My impressions on Anthrocon 2008
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Posted by Shot King on Tue, 2008-07-01 01:24
 "CAUTION: Unplug electrical devices before talking with this dragon." Location: Laredo, TX
Website: [Link]
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I just walked in the door about 5 minuites ago back to my gloomy depressing life, and whew, what a trip! While AC wasnt what I expected it to be it was great seeing everyone in the flesh... eh fur. But no impression can go without a lenghty detailed trip from someone whose never been to a convention, let alone a furry convention before. At first I was very impressed and positive with it on my first day. Little did I know however, that it was just the thin layer of the sweet sugarcoat of what was to come; to be a bland doughnut with only occasional sweet spots. Anthrocon was cool and had its moments and I did indeed enjoy myself to several points, but there was nothing special about this large gathering. First lets start off with... The good A lot of the events were enjoyable, informative and humor as well. I especially enjoyed Uncle Kage's performance with the opening and closing ceremonies and his yearly story hour where Im sure everyone knows. Hes a funny man and very hard working with his oveersees at Anthrocon. A special kuddios to him. Other events, mostly held by fans, such as teaching you to make a fursuit or to improve on your drawing was interesting and helpful to beginners. Then there were others that were just there to have good fun, like a game show based on the $25,000 pyramid, or events focusing on a certain a theme like foxes where it encourages discussions. My most favorite was the nightly dance which had all the countless beats of Techno, house, and rave. Combined with the incredible stunning special effects of laser lights and smoke, you cant help but get on out there and shake your groove thing. To add to the perfection, the DJs were all talented and well selected. The only problem is theres so many events going on, many of them at the same time, its hard to decide which ones to attend to. Another thing I liked was the dealers den and artits alley. Never have I seen so many talented people come together in one roof selling everything from prints, originals, plush's, fur tails, comics, badges, commissions and more, both for everyone and adults only. Theres so much good stuff its hard to buy with a limited budget. If your looking for any furry or scale related things, your find everything right there. It almost scares me even that there's a lot of more of these folk wanting tables but the area was very limited. BTW in case you dont know the difference, Dealers den is more for professional artists who make a living on these things, and often have a larger space for displaying there wares but the price for renting is rather pricey, hence why its mostly professionals. Artists alley, on the other hand, is cheaper, but is out of the way from the most of the con, thus is less frequented. Space is also limited as well. As you might have guessed, these are for amateur artists who are on a tight budget, just starting out, or draw just for fun and dont expect to make a profit. Perhaps what I really liked is the Guest Of Honor, Floyd Norman. An excellent choice for the Guest Of honor, or Guest of O.K. as he prefers to be called. Floyd is a animator and occasionally a writer that worked on many Disney films, from Sleeping Beauty, to the Jungle Book, and countless others even on some other non-Disney related stuff such as Garfield and Friends. I got a rare opportunity to meet him on the way to the convention and chatted with him a bit. It was nothing special aside from a typical daily chit chat. I did get his autograph and picture though which was sweet. But he was very patient and informative on the questions he was asked on one event where we got to ask him questions about his work. Billaint man. And BTW, I did learn a number of interesting tales about Disney, including Walt Disney himself, where Floyd once worked under. One more thing: The many fursuits I saw were cute and most of them friendly. Thanks for all the hugs and glomps guys! ^_^ By now, I bet your thinking "what could possbily be so bad about AC?". Well even the most seemingly prefect thing has at least one fault. So here comes... The bad The rest of AC though is just... well bleh. The biggest is the social scene. Maybe this is just me and I know there will be several others who will disagree with me. You see, I was under the impression that many people at AC are friendly and very out going. Its not even that hard to make friends even... so I was told. Needless to say, thats a bit of a underestimate. To start off my roommates have abanded me many times before as if I was a piece of crap. whaaaa? They seem very nice and apologize for it, but then they do it again? Im not stupid or naive you know. And they didn't even know a lot of furs to begin with. So ok, Ill just make new friends. Someones bound to regonize me... Nope. Only 2 or 3 at most. I even sat in the corner for a couple hours and not one person came to me. Is it something Im doing wrong? Ok so Ill need to make the first move. I got up to many furs and made small talk to them. Will they recognize me later and keep their word?... wrong. As before, only two or three of them actually came back to speak to me and say "hows it going?" Its like no one gives a crap about you unless your a fantastic artist or stand out like a bright color, something Im not really... speaking of which. Do I really want to know these people? On the surface (the online world) a lot of furs and fur fans seem to be nice and well presented. Well if you thought the kids in high school dressed crazy and liked to do nothing but party, AC just takes it to a whole new level. I have never seen so many people before that are badly dressed and covered in piercings in tattoos. Guys often dressed up in baggy clothes and shirts, a number of them are obscene. Ive also seen a number of guys dressed up in clothing of the opposite sex. Surprisingly, the girls seem to be more well fitted. Thats not to say though I see a number of them put on a lot of make up and skimpy clothes, looking like prostitutes. And hear I was dressed in a collared shirt and regular style jeans. Im not saying EVERYONE at AC dresses like that nor Im I implying that everyone at AC is the 18-25 crowd. And I especially know one shouldnt judge a book by its cover as I have learned a few times that even the most hardcore looking guy isnt what he may appear to be but... I just feel out of place. Even then, I would be embarrassed because I often hear a number of them speaking of comics, furrys and animie I never even heard of, let alone catch up on before. Oh yeah... a lot of them appear to drink heavily, smoke, and even on some cases, do drugs and party till the sun comes up. I do drink and even do a fling here and there, and, I admit, can be sex crazed if you know where to push my buttons. But Im not entirely like that. Ive got enough problems as it is. I know some of you will call me a party pooper, but its just the way I am. Again, I feel out of place and something im not always comfortable with. Despite of all this, I did get to meet some interesting people and see a few of my online friends, so its not at all a loss. And on a minor note, most of the staff seems to not know what is exactly is going on or where everything is. Is there a time requirement for staff and volunteers? Well thats that. AC can be best described like Brussels spots covered in sweet glaze... very sweet glaze. All the events, shops and furs, try to distract you from that bland taste. Theres nothing too special about this event despite all the hype and all the comments I read. I think the one ultimate thing I gained from this trip aside from bunch of souvenirs and prints is the bragging rights to say I went to AC 08. And as far as next year goes... well that still remains to be seen. Im looking to a "probably not" thing unless I know a whole bunch of my friends going. IMO its mostly fun if you go with people you know, probably up to 4 others. Countarty to what i might sound like, the trip was NOT a total bummer. I did enjoy myself on several occasions. I just wish it could have been better. And after all, its not everyday you get to meet your online friends. Bookmark/Search this post with: |
Maybe Ill have better luck next year... if I go.
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow in a land far far away
I apologies on my behalf to you Shot, I seen you LOTS of times, but all I could do was really offer a hi or a wave. I was all over the place this year, unlike last year. Last year was my first con and I slowly took everything in and was mostly in the zoo. This year I was all over the place to much.. I think I maybe hung in the zoo a total of a half hour this year.
I blame the silly fur suiters XD Always dragging me off or me going after them. I didn't even get to really vol. to much this year to. Why? Again fursuiters... I was giving my time to them .. They seemly loved all the help I gave them and it showed. I got alot of lovely pictures taken with them and loads of hugs and love.
Hopefully next year I can hang with you.. So if you see me next year and wanna hang out, please walk up to me, hollar and I'll stop and talk for a while. ^_^
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permalinkLocation: Chicagoland
Website: [Link]
Conventions are a really unusual social scene, and speaking as a social "neurotic" of sorts (I have lots of trouble with large groups of people, particularly if I don't know many or any of them), it's not always easy to wedge your way in. You seem to be trying hard and not doing anything necessarily wrong, it's just that with so many people, distractions, events, and layer upon layer of people planning, it's often difficult to keep a person closely in mind. I don't know as you were being completely ignored so much as people were putting things in their heads only to have the memory fall out from overload.
In any case, come back again. It really does get easier the more you try it, and social circles spring up when you least expect them in a lot of cases.
On a more stafferly (is that a word?) note, I'm glad you liked the Dealer's Room and Artist's Alley--we work really hard to get as much in there for your shopping needs as possible.
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permalinkAs for the social scene.. I agree, but I understand why it happens.
Furry fandom has a large percentage of members, likely a majority, who are introverted. I am among them. Introverts have a hard time opening up to new groups of people, and once they have a core group of close friends, can find it more difficult to let new people into the social circle.
As a result, if you go to a furry con expecting to make new friends, it can become difficult. Introverts are more prone to making friends online, then meeting them in real life once comfortable with them. Of course there are exceptions, but this is a common trend. Also, at least I personally have a much easier time meeting people when I am introduced by a mutual friend, than just walking up to a stranger and saying hi.
Since introverts dominate the fandom, it stands to reason that most folks at cons will hang out with their own friends and only seek minor contact with others. 95% of my good friends today I met either through an introduction, or online. I'm sure many of us furs are the same way.
The old standby, Wikipedia, has great information about this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introvert
Don't feel bad, it's just the way it is. It tends to get better over the years as you meet more people and make more contacts.
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permalinkListen to this lynx. He knows what he's talking about. (Says a skunk who also leans heavily toward introversion.)
SK, I can sympathize with your experience. In many ways, it has echoes of my time at AC 2007. I came to the con not really knowing anyone (other than Zorin, and various artists/luminaries in an impersonal sort of way), and hoping to meet new and interesting people. I did meet a few fun folks, but there was also a lot of aimless wandering through the Zoo, looking for someone to talk with or something to do, and feeling tinges of depression at being alone even among ~3,000 friendly souls.
Since getting home from that con, however, I've spent a good bit of time on the forums here, through the doldrums of fall and winter, picking up on new names and even starting some e-mail threads off the site. I met someone (Volknochi) who would be getting their first fursuit at the next AC, found out about the Buca di Beppo dinner (for which I promptly signed up), even came close to getting a new panel organized.
And the end result of all that? AC 2008 was dramatically better. People recognized me from the forums, I had an "in" to more conversations and groups, and for the most part I was able to latch on to someone/something else whenever the aimless-wandering problem loomed. Filling in as a spotter for Volknochi was especially fun---and would never have happened if not for our prior contact here.
The way I see it, what you want to do is lay the groundwork so that when the con arrives, you sort of get pulled in various directions from the first day to the last. You can never do it all, but you can triage it (in the best sense of the word), and when it's all over, you're left somewhat dazed and ineffably happy from the whole whirlwind experience.
One other possibility worth mentioning is a fursuit. A fursuit changes not only your appearance, but also bends the rules for interaction with others in a way that you may find advantageous---and that may have knock-on benefits to your real-life persona. Look at Takala's experience, for example (the well-known zebra dude). There is powerful psychology at work when one puts on a fursuit, and I daresay that may be something worth investigating.
--
iSKUNK!
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permalinkHuzzah, I got mentioned!
For those of you who did NOT know what I look like, here you go. Me and my fill-in spotter.
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permalinkMan, I love that picture
--
iSKUNK!
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permalinkLocation: Norfolk Virginia
I agree with you wholly on that.
I came to meet new people and have fun. I did meet a few, but most of them had the "Highschool Clique" issue.
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permalinkI sure recognized you from your avatar and your Trip pants.
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permalinkLocation: Norfolk Virginia
And I've seen you...and I think I said Hi once when we were standing in line or something.
I got bored very quickly in the Zoo and other places and wandered a bit.
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permalinkThese are the three I have of you.
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permalinkLocation: Norfolk Virginia
-is flattered-
Do you mind if I take these pictures and save it on PB?
But I think I am either going to remake my costume, and/or come back next year with two.
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permalinkSure by all means, save them.
Actually I have the originals in larger size on my harddrive. Contact me if you'd prefer those instead. ^^
And, after we met at AC and I said I could not remember where I saw you, it was later in the day I remembered "Zeke selling the tail on the forum!"
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permalinkLocation: Norfolk Virginia
Alrighty, and thanks!
We should hang out and get drunk next year. XP
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permalinkLocation: New Mexico
Website: [Link]
I too felt rather out of place, so I resorted to walking around in costume a lot more than I originally intended. I am an introvert myself and had to work up a lot of courage to sit down at a table with some other people in the Zoo on Sunday night, but I felt like that one act had pretty much expended all my energy heh... I had tried to set up a meeting on Thursday night (for the Geeks) but I sat at an empty table for a while and no one came; granted it was probably my fault for not making a big sign or something saying "GEEK MEET!" but at the same time I wonder if that would have made a difference. I was hoping people would recognize me by my hair/ears, which are the same as my avatar, but alas no.
I walked around most of the con with one of my roommates, who was also a first-timer, but if he hadn't just volunteered to go with me I probably would have been in the same boat as you, wandering by myself.
While my clothes are relatively "normal" I don't think that a furry convention is the place to get upset about dresscode. People often dress a certain way because they want to express themselves, and I don't think they should be judged negatively because of that, particularly when a bunch of others are walking around dressed as animals
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permalinkLocation: Austin, TX
Website: [Link]
Blog: [Link]
Gah, I wanted to meet with you about geeky things but I was so tired on Thursday that I had to spend the time catching some Zs. And then later that night I was waiting in the zoo for others who never arrived as well. I figured folks just got caught up with other plans. Ah well, just gotta keep on truckin' and take those setbacks in stride.
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permalinkLocation: Melbourne area, Florida
I just wanted to throw in my two cents.
I attended AC first time last year. Ended up rooming with a friend I knew and found a long time friend online at the con I hung with and met some of his friends through association so it wasn't that bad.
I will say though, at my first con, and both times at FWA (this and last year...yay tumbles) I fell into the same boat as you. They were brief times, but they did exist.
For me, I found that going to the open gaming room provided a way of meeting people and breaking the ice. It's hard to be real quiet or ignore someone when there's a structured game going on where you are pretty much forced to talk and pay attention. If you're not a board/card game player, the video gaming room also offers some opportunities to meet new people. If those both don't work, there is the social in the zoo on Friday. It is fairly weak and isn't even structured, but is meant to be for what you're trying to seek, meeting new people. Outside of that, smaller panels (those that are not in the ballroom) usually allow at least discussion about things and intrests that can help you with finding new people as well. It never hurts to ask to meet friends of people...and chain along associations as well.
As for the "I wasn't approached" aspect, there is the fact that everyone has 72 hours or so to do too many things (over 100 events? Trying to talk to people that they know they only will see at this con? The urge to get too many things at the dealers den? etc...) and some are totally focused at what they want personally, and be damned if they're delayed. Also as pointed out, the furry community is filled with a lot of introverts. I even noticed a person in suit (anime-ish white cat in something resembling a school girl uniform) that acted completely shy even in suit. Character choice or influence from real life? Anyways, I'm rambling. I personally am fairly approachable I guess...I talked to quite a few people, but I wasn't really approached at random in the halls. Out of anything it was either outside when stuck at an intersection, or in an elevator, where you're in a social situation that can be a little awkward.
I just wanted to add in my little opinion on this.
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permalinkLocation: Deleware
Website: [Link]
Here's input Shot King
The con was fantastic.I had a set plan and did EVERYTHING I wanted to do.
)
Though it did kinda suck that some programs overlapped the other ones.
Yet besides that I had a fair shair of meetups (Even gave them my card
I still had plenty of time in the dealers room/artist alley.
Yet there was ALOT of walking *whew*
On a personal note and as one of your roommates.
Im not obliged to wait for you to wake up in the morning and get ready.I too energized for that (I was able to get some breakfast with 2 at Fernando's)
I wanted to get as much con as I possibly can since I dont know if I can make it there again for a while........Yet I hope I can.
And whenever I saw you in the crowd you kinda looked already busy.
Oh and as an addition you should really get out there and enjoy yourself more.Walk up to random people and start talking.Thats how I made some really good friends :3
And I DO NOT think you are a piece of crap
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permalinkHello Furries.... I was securty gauard at the convention center ( not one of yours) And I hd so much fun watching the Con and looking at all the art work that I have decied to go to the next Con you have here in Pittsburgh. You are all a great group of people and you are fun to be around.
Thanks for the great time.
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permalinkLocation: Youngstown, OH
Hi! Welcome to the forums! I'm glad to hear you felt that way, I hope you'll feel just as happy next year when you attend.
"Furry is a state of mind."
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permalinkLocation: Laredo, TX
Website: [Link]
I wasn't criticizing the con itself. Everything else was as smooth as ice cream fresh from the machine. Its the crowds that left me a weird aftertaste in my mouth. I spent it mostly trying to attend certain events and looking what to but in the dealers room/artists alley.
BTW Id rather spend the day with you and/or khris. All Joe and Butch wanted to do is stay in the zoo all day and draw. Do you think id like to stay in there and do the crossword puzzle from the New York Times the entire time? I was trying to find yall to catch up with. And as I said, I hardly knew anyone, save for a handful people from here and DA and FA. Who do you think id flock to most? And I did try talking and meeting new people. But I guess they weren't into me. *shrugs*
But hey I think your a cool guy ya know. I'm glad to see your opinion of me hasn't changed, even after that certain event I kinda ruined.
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permalinkWebsite: [Link]
Here's an excerpt from the con report I sent to my furry mini-mailing list; if anybody wants to read the whole thing, let me know and I'll post it.
{During the drive back,} I did note that I was lonelier while in the middle of a bunch of people hanging out with their friends than I was by myself driving back; my problem is that I'm not willing to put the hours into LJ writing/reading and hanging out doing nothing much that it takes to make friends these days [...], so I don't ever expect to get the social benefits out of AC that 99% of everybody else does (at least a couple of people during closing said it was the "time of their lives"). The best I can hope for are interesting panels/events (which I didn't really get this year, but the last two {cons} were OK, thus making it 2 for 3), and interesting art (here I'm 3 for 3 - I've found something moving in the art show every year, and also picked up various comics/prints that I wanted).
Ron
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permalinkLocation: 12 scenic miles from Hell
Website: [Link]
I'm not sure what you mean by the second sentence. Could you explain a bit more?
As for the first - yep, absolutely true. For many of us, we see the program book for the first time when you do. There's no chance to memorize it, or even learn anything other than the biggest functions - 2's rant, the story hour, and so forth. Most of us focus on the thing we're doing, not the things we're not involved in. Ask me about major functions where big crowd control is needed, and I can cite chapter and verse from memory. Ask me what day and which room the panel on drawing small weapons is, and I haven't the faintest idea. Ask the art show staff about supersponsor lunch, and most of them haven't a clue.
I'm not saying it's unreasonable to ask staffers such questions. If you've misplaced your pocket program, it's a perfectly reasonable next step. But odds are good that most of us don't know *everything*.
In addition, despite our best efforts mistakes happen. The hotel map in the pocket programs didn't show the Jefferson Room. Oops. We got the map from the hotel, and *they* didn't know it wasn't on there until it was pointed out Monday. Oops. My guess is that somebody accidentally deleted its name when the restaurant layouts changed, and nobody noticed. Oops.
None of this is to say we shouldn't or can't do better. I'm going to float a few suggestions to the publications folks and the non-security side of ops; we'll see what they and the hotel say about 'em. In the meantime, any ideas you come up with will be much appreciated.
Better yet, if you know how to arrange such stuff, volunteer. We always need qualified help.
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permalinkLocation: Philadelphia, PA
Website: [Link]
I'm gonna be honest, it's quite possible that you having an attitude like this may be part of the reason you didn't connect with as many people. A lot of AC is about just relaxing and being yourself. Some people are transgendered and like to wear clothes of the opposite sex and lots of us dress far more casual in public than you seem to but that doesn't really mean there's anything wrong with us. A huge portion of enjoying AC requires you to be open to new things, otherwise you won't have a super-fantastic time.
Just my two cents. All that up there is a pretty superficial way of looking at your fellow congoers. That'sall.
The con's what you make of it.
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permalinkWebsite: [Link]
Agreed.
A lot of AC congoers are teenagers and, thus, dressed in whatever is fashionable lately. For a lot of kids, it's baggy Hot Topic jeans and goth clothes, or the more Scenester end of the spectrum (tight jeans, bi-colored foppish hair).
And, yes, there are A LOT of trans gendered and genderqueer folks in the fandom. And, hey, some people like to crossdress. Not the end of the world there. It's really the least of the strange things one will find in the fandom, honestly.
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permalinkLocation: Willimantic, CT
Blog: [Link]
I'm glad you did have good times; I hope you'll enjoy a lot of those positive memories too. As for the bad times:
The biggest is the social scene. Maybe this is just me and I know there will be several others who will disagree with me. You see, I was under the impression that many people at AC are friendly and very out going. Its not even that hard to make friends even... so I was told.
I think that there are a great amount of people at Anthrocon who are friendly and outgoing; but part of the trouble is that there are 3,390 people at Anthrocon. It's easy to get lost int he crowd, and while you're building friends and contacts, it can take time to stand out enough in people's minds to develop those deeper bonds. Even then, good friends can be hard to make time for- This year I didn't see ScullyRaptor and Fossil, two excellent friends I love to be around, except for times standing in front of their table.
Now, all this is one reason Volunteering and serving on Staff can be a helpful thing; It gives you a place to interact with less people for a longer time. I've made a grand number of friends serving in Registration, and I'm further cultivating new friendships now with folks on the Board and the Dorsai, whom I'm now interacting with a LOT more.
On the surface (the online world) a lot of furs and fur fans seem to be nice and well presented. Well if you thought the kids in high school dressed crazy and liked to do nothing but party, AC just takes it to a whole new level.
At AC, and other cons.. a lot of people like to dress differently than they do in their normal life. They dress 'up'- in costumes or stylish clothes. They dress 'down'- breaking away from suits and ties to wear their jeans and t-shirts. Or they dress 'out'- in the wildest, most extravagant things they can. I imagine that it's the latter group that have you a bit worried.
And on a minor note, most of the staff seems to not know what is exactly is going on or where everything is. Is there a time requirement for staff and volunteers?
There's a lot of inter-departmental communication that could be increased, admittedly. I count it as important that if I don't know the information, I'm able to find someone who will.
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permalinkLocation: Philadelphia area, PA
Once again, i see i've been anticipated. How lovely.
I don't think most of the folk around AC were avoiding you intentionally, even your roommates; it's just that when you have a lot of things you want to do and a lot of friends you want to catch up with, it can be hard to take a step back and make an effort to welcome that one person sitting to the side looking lost. Plus with a couple thousand faces around you, it can be hard to remember if you saw that one before, or if that was just your imagination.
I'm actually a really intensely shy person iRL. I don't make friends easily; i find it very hard to even sit down at a cafeteria table with others unless i know in advance that i have a standing invitation, i can't start conversations with people i don't know well, and i often find large crowds of new people really overwhelming. Because of that, you wouldn't think that AC would be an easy place for me, and when i first came i did feel incredibly lost and isolated. What really helped me was volunteering, then staffing, for one particular area of the con. Once i got involved with the art show, i could concentrate on connecting with about 10-12 people, folks who were actively aware of the need to pull me into the group, instead of a couple thousand heading in forty-odd different directions. The fact that the staff are always looking for more helping hands and i like feeling useful just makes the whole thing a win-win situation in my book.
Of course, attending a much smaller con could also help with the whole isolation thing.
As for the clothes, well...it seems people have very different standards when it comes to what's appropriate or flashy or cool. People do tend to dress up/down for the occasion, but i think it's also a side effect of furry embracing such a wide socio-political spectrum. I generally spend most of the weekend in plain tank tops and jeans or shorts, but i know there are some who are uncomfortable with bare shoulders and upper chest regions, and some who just want to celebrate their freedom to wear very revealing or goth-esque clothes and not get hassled about it. I would hope that we would not allow this to become a barrier to friendship.
All of that said, i'm sorry you had a tough time with the social scene. I know it can be especially wearing, feeling like you're right in the middle of a crowd and you don't fit in.
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permalinkLocation: New England
Website: [Link]
Hey there. :>
Well, this was my first Anthrocon, and I'm going to have to agree that it's WAY easier to meet people online and *then* at the con (even if you're not close friends, meeting online beforehand is a good introduction to hanging out at all), and also easier to meet new people through the friends you already have. I had a blast because I was able to hang out with a bunch of people who I knew almost exclusively from online.
I know that the first furcon I went to years ago (FurFright, which was an hour from my house), I had an extremely awkward time at because I didn't know a single person, and I didn't really have any fun. So I went home after a few hours. So I know how you feel; it's a matter if getting up and deciding to meet up with people you know from online or plopping yourself down at a table in the zoo and chatting.
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permalinkLocation: Sioux City, IA
Website: [Link]
Blog: [Link]
I'm an Introvert myself (which will come as a HUGE shock to people who see me at the Con) and I'll tell you one very simple piece of advice on how to meet and interact with people at the Con.
Volunteer.
When I walked into my first AC in 2005, I didn't know ANYONE, wasn't really prepared for the...variety... of people I saw, and basically felt overwhelmed. But the second I walked into Con Ops to sign up to volunteer, Grandma Kage herself welcomed me to the con and helped me get set up to help out at Registration. I met MANY wonderful people and got a good start for social networking that's continued to grow even several years later.
...and now I'm on staff. Go figure.
As for the staff thing, I'll echo what's been said above. While we may have a pretty good *general* idea of what's going on, the majority of the staff doesn't set eyes on the program until you guys do. I knew pre-reg very well, but wouldn't have been able to tell you thing one about the Art show, for instance... other than its general location. Just as a reminder, the AC staff (and board) are volunteers, too.
~Tyrrlin
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permalinkThis was my first con as well and I spent the entire weekend alone. However there was enough to see and do that I was never really bored. However my experience would have been a lot better had I had even one person to say hello to.
Gives me something to work on for next year =^.^=
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zorinlynx up there pretty much put down the way things are.
The first con you go to is always the most awkward, since you're kind of learning the whole procedure for the first time. Subsequent years are better once you know how everything goes from experience.
But as for the social scene, that may also depend on how long you've been involved in the online furry fandom. I always tell people that you'll get a LOT more out of AC if you know people to go to the con with, and hang out with there. If you don't know anyone going in, then it is difficult to have much of a social experience there.
I would recommend getting involved in more things online. Try checking out some furry IRC channels, LiveJournal communities, local mailing lists, forums, some of the MUCKs, attend local meets, anything to start getting to know more people who may have similar interests as you. It's not an overnight process, it'll take some time, but if you just start hanging around places online with more people then you should eventually get to know more people to meet at the con and spend time with there.
To give an example, I've been involved in "furry" things online since 1995. I started out in the Sonic fan community and worked my way from there. I had a web site I started in 1996 which became big within the Sonic community (and with a selective art gallery that inspired many people to start drawing/try to draw better, so I hear), I started using IRC around 1996-97 or so. I found one or two web sites with forums of people with some other similar interests I had within the fandom sometime over the next years as well. I got on FurryMUCK in 2000, I started attending Anthrocon in 2002. I got involved in Second Life in 2005 and went on to start up NorthStar, one of the more popular furry hangouts in SL. I started playing Team Fortress 2 on the furry servers last year.
Everything I've listed above has led to me meeting more and more people over the years, and as such you can imagine I always have a ton of people to meet and hang out with at Anthrocon each year. You just have to seek out ways to get involved in more things online, it's the best way to get involved in the community and have more people to look forward to meeting in person and possibly hang out with at AC!
I hope this post was somewhat helpful.
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permalinkLocation: Austin, TX
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This was I believe my fifth Anthrocon and I was still susceptible to feeling ignored. It was easy for me to fix this, however; all it took was a couple drinks at the nearby bars to lift my spirits (so to speak). Even better were the times I did hang with a friend of mine (and by extension, those he hung out with). And some of the most interesting conversations were those I had with random folks when standing in line to pick up items at the art show. Plus it was fun to converse with artists in the artists' alley and dealers' den as I dropped money on their wares.
Overall I had a great time and would gladly do it again, despite the problems I faced past and present. I guess I'm saying you shouldn't get discouraged and if you can do it, spend a little more time to find where you're most comfortable. I say it's worth it. Corny advice I know, but hey.
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permalinkLocation: Orlando, FL
>> And on a minor note, most of the staff seems to not know what is exactly is going on or where everything is. Is there a time requirement for staff and volunteers?
Much of the staff will need to refer to the pocket guide and pocket schedule for event information, simply because everyone on staff has different tasks to undertake. But...there are some individuals on the programming staff who are very specifically moving around the event space just to answer programming questions. This was really the first year we had them very dedicated to that function, and it worked fairly well.
Should you return next year, and I hope that you can, you can always go to the Con ops area and ask if a Programming representative is there to help. This year, we had Rukario there as well as RB and Stria roaming the Westin and the DLCC to help answer questions about the events. We will probably be looking to expand that staff as we continue growing - we'll need more people to help disseminate the information.
KP
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permalinkLocation: 12 scenic miles from Hell
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K.P, I should mention that during the evenings there are often only security staff in conops. Folks also approach us outside of conops as well because the red shirts make us easy to find. End result was that we got asked a lot of questions about wheres and whats of programming, and sometimes our answers were, er, less than informative. If you can pull us into the loop on the training and docs given to those folks, it will be a win all around.
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permalinkBlog: [Link]
OK, easy solution for next year: print big poster-sized copies of the schedule and put it on easels in three or four locations throughout the convention.
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permalinkA possible addition? Include maps of the Westin and Convention Center. Color-code the various floors of the Westin so at least people can get to the right general area. See-through highlighters aren't that expensive...
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permalinkYou mean, like this?
--
iSKUNK!
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permalinkPerhaps someone could try organizing a panel for introverts and socially shy/awkward people. I know I definitely had some trouble approaching people and starting conversation. So, a panel that offered advice for mingling and making friends as well as gathering information from other people's experience with making friends and breaking the ice. DOs and DON'Ts. Plus, the panel itself could be a good place for people to mingle.
Anyway, just an idea.
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permalinkLocation: In a small little box in your small little mind.
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Are you trying to imply something
-----------------
The desire to dream is primordial. Some evolutionary process has instilled life on this planet with the ability to dream. It is essential to survival. Even dogs dream.
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permalinkLocation: Kansas, USA
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I remember meeting you! I wrote "Fweep!" on the monkey on your conbook
I kept an eye open for you after chatting before Floyd Norman's talk, but I never really did see you again...Sorry
I think next year you'll have more fun if you go again, knowing what to expect and knowing the processes a little bit better. This was my first con as well, and I hardly even saw my roomies at all. Hell, I was rooming with a suiter, and I never did see him in suit except that one time I brushed his fur out before he left to go run around
When you have almost 3400 people running around, like others have said, with so little time and so much to do, it's hard to want to sit still and talk to people. I know I was in the zoo fairly often, to see if I recognized anyone in here. I got to meet Babs the Bunny (AKA Lilyfox), the heads of Don't Hug Cacti Studios, Ganador (an adorable dragon), Kyr the Deer, and lots of other neat folks like Suka the Husky.
But then I'm pretty extroverted...I'll talk to anyone and everyone who will put up with me XD
I hope you'll come next year, hopefully not get freaked out by the outrageous clothing (some of which I was wearing...I just love those comfy goth pants), and meet some more fun folks. Hell, if I can help it, I'll DEFINITELY be there, and you can ALWAYS talk to me
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