Registration Question

There are definite perks to sponsor and super sponsorship levels, which you can find out by reading the registration page. You'll find if you actually look, most answers are in their logical places.

The only activity you are left out of without a higher level membership is the supersponsor luncheon.

As Protocollie has said the only event that has limited access is the supersponsor luncheon. To attend the luncheon you need to pre-register at the supersponsor level. The only other perk that I can think of that is not listed on the registration page is that for some events (I think those mainly in the main ballroom) sponsors and supersponsors get their own entrance line into the event. There is also some reserved seating up front for sponsors and supersponsors.

There was a long thread some time ago concerning the increase in Supersponsor membership price:
http://www.anthrocon.org/node/4794

I will summarize what I said there: I Supersponsor because I can. I consider it as an investment in the fandom's future. The extra benefits are okay but, bluntly, they do not come close to 'making up the difference' in price. In effect, I'm subsidizing younger fans by allowing the Attending membership price to stay low.

The only official Convention functions that you will not be able to view at the Attendee level are the Supersponsor Luncheon and Kage's and 2's Charity Comedy show which costs $10 more... even for Supersponsors.

Greetings, J Fox!

This will be a bit easier to explain, by answering your second question first:

The standard "General Admission" membership at $45 entitles you to full access to participate in or to attend any AnthroCon panel or event, with possibly two small exceptions - these would be the Supersponsors' Luncheon and the Art Show Reception.

The next two tiers are essentially bought by considerate and generous fans, who wish to donate more money to help in defraying the costs of running the convention, but again - aside from the luncheon and the reception mentioned above - do not offer any additional programming or other events connected with them that someone at a "General" membership level wouldn't also be able to attend.

But this is not to say that the higher levels are free of perqs! AnthroCon really appreciates people who can afford the higher levels of support, and offers a few tokens and courtesies not available to the (still loved and appreciated) General Membership!

At the "Sponsor" membership level of $95, you get a free convention T-shirt, custom-designed for this year's theme, and suitable for proving that you really did attend, and making your fannish-friends jealous; also suitable for the next time you travel to a Furry Convention, fellow Furry Fans will be able to spot you, and settle down to converse, confer, and in otherwise and ways Hobnob about going to neat Furry Conventions. In addition, you also get a spiffy ribbon to affix to your badge, so that everyone you pass by shall know of your superior status (yeah - like they really care) and of AnthroCon's gratitude. BUT WAIT...THERE'S EVEN MORE!!! Folks who register at a "Sponsor" level get to stand in a much shorter registration line, set apart from that big, huge, snaking "general mambership" line, and you spend much less time waiting to get your badge 'n stuff! And if you pre-register, you spend evcen less time standing in line!

...And - while it hasn't been mentioned on this year's registration page - in the past, the first rows of seats at the evening performances have been set aside for early seating of both the SuperSponsors and the Sponsors. That may be an added benefit this year, but since it wasn't listed, I can't promise it.

At the SuperSponsor's membership level of $195, you get the same nifty gifts as a Sponsor - the Convention T-shirt, spiffy ribbon for your badge - plus a special gift token from the Guests-of-Honour which is exclusive to the SuperSponsors; this may be a special-run, signed art print, or a signed 8x10 glossy photo, or...something, which the AnthroCon Chairman will attempt to pursuade the Guests-of-Honour to create. Usually, they have been very good sports about it, and the Chairman can be quite charming.

Then there is the "SuperSponsors' Luncheon", generally held Saturday Afternoon, where all the SuperSponsors have been invited to a special catered meal, hosted by the Chairman of AnthroCon, and at least one other board member. The purpose of this gathering is for the Chairman - that would be Dr. Samuel Conway, AKA Uncle Kage - to express, on AnthroCon's behalf, the gratitude for the extra support services and facilities which the SuperSponsors' largesse has made possible. Also attending are the Guests-of-Honour, who - after having had a chance to enjoy their meal - usually make themselves available to answer questions from the SuperSponsors, in a friendly environment conducive to friendly chitchat and the telling of anecdotes. The food served is generally very good, and the beverage service has improved of late to the same level.

If there is any other knick-knack or swag item that the AnthroCon Staff can think of to add to the package, they do - this may include coupons good for sandwiches at local eateries which have benefitted from our patronage and have offered their hospitality to Furry Fans as a whole, or invitations to the Special Art Show Reception, which the Art Show Director (PeterCat) holds for the participating Artists and for the Dealers, who spend all the working hours of the convention working behind their tables. While the General Membership has normal operating hours during most of the convention to see and bid on art in the art show, This is an invitational affair, after normal Convention Hours, for folks who wouldn't get a chance to get away from their tables and see the art show, otherwise; and since a number of the SuperSponsors also tend to be the people most likely to spend a lot of money on Furry Art, it is a chance for several of the artists and their patrons to socialise a bit.

*****

Now - the question that you did not ask, but sort of hinted at, was: Is it worthwhile to register as a Sponsor or a SuperSponsor? And the answer depends very much on what you consider to be "worthwhile".

From a strictly monetary viewpoint - consider that for a little more than double the General Membership Level, you get...a T-shirt and a ribbon. And perhaps preferred seating at a performance or two. And for more than double that, you get a nice meal, some prints, and a few knick-knacks, and a chance to dress nice one evening and hobnob with artsy-type people. And in these tough economic times - heck, at any time, when we're talking an extra 50 or 150 bucks - a reasonable person, looking at it from a strictly cost vs. benefit anaysis, would probably say, would be compelled to say - NO.

BUT! If you take the long view - if you look at it from the aspect of the overall pleasure and sense of community which being able to attend such a convention provides...and remember that everyone working as Staff to make this convention come together is doing it without pay, sometimes at great sacrifice and for a goodly number of them, at substantial cost out of their own pockets - and the answer becomes - MAYBE.

It's a lot like paying that extra $75 to the local PBS station during their fund-drive, and getting a canvas totebag or an insulated wports-style water bottle as a token of thanks in return - you don't make that extra contribution for the totebag or water bottle, you do it to help PBS (or at least your local PBS station), and you do it only if you can afford to.

AnthroCon - and for that matter, FURther CONfusion or Midwest-FurFest or Rocket City FurMeet or MFM or EuroFURence or RainFURrest - are much better experiences, much stronger and more able to offer good programming in good-quality venues, able to house a continually growing membership, thanks to the financial support of EVERYONE, but especially of the higher-level Patrons or Sponsors or SuperSponsors or whatever you wish to call them; generally, people who go for the higher-tier support levels do so because they can.

But if you can't - no one will think the lesser of you for it, no one wants to see any Furry Fan go broke or suffer financial hardship for the convention's benefit. If I happen to run into you at AnthroCon, and you aren't wearing a spiffy ribbon showing how much above and beyond that you paid, I'll still shake your paw, and be happy to meet you - as would any of the staff, or other attending members.

...And that goes double, if you happen to be wearing the really super-spiffy "Volunteer" ribbon, which costs nothing beyond the willingness to devote a few hours of labor.

Whichever level you decide to register at, we'll be looking forward to seeing you at the convention.

Good Luck!