Oh boy!

oops hit the wrong button XD

dont be nervous at all , i was at first until I have met many friendly furs here, I consider this my home cause of all the fellow furs I know, its a great place to meet new furs and I am a 1st time goer to cause I go to Otakon as well, but if you wanna chat or know me better ask me for my messengers, YIM, or MSN or myspace

thanks guys, i know im bound to have a good time i sapose, just alot to be nervouse about, like is my suit gunna come in on time and am i gunna be able to go and stuff like that

you will have fun there I can guarantee it ^^, cause I have been in bigger crowds, like 25,000 people cause I also attend Otakon as well the biggest anime con on the east coast but you will enjoy it

promise?

*nods* yes you will have fun

alright i guess so, if not ya owe me a hug XD

*hugs*

well just to let you know I added you to my YIM, ^^ so you we can chat and you can know me alot alot better

oh cool when im done on sl i hope you IM me

First-time jitters....

Unless you panic when there's people around, there really is no reason to worry. I wasn't worried at my first AC, and I only vaguely knew what to expect. Then again, one convention is much like ALL conventions, regardless of type, and I've attended some on and off since I was a kid.

Before attending, make sure you've taken care of your hotel reservation, confirmed it, and have written all the information down for it. Printing it out is best. Make sure you have as much ID as you can lay your hands on. Make sure you have your travelling arrangements all worked out and everything written down. Make sure you have extra time-and extra money. (You don't have to worry about reserving a hotel room now. If you are flying, it's smart to use a service like Travelocity.com and buy that ticket NOW because the prices will only go up over time, so the best deals are "the sooner the better.")

Supposing you've attended to all those necessary details, there is NOTHING to worry about. This is a respectable hotel, in a decent neighborhood. You will have no problems with either. The Dorsai attend to security at AC, and can direct you where you need to go to take care of problems that crop up. I've never seen anyone so stupid that security actually had to use physical force to stop them- those people are promptly kicked out and tend to get a bad reputation, which pretty much ends their involvement at ALL furry events EVERYWHERE. So they can only be a nuisance ONCE.

What should you expect? (This is what I really wanted to know.)
You'll see a bunch of people walking around, standing around, talking, and so on. They will have conbadges. Some will be dressed in normal streetclothes, some will have animal-print shirts, some will wear ears and a tail, and some will have an entire fursuit on. All of them are treated the same-you will not be required to wear ANY special clothing. (You must wear SOMETHING, since neither the hotel nor AC approves of public nudity. Once you've covered that, you should be fine.)

What will people do? They may say hello, and start up conversations. Or they may not. You're free to do the same. It's fine to chat for a few minutes and then move on, or make friends. (Their name is on their badge, so you don't have to worry about forgetting it.) There's lots of events-the Dealers' Room, the Masquerade (Talent Show), the Art Auction, and so on, the dances, and all the seminars, round-tables, discussions, games, interactive events, and so on. Find what interests you and try to be on time to it. Allow for travel time between events- elevator lines and small hikes all add up.

So long as you don't bring your own trouble, trouble should not be seeking you out. All public activities, all AC events, and anything in the hotel and convention center areas are all required to be acceptable in public. (No one can just walk up to you and start doing stuff to you, even if they wanted to.) AC and the hotel, for the most part, do not legislate what you do in your hotel room. (They'll say something if you start a fire or make too much noise...) So you can lock your door and do whatever you want in private.
So can other people, and if there's anything you'd object to anywhere at the con, it would be behind closed doors. So, if you're worried about finding yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time, just avoid being in other people's hotel rooms. I myself have not even had anything resembling a problem at AC so far.

Overall, AC is a fun, friendly event, where nobody pushes any attention on you, all events are safe, and there are many ways to have a good time-or several good times.

So, I would not worry.

wow, thanks blackjack for that detailed description, that was really nice of you, and now i do feel alittle less nervouse now that i kinda know what to expect, but not really becuase its one thing to read about it and a complete other to actually see it.

ok cool, yeah i figured that much on the furrsuits, it is really quite expensive to get one and not many can afford to do it. Nope, never been to a con before, so im very eager to try and go to anthrocon this year

i do belive they do, and, i loved his story aswell, it almost brought a tear to my eye, tho i dont know why