Anime has been the same people for 30+ years. Those same shitstains have brought in more people like themselves and they've had a relative vice grip on the international scene. You can find archival photos from early 80s cons and find people who were just normal congoers that are now doing translations or in administrative positions. The whole convention scene has been the same people for a very long time.
You get into the 90s and early 2000s as shit really begins to pick up and that's where the cosplayers jumped into the picture. Back before it was about sex appeal. When room parties were the norm and the voice actors were very chummy with the attendees because nobody was charging for autographs then. Before NDAs and "no recording," when people were actually into it and the voice actors were surprised they had fans because they were used to recording their shit and getting a paycheck and going back to their otherwise mundane lives.
Vic was one of the people who pioneered the idea of setting a base rate for signings and photos at anime cons without being a calloused dickhead about it. Because he was starting to be in demand, he had a voice that people recognized and he got roped into bigger functions than the run of the mill anime cons everyone else was attending. Vic was one of the first to get pulled into the trade shows and expos where it was less about the fans running the show and more of the professional side of things. There was a sense of fandom in the trade shows but everything was handled professionally. It was not so different from any other business expo because people were conducting business at that time with a small percentage of savvy individuals who were also conducting business but with personal interest in mind and the desire to consume media that was otherwise unavailable since the internet was taking its baby steps into fueling the anime boom. There was a lot to be learned from the difference between trade shows and conventions.
Vic set a value for himself and stuck to his guns and didn't let the "old guard" as it were bully him into accepting shitty treatment. Early 2000s. Right before the real FMA hype hit hardcore and Hot Topic, FYE and similar stores started carrying anime merch. That old guard bitched about it then and once they hopped on the bandwagon acted like they had always done it.
If anyone tries to say it's not the same group of people doing everything, they're insane. The only thing I will say is this. The generation of voice actors that Monica, Sabat, Vic, further back into 4Kids, the Ocean Dub people, etc.
For them they didn't come in as fans or even knowing what lay ahead of them. They were coming into the business looking at American cartoon voices and thinking it would be like that. Nobody really paid attention to voice actors, it was their ability to make iconic voices that were larger than life. They went into the business knowing they had a talent but didn't expect to be famous. It's why a lot of the Power Rangers alumni cycled into voice acting too. They did the exaggerated voices to be over the suits and fit the camp of Americanized tokusatsu and they weren't getting work elsewhere (with some exceptions) so they moved into voice acting, mocapping, taking what they learned and getting into a niche for the paycheck because they weren't Hollywood-bound. They were trying to market their talents where they thought they could be most useful and didn't really think about fame or fortune. For most of these voice actors and other talent at this time, it was barely making ends meet. Nobody getting into it early on knew what the end result would be.
Now we've got the current generation. You've got people who were children, teens, young adults who came across anime and wanted to voice it because they were fans first. Cristina Vee, Robbie Daymond (hell, he directly credits Final Fantasy 10 being the reason why he wanted to be a voice actor), Kira Buckland....the list could go on. These people see the fandom because they are the fandom. Now they're in the industry.
It started out in murky water but now it's a machine. Not well oiled, but there is a pattern. Con organizers aren't really profiting off of the current system (there are some exceptions to this) but because at the end of the day they're fans too. They want to feel involved and important. Look at Manjaw and Jinnie, for instance. They have zero relevance to the greater picture but because they've been involved in the process they think they're above everyone else.
(Maybe I'm in the same boat too, but whatever. I'll take my senior discount and sit the fuck down.)
The reason why anime has persisted is because of how passionate the people are. And it's a shame that the hive mind really is a thing. It doesn't need to be planned or some conspiracy level shit. It's people who follow the pack because at the end of the day they still have zero self worth and are looking for validation from the people in charge. They haven't gotten over the lack of validation growing up so now its spilled over into their professional lives and they're having high school flashbacks and wanna be a part of the cool kid crowd so they'll shit on whoever's being shit on by everyone else.
Really though. I think I've reiterated this a bunch of times and I'd love to see anyone else who's been involved in the industry for this long say otherwise because how else would they know??