Mike Tatsugawa is currently the CEO of Pacific Media Association, the parent organization which produces Pacific Media Expo (PMX).[1][2]
He was one of the four founders of Cal-Animage Alpha (CAA) at the University of California, Berkeley in 1989.[citation needed] Tatsugawa was the chairman of AnimeCon in 1991, the event that later evolved into Anime Expo.[3] In 1992 he founded Anime Expo and the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), the non-profit behind the convention where he served as CEO.[4][5][6][7] He chaired his last Anime Expo in 2000.[5] While CEO of SPJA, Anime Expo added another event in New York City.[8]
In 2003, Tatsugawa voiced concerns over SPJA's finances and staff conflicts of interest.[5] SPJA strongly denied these claims and retained attorneys.[9][10] Tatsugawa resigned from Anime Expo in 2004 and founded Pacific Media Expo, the first large North American Asian-Pacific pop culture convention.[1][4][11]