First Time To Everything

First of all:

Welcome, Nightwolfy, to the general Furry Community!

In a way, your question is already answered - by asking it, you _have_ become involved! But to be more specific:

I suppose that the issue is...what do you understand "everything that furries love to do" would include?

Most furry fans do not have fursuits; it isn't a requirement. The only real requirement is an interest in anthropomorphic animal characters - that is what we all share in common. How we each pursue that interest, and our involvement with others who share it, is how we each "get involved".

There is a long history of using "furry" characters in Literature; a friend of mine, a professional librarian, has made a bibliography of books and stories using or about anthro furry characters. It will always be incomplete and out-of-date, because people are still writing books and stories, and a number of those people come to our conventions. Beginners can ask them questions in panels, and get writing tips, and even participate in writing workshops.

Our "furry" characters have been the subjects and models of artwork since the first cave paintings and petroglyphs, painted and carved thousands of years ago; today literally hundreds of people specialise in drawing or sculpting Furry Art, either to illustrate stories, or ideas, or - increasingly - portraits of "personal furries", folks' on-line characters and alter-egos, even making custom badges and computer icons for furry fans. And there are panels on How To Draw, or how to learn to draw...

Oh - you have already heard about this, probably...and want to know how to "get involved". Well, it involves being friendly, meeting people, and politely asking questions. It means offering to help or volunteer with some aspect of making the convention run smoother. It means following up on links to pages dealing with your particular interest, reading the FAQs, and then courageously contacting people who might be able to answer questions or give advice. There is a forum sub-group here, dealing just with issues involving fursuits - most of the fursuiters are friendly and outgoing, and will probably be more than happy to draw you into their fraternity.

But mostly - to "get involved", seek out other furry fans, and "connect". One of the best places to do that is at a convention like AnthroCon, and all you need to do is register to attend, make arrangements for lodging with one of the hotels (or with folks looking for roommates), and show up, prepared to learn and to have fun.

You have already taken the first step!

Whoa! I think you got it wrong!

You seem to think there are REQUIREMENTS to be considered a furry or something ..

Dude! just be yourself and have fun ^^;;

If you don't feel like you NEED to have a suit .. don't buy one .. they're very expensive .. and it would suck to have one if you're not actually INTO it..

i've been into furries ever since i saw the lion king when i was just a cub, but never knew about anthrocon untill a couple years ago. my first time to the con i was overwlemed by all the fuzzy things. the next time i spent most of the con in my new fursuit. this year i'm hopefully going to enjoy seeing my mate around and seeing how he reacts. mostly everyone is very nice. just go and have fun you'll have a wonderful time.

Too late; you're already one of us. There's no escaping now. Bwahahahaha!

"Stuff that furries love to do" is a pretty broad set; tecdhnically, i think it includes just about everything that non-furries love to do, with the possible exception of furry-bashing. *wrysmile*

Going to a con just requires that you register for that con and find a place to stay during your travels. Of course, not everyone goes to cons, but i've always enjoyed myself.

Getting involved in general just requires that you find a friendly community of furries (like this one!) and say, "Hi! I'm [insert name you wish to be called]!" And you already did that. After that, it's just a matter of deciding which parts of that community you might want to get into, and how much.

I'm reminded of a line from an old peter cook routine: "The coal mining tests, they're not known for their rigor....They only ask you one question--'Who are yeh?' I got seventy five percent on that one."

AS a fursuiter myself, I can say that having a fursuit isn't a requirement for having fun at AC. It definitely adds a dimension to my con experience, but that is a personal preference because I love performing.

Whether you have a suit/costume or not...you can get involved with lots of things at AC just by going to panels and presentations. Walk through the dealer's room and talk to the artists. Take a stroll through the art show. Go to the performances in the main ballroom. Socialize with people in the Zoo. Your Anthrocon experience will be as unique as you are. There will be a variety of programming to allow you to explore different interests. Some interesting panels and events that are already in the lineup include: The Fox Hunt (HAM radio enthusiats trying to locate a radio controlled "fox"), Learning to Sculpt, presentations by the Guests of Honor on voiceover work and working in the animation industry, fursuit construction, Live Action Anthropomorphic Chess, The Masquerade, Anthropoly - the Anthrocon Game Show, and of course Uncle Kage's Story Hour and 2's Rant. There are so many more events that I can't list them all right now....but more are being added pretty much every day.

You can even volunteer to get even more involved.

I hope that you have a wonderful convention experience.

KP
Anthrocon Programming Director