New guy with alot of questions

I'll do my best to answer all your questions. =)

It's the biggest furry convention.
I think it's Further Confusion though I may be wrong.
All different types of people
More so in groups, but a lot of people go alone.
I would say more white people
A good mix.
Someone said 5:1 guys being more common, though I think it might be a bit higher.
If you count the Zoo, it dosen't close.
I just hang in the Zoo, so it's the same though the day, just a lot less people.
I've never been to one, so I don't know.
No, but people can do what they want in their hotel rooms.
I think there were 700 or so last year.
Depends on the suiter. Some view talking as "Ruining the magic".
Pittsburgh, PA and pretty huge.
It's a pretty big range, so I'm just guessing at mostly 14-55?
No. You are under 21 and it's against the law.
Volunteering is a good way to met people and get familiar with the con.
You're going to need to fly unless you want to travel for days.
There are lots of furs in Cali.
Expensive and limited (around $10-20 a night).
Depends on the person. Many people enjoy all the fursuit activities and there are comedy acts as well as dances.
There are two kinds. Art badges which show off your character and con badges which show you have payed to be at the convention and will get you into con areas.
Probably, however it's not legal so it would be best to go without.

I hope that helps, though you may want to read though the FAQs. It has a lot of information that could help you.

Hello and welcome. A lot of questions, good way to learn though. I'll try to help out.

is anthrocon the biggest convention?
Anthrocon is the biggest furry convention in the world at this time. Last year they had 3776 attendees and they will probably break 4000 this year.

whats the biggest convention in california?
The biggest convention in Cali is Further Confusion. They had 2770 attendees this year and are the second biggest furry convention. A good place to find info on furry conventions is at Wikifur: http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/List_of_conventions_by_attendance

not bein mean just curious) what kind of ppl are at these convention? eg nerdy, normal, jocks, fat
There are all sorts of people at these conventions.

do ppl go more alone or in groups?
Probably more come in small groups but there are several who come alone.

what kinda ethnicities are into this stuff? eg asians white whatever
All kinds.

gays straight or bi? (im bi)
Yes, plenty from all of the above.

guy to girl ratio?
Not sure what the ratio is but there are probably more guys.

are there opening/closing times during the day for anthrocon?
Scheduled events start about 9:00am Friday, Saturday and Sunday and finish up about 2:00am when the dances finish up on Friday and Saturday. Sunday the con finishes up about 6:30 pm when closing ceremonies finsh. There are also some pre-con mixers on thursday in the evening and registration is planning on opening around noon or 1 on Thursday. There are also some dead dog parties after the con but those are not con sanctioned events. The Zoo is open 24 hours during the con. You can take a look at last year's schedule to get an idea of what goes on: http://www.anthrocon.org/files/anthrocon/active/0/Anthrocon%202009%20schedule.pdf

whats the night life like?
There are dances each night that run from 1-2 in the morning. There is also the Zoo which is open all night.

are there more hotel room partys or raves?
People do have room parties but they still need to be kept at a reasonable volume. It is not good if the hotel gets a noise complaint and Uncle Kage has to get up to deal with it.

does everybody yiff or whatever?
People have their hotel rooms and what goes on in them is their business unless it disturbs other hotel guests. That said, no, people are not yiffing everyone they see at a convention (contrary to what CSI shows). The con is a PG/PG13 rated con and attendees are expected to maintain that level or the will get a talking to by con security or staff. AC is a family convention and we like to keep it that way.

how many ppl are in fursuits?
Last year we had 640 fursuiters in the fursuit parade.

do those ppl talk or just run around giving hugs and doing shannanigans?
Yes. We walk around, have our pictures taken and do normal con stuff. Some suiters talk while others do not. Some fursuiters (like myself) like giving and getting hugs, others do not. It is always important to ask the fursuiter before hugging or touching them. Fursuits are expensive and can be damaged.

(im too lazy to look around) wheres anthrocon and how big is the building/buildings?
Anthrocon takes place in Pittsburgh, PA in the David Lawrence Convention Center. The convention center is a 1.5 million square foot building, though AC does not use the entire space. You can see more about the convention center here: http://www.pittsburghcc.com/cc/index.aspx

what is the age range? (im 17 so i guess ill go next year)
The age range varies from kids 10 and under to adults in there 60's, 70's or older. The chairman's parent attend the convention and since Kage is in his mid 40's his parents are probably in their 60's or 70's.

if im underage are ppl gonna be cool with me drinking at parties?
No. The minimum drinking age in Pittsburgh is 21. Underage drinking in the hotel rooms can get the people in serious trouble up to having their convention registration revoked or possibly being arrested.

i know absolutley noone into this so whats a good way/place to meet ppl? (im a pretty frendly guy)
Volunteering is always a good way to meet people. You can also hang out in the zoo, attend dances or just be around the convention. We are a pretty friendly bunch. You can also do some internet searches for local fur meets.

How far away is this place from orange county, CA? by driving? by plane?
It is around a 2500 mile drive from CA to Pittsburgh. That's going to be about 40 hours of driving.

does anyone live near me?
There are probably plenty of furs in CA. Can see some of them here: http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Category:California

whats the parking around the area like?
There are several parking garages around downtown Pittsburgh but they do tend to fill up around convention time. They range in price from a littl under $10 a day to a little over $20 a day.

what are the main attractions at the convention?
The furuit parade, performance by Uncle Kage and 2, dances, etc... Check out the schedule link I posted earlier.

what are these badges?
Quoted from Protocollie (because it's a good explanation):

does anyone smoke pot? and whats the legal issue with it over there?
I'm sure the con staff/security or local authorities do not take to kindly to it.

Let's cover these; though we do have a FAQ you can read.

>Is anthrocon the biggest convention?
It is the largest Furry convention in the world, with 3,776 people attending last year.

>Whats the biggest convention in california?
The biggest furry convention in California is Further Confusion, held in San Jose. It is one of three furry conventions held in California.

>(not bein mean just curious) what kind of ppl are at these convention? eg nerdy, normal, jocks, fat
All of the above, and more. 'Nerdy' used to be more of a force; less so nowadays.

>do ppl go more alone or in groups?
Most people travel from out of town, and to save costs, room together. There are some who attend completely on their own, but most people fluidly shift from group social interaction to solo pursuits and back again.

>what kinda ethnicities are into this stuff? eg asians white whatever
All sorts of folks. Racially, Anthrocon pretty well looks like.. the United States.

>gays straight or bi? (im bi)
Some of each. We don't count.

>guy to girl ratio?
We also don't track this. I would roughly say 2/3 male, 1/3 female.

>are there opening/closing times during the day for anthrocon?
Activities tend to happen predominantly from 10am-2am, but the con never 'closes'.

>whats the night life like?
Fun!

>are there more hotel room partys or raves?
There are some room parties, though it tends to mostly be "Hey, let's all watch youtube videos until 4am" instead of "WHOO BEER WHOO".

>does everybody yiff or whatever?
Not in public for certain, and we do not ask what people do in their hotel rooms, the same way you don't ask your parents what they do when you're off at school. Assuredly some people have sex; assuredly some people don't.

>how many ppl are in fursuits?
About 15-20% of the convention, but usually only about 5% at any given time.

>do those ppl talk or just run around giving hugs and doing shannanigans?
Some fursuiters talk in suit, some do not. It generally depends upon their character they are portraying.

>(im too lazy to look around) wheres anthrocon and how big is the building/buildings?
The David Lawrence Convention Center, in Pittsburgh PA. The convention center is somewhere between 'huge' and 'ginormous'.

>what is the age range? (im 17 so i guess ill go next year)
Most of our attendees are from 18-30; there is no limit on age though those under 18 must have a signed and notarized permission form.

>if im underage are ppl gonna be cool with me drinking at parties?
Very much not cool with that. It's a crime in the state of Pennsylvania to drink as a minor, or to supply a minor with drink.

>i know absolutley noone into this so whats a good way/place to meet ppl? (im a pretty frendly guy)
Search around on Livejournal for 'furry' or 'furries'. You'll find thousands of them online.

>How far away is this place from orange county, CA? by driving? by plane?
Far. It's in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

>does anyone live near me?
Assuredly; there are furries in every state in the union.

>whats the parking around the area like?
Like any major metropolitan downtown: Available, but not free.

>what are the main attractions at the convention?
The Performances, the Dealer's room, the Panels, and the Fursuit Parade.

>what are these badges?
http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Conbadge explains it well. There are Membership badges you wear to show you've paid for the convention, and there are Fursona badges to show off your Fursona.

>does anyone smoke pot? and whats the legal issue with it over there?
It's as illegal in Pennsylvania as is across all the United States, and it is not welcome at Anthrocon.

thanks for the help peeps im prolly gonna have more questions