Completely new to Con
I've taken the past hour to read a bunch of the things on this site, but I'm still lost as to what really goes on at these things. I've never been to a Fur Con before, let alone that i've never been to any kind of con actually, so this is all very new to me. Sorry if I end up asking stupid or repeated question's.
I'm a very, and I mean VERY, shy person. How does one like me go about meeting new people? I have never met another fur in real life as none live near me, atleast not that I know of. I realize a lot of these forums online are full of people trolling and stuff, but it does make me think about how some people are in this world with meeting complete strangers for the first time. I'm not a very outgoing/talkitive person. This upcoming Anthrocon will actually be my first time outside of my house on my own for a few days with no parents or brother around, so you could almost say I'm a bit scared about all this. Any tips on this matter is extremely appreciated.
I like fursuit's and I intend to commission a quadsuit from beastcub (will definately not have for Anthrocon) because I really like the idea of these, but even though your face is hidden, it's being around all this other people that are new to me that makes me feel uncomfortable with wearing such a thing. Plus the fact that I don't know any friend's that would act as a spotter and all that. This kind of relates to my first question, but how does one go about these kind of feelings/issues?
What do people do at these con's? I keep reading about activities, dealers den, and a whole bunch of things, but as I said previously, I'm very shy and don't like exploring new things alone. I'm also not a dancer in any way, shape, or form. I also don't have money to spend at these as much of this money is going towards the quadsuit I want, so what would I do for fun then?
I have many other question's, but I feel I'm just getting repeatitive as this is all new to me, so any advice on all this is extremely helpful.
One of the best ways to help settle yourself into Anthrocon, and other furry conventions, is to volunteer. Volunteering helps situate you into a smaller group of people- suddenly, you're not trying to mentally deal with thousands of people, but a dozen or less 'co-workers', with whom you're trying to accomplish a task. It's a very good way for shyer folks to get adjusted, to meet some new people. There's also the warm fuzzies from helping Anthrocon out, and free T-shirts and memberships if you work enough hours. 
This upcoming Anthrocon will actually be my first time outside of my house on my own for a few days with no parents or brother around, so you could almost say I'm a bit scared about all this.
This is a very sensible attitude, actually; it's a new situation and it's good to be a little nervous. Plan carefully for things. Budget well remembering FRESH-T (Food, Registration, Emergency, Stuff, Hotel, Transportation).
Also, every year at Anthrocon we do have a "So this is your First Anthrocon?" panel. It's very recommended that you attend, as it's a solid introduction to the Anthrocon and furry conventions in general.
--Chi
Thanks. What kind of volunteer work goes on? Sounds like something I'd be able to do as I love to help others. I know, it's werid, I'm very shy, but loving helping others, even if it gets me nothing in return.
Check out http://www.anthrocon.org/volunteer for some of the volunteer tasks.
Have to agree with Chiaro about the volunteering. Last year was my family's first time at AC (my mate, my son and me). We all volunteered and met some great furs. It is also a lot of fun. I haven't seen it mentioned yet but I believe they are also planning on doing the mentor program again this year where the partner up newcomers with con veterans so they can be shown around. This helps because it is a large convention space and you can get turned around at first.
Nahhh, not so surprising; i'm an intensely shy person myself, but volunteering (which, for me, is now staffing) is one of my favorite things to do at a con.
Almost anytime you stick your nose in by con ops, they'll know where a department needs a helping hand. The two departments that seem to draw the most volunteers, however--and i highly recommend working with either or both of them--are registration and art show.
With registration, the biggest push is for help before the official start of the con, since they need folks to stuff bags and fold shirts for several thousand attendees.
With the art show, we tend to have a nonstop trickle of volunteers throughout the con, mostly checking bags; it's an easy way to have a 15-second conversation with a hundred people in a short amount of time, while still chatting with whoever you're working with. We also often make use of volunteers at the beginning with checking in artists, when we're all crazy hair-on-fire busy.
If you like the volunteer work you end up doing, you might go to a staffer and ask if there's any particular time when they think they might need of someone again. Sometimes they know that someone's leaving to eat in a few hours and are glad to have someone come back who already knows the ropes.
Warning: Frequent, faithful, and competent volunteering sometimes leads to staff time. 
For making new friends, you could also look in the schedule and see if anyone's planning a game of something silly like encore or apples to apples or anything from looney labs; it's amazing how fast you bond with strangers over silliness, and any publicly advertised game is bound to be open to all comers.
If you're like me, though, you should expect that some of the time you'll feel a little overwhelmed and peopled-out and want to just curl up in a corner and not interact with anyone for a while. Nothing wrong with that. I always find it helpful to remind myself that i'm neither required nor obliged to be the life of the party, and i get to decide how much of other people i want.
The biggest things to do at the con are social, because you're going to the con to do them in a large group rather than on your own. Most things at the con you could do on your own, you're going to the convention to do these things with 3000+ people of the same mindset as you. Focus on socializing and do what it takes to get the most of that aspect, because your best memories will be times you spent with other people.
As far as feeling shy or isolated, look, it's not something you just magically snap your fingers and it goes away. You need to do things which 'scare' you to get over that sort of thing - I used to be an incredibly reserved, quiet sort of person and now I think most people wouldn't believe that - I never shut up and I'm routinely throwing myself on stage and in other situations where I wind up in front of or involved in large groups of people.
What got me there, in all honesty, is furry. What you'll find is that a lot of people in the community are way more open to talking to strangers, ESPECIALLY at a con, than folks in real life. My strategy at first was to scope out people sort of publicly taking place in activities I was interested in and finding a way to politely involve myself in conversation with them, either complimenting them on something they're doing or simply stating I was interested in it too and asking more about what they were doing. I think one con I made it a goal to talk to someone new every hour or so, and after I'd done that and was running across people I knew all throughout the con constantly, it didn't feel nearly as scary.
This won't work for everyone, I'm sure, but oftentimes the only way to overcome fears is to face 'em. If you're shy, use the con to your advantage. There will be lots of people who are perfectly open to conversation and friendly and you WILL find people you will not only get along, but find yourself becoming friends with IF you try. Panels are a great place to do this, the dance can be a fun place to do this (not so much at the time, but you might recognize someone you were dancing with later and talk to them - and don't worry, barely anyone at AC can dance )
You'll find with time that your social anxiety disappears rather easily. After a string of successes you start to wonder what on earth it was you were so nervous about in the first place.
Just my two cents.
I'm also shy when it comes to meeting new people or even starting a conversation. What I do is I try to introduce myself politely and look for a common interest (easy enough for anthrocon you both like furries). It is also good to make friends though these forums and other furry forums, who you can meet up with in person at the con.
I've got one online friend that I am going with and I may have another friend and his girlfriend coming as well, but those two I'm not sure on. It won't be entirerly me alone because I'll atleast have one friend, but it's still quite an adrenalin rush just thinking about all this.
Well as I said just try and look for a common interest to talk about because once you get started talking you won't feel so nervous anymore. I feel more comfotable talking online than talking to them face to face, and I know that the hardest part is just starting the conversations. Once you get going it is hard to stop.
You'll probably get a lot of input...but there really is no set "right way" to enjoy your first convention. I can provide a little input though.
1. Social Zones - there are specific areas of the convention, such as the Zoo, that are really hubs of social gathering. The Zoo is really a big ballroom that we've got set up with lots of tables and chairs for you to sit and talk at. There is no programming there...and you can just rest, relax, draw, or talk there. Adjacent to the Zoo, is our Internet Zone. We have a nice cluster of internet terminals set up if you need to check e-mail and such.
2. Programming and Events - There are lots and lots of panels and events that you can go to. One of the easiest ways to make new friends is to find an area of interest, see what panels there are that talk about that interest, and then meet some of the other folks in those sessions. There will be sessions to help you with art, writing, discussing various types of animals, fursuiting, puppeteering, and the list goes on. There will also be stage performances that are sure to be entertaining. You may want to go to the "Your First Furry Con" panel. This is an event that is held as one of the first panels each year, and can be quite entertaining.
3. Dealer Room and Art Show - Anthrocon has a very large, cavernous dealer room that has all kinds of artwork, comics, t-shirts, mugs, puppets, plush animals, and many more things that you can buy. There is also a really good art show that features work from many of the fandom's prominent artists. You can bid on most of the artwork in the Art Show.
Finally...relax. Try to enjoy yourself. You'll find the environment to be very friendly and folks really want you to have a fun weekend. Enjoy the atmosphere, go to the dances, participate in some roundtable discussions. You'll probably find that there is way more that you'll want to do than you will be able to do in the weekend.
KP
*Charline de Lyon POUNCES!!* New person! OM NOM NOM!!
*FEAR the lion!* D:
*hits the lyon upside the head* No! Bad! Bad kitty! *gets out squirt bottle* ssst! ssst!
*hits the lyon upside the head* No! Bad! Bad kitty!
Best be careful around that one - Charline has, for some inexplicable reason, developed a taste for Fox. She isn't above following up a bite of Noob with a Fox Chaser.
*gets out squirt bottle* ssst! ssst!
Fortunately, her past indulgences have made her somewhat more - um - Inertia-bound, as it were; so only a little more than the customary caution is necessary to deftly sidestep the threat.
*Charline erms* There is absolutely no physical evidence that I eat foxies!
*Charles da Hyooman* Charline, you have a fox tail hanging from the side of your mouth.
*Charline eeps, slurps up the tail and whistles innocently* >_>
Note to self: Never turn back on the Lyon.
We've been trying to turn her off for years. Can't find the switch!
It seems the social aspect has been covered, so I will ask you about your decision to own a quadsuit.
Do you have prior experience wearing a full body costume at all?
As you probably have learned through your reading, that furry costumes are hot and heavy. And a quadsuit only compounds that by having you walking on all fours for a considerable amount of time. That leads to another question, are you good at that? Can you comfortably walk on your hands and feet without killing your back, your neck, or your wrists? (Actually, that may be a given. XD)
As fun as a quadsuit may sound, it really is a lot of work. If you have no previous fursuiting experience, I would recommend wearing a simple (upright!) partial first, of simple heads, hands, paws and tail.
If you HAVE, and know completely what you're getting into, then I'm just wasting comment space. >:3
Well, I'm still going for a quad someday, but it's atleast 3-4 (maybe even 5 years) away before i could even consider one since I'll be going to cons. Instead, a few weeks ago I alreadyd id what you said, I went for a straight up suit. I've been in a fullsuit a few times, but for no more than maybe 20-30 minutes as this was for a christmas show in High School. My High School rented out some heavy, well made suit's, so I feel I know how they are already considering I once in one on a blazing hot stage.
As for my suit that I've commissioned, it's a full/partial suit. It can be converted to either depending on what I decide is right. Which means I could also go with just the tail if I wanted.
Thanks for your feedback though. I love all the info I can get.
That's great to know! Once you know your limits to how long you can suit for, then you can make doubly sure in that time before you get your Quad to get in shape (as much as you think you may need, and then some)!
I also plan to get a quadsuit in a couple years' time, so hopefully we can run around together! 
Another way to meet new people is to hang out in dedicated areas where you're sure to find like-minded people, like the video game room or even a panel; you'd be amazed at how easy it can be to join in a discussion there that ends up carrying over after the panel's over. The prior method is even how I made a number of friends at FWA one year (Smash Bros. connects us all 
).
Ways to meet people:
1) Hang out and participate on these forums.
2) Participate on other furry forums. (See http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Category:Forums for a list)
3) Hit http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Category:Indiana to find other furries near you.
4) At the con, visit some panels that you might be interested in (obviously, the programming schedule hasn't been published yet, but you can look at last year's.
Don't worry about not being able to dance. I go to the dances, and I can't dance either!
Pennsylvania Furry? Be sure to check out http://www.pa-furry.org/