS NYC was glad to have presented, for fans, why Pokemon has kept us together, and are super excited to see how Pokemon X and Pokemon Y will continue to bring fans together", exclaimed Matthew Rodriguez, panelist and Leader of Pokemon DS NYC Meet Up.

"We always put our best foot forward when it comes to New York Comic-Con and thanks to our talented staff I can proudly say without hesitation that we knocked it out of the park this year", said Jordan White, Founder and Event Organizer of StreetPass NYC. "I am personally honored to work with Nintendo of America and the Pokemon Company to set up the marriage proposal between Jeff Weinstein and Debbie Lee Gluzband at the Pokemon X and Pokemon Y Launch and hosting the Nintendo Communities panel with some of the most professional Nintendo fans (and audience) I could ever work with. I cannot stress my thanks to Nintendo of America and the Nintendo World Store for bringing an amazing booth with popular first party and third party Wii U and Nintendo 3DS games, tournament contests and a fascinating panel about the Legend of Zelda with legendary franchise developer Eiji Aonuma. Nintendo is the best in the business because they support their fans and to be even a small fraction of that magic was a dream come true."

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StreetPass NYC and StreetPass Long Island are a subset of the much larger world-wide, fan run & operated StreetPass Network  (comprised of the many StreetPass meet up groups popping up all over the globe from Americas to Europe and Asia since the launch of 3DS). For more information, please visit http://www.streetpassnetwork.com

Pokemon DS Meetup NYC is a network of Pokemon fans from the New York region who are dedicated to the community of Pokémon video game fans, enthusiasts, and competitors. For more information, please visit http://www.meetup.com/pokemondsnyc/

The Official NYC Pokémon Castelia League is the Pokémon Company Sponsored Trainer League in New York City and is a fun way for fans to get involved in playing Pokémon games with other Pokémon fans. For more information, please visit https://www.pokemon.com/us/account/play-pokemon-leagues/6150/

New York Comic Con is the East Coast's biggest and most exciting popular culture convention. New York Comic Con is the second largest pop culture convention in America and the only one that takes place in the comic book, publishing, media and licensing capital of the world — Gotham City. For more information, please visit http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com

Nintendo, Nintendo Week, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Pokemon and StreetPass are copyright and/or registered trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. StreetPass NYC & StreetPass Long Island are NOT affiliated with or representative of Nintendo of America Inc, The Pokémon Company, GolinHarris or the Nintendo World Store staff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5MdHgEdyos

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Nintendo, Pokemon, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and StreetPass are copyright and/or registered trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. StreetPass NYC is NOT affiliated with or representative of Nintendo of America Inc or The Pokemon Company International.