Introducing our Second Guest of Honor: Ursula Vernon

Our next Guest of Honor is a two-time Hugo Award Winner, and a Nebula Award Winner: Ursula Vernon!  Her credits improve Mythopoeic Award (2013) winning webcomic Digger and her book series “Dragonbreath” which won the Sequoyah Book Award for Children’s Literature. Her short story “Jackalope Wives” won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story,

You can read more about her on our Guest of Honor page.

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What to Expect When Hotels Open

On Friday, February 2nd, 2018 general hotel reservations will open at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time (GMT -0500).  If we were to post the link on this website at 11 AM, the website would quickly become overwhelmed with all the requests.  So instead, we will once again post the link on our various social media channels.

Shortly after 11 AM (as shown by the service at https://time.is/), the link to reserve hotel rooms will be posted in the following social media channels, in order:

...in the event that one service is down or otherwise unreachable, we will move onto the next service.   The first 3 services (Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus) do not require accounts on those services to view--the page may simply be loaded (and refreshed) in your web browser.

As room types and hotels sell out, we will post updates to our Twitter feed.

After about an hour or two, once things have calmed down, we will then update our hotel page with details on each hotel's remaining inventory.

Tips For Booking A Room

  •  From VisitPittsburgh Housing Services:  "If you know the legal names of your roommates when you make your booking, of course you can enter them, and if you have your roommates’ email addresses, enter them in the email field and your roommates will receive a copy of the reservation acknowledgment. If you do not know the true names of your roommates at the time of booking, please do not add fake names or generic names such as Guest #2, Guest #3.  Instead, leave those names blank and then reach out to Visit Pittsburgh as described in the next step...
  • If you need assistance after your reservation is made or need to add/change guests, please email housing(at)visitpittsburgh.com for assistance.  Replies may be delayed for a day or two after reservations open due to volume.
  • From PassKey: "We recommend that you only have one browser window open. Using multiple browsers/multiple windows at the same time may cause problems."
  • While we will try to post updates when a particular hotel sells out, your best bet is the PassKey website itself.  If a hotel is not listed, then it is very likely not available.

Now that I got a room, what do I do with it?

First, please visit our Anthrocon 2018 Hotel Reservation Experience Survey and let us know your thoughts on the reservation experience.

Next, make travel plans!

Finally, if you need roommates, you could ask on our Facebook Room Share Group or perhaps on #roomshare on our Discord server.

 

(Photo Credit WESA FM)

Announcing Our 2018 Charity: South Hills Pet Rescue

Anthrocon is pleased to announce that South Hills Pet Rescue will be our beneficiary for 2018's charity efforts. The following is a summary from South Hills Pet Rescue that summarizes their mission and efforts:

Nick Ferraro ran South Hills Pet Resort, a boarding and training facility, and purchased it in 2012. Ashley Rittle was having a hard time with her dog, and called Nick to request his training services. Little did they know the adventure ahead; they were married in June 2013, and that August, they were asked to help a local animal rescue that had been overwhelmed with dogs pulled from high-kill shelters set to be euthanized for behavioral issues. They agreed to take 13 dogs, but 62 dogs were dropped off at their door filling all of the Resort’s boarding kennels. Nick and Ashley cared for all 62 of these dogs in need, rehabilitating them before finding each dog a forever home. Ashley will tell you this is the moment they knew what they had to do. The plan was to dedicate ten of the Resort’s boarding kennels to dog rescue, but as we all know, plans often change.

Today, South Hills Pet Rescue (SHPR), an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, houses an average of 50 rescue dogs at all times. Apart from three part-time staff members who care for the dogs onsite, SHPR is run by volunteers. Your support of SHPR directly helps dogs in need!

South Hills Pet Rescue will be at the Charity Auction and will have a table in the Dealers' Room where you can meet them and peruse information about their organization.

More information about South Hills Pet Rescue can be found at their website, southhillspetrescue.org.  If you have any questions regarding South Hills Pet Rescue, they can be reached at shpr88(at)yahoo.com.
 

Westin Suites Now Available

General hotel reservations open on February 2, 2018, along with corner suites in the Westin.  However, at this time reservations for Suites in the Westin Hotel are now available!

To request a suite, please fill out this form.  Information from that form will be passed onto the Convention Services Department at the Westin, who will begin contacting people as suites become available. Also note that a one-might deposit of room and tax will be required at the time of renting.

Westin Family Suite

Westin Family Suite

Family Suite - $435 ($495) per night. A bedroom with two double beds and a separate medium-sized parlor with a table, chairs, and sofa (roughly 500 sq ft).

Business King  - $495 ($564) per night. A very large single room with a king-sized bed and a huge amount of space, about 729 square feet total. Comes equipped with a sofa-bed.

Westin Business King Suite

Westin Business King Suite

Business Double - $495 ($564) per night. A very large single room with two double beds and a huge amount of space, about 729 square feet total. Comes equipped with a sofa-bed.

1-Bedroom Parlor  - $535 ($609) per night. A bedroom with either two double-sized or one king-sized bed and a large separate parlor with its own bathroom, dining table, and sofa. The parlor is 729 square feet and the bedroom is about 364 square feet. Comes equipped with a sofa-bed. 

Westin Workout Suite

Westin Workout Suite

2-Bedroom Parlor - $728 ($829) per night. A bedroom with a king-sized bed, a second bedroom with two double-beds, and between them a large separate parlor with its own bathroom, dining table, and sofa. The parlor is 729 square feet and each bedroom is about 364 square feet. Comes equipped with a sofa-bed.

Workout Suite - $435 ($495) per night. Similar to a family suite, but with a king bed and workout equipment for those who like to keep fit. The exercise equipment is stationary and cannot be moved from the room.


Corner Suite - $415 ($473) per night. A bedroom with a king-sized bed, and a separate, small parlor room with a table and a sofa (roughly 640 sq ft).  These will go on sale when the general hotel room block opens on February 2nd, 2018.

2017 Fursuit Photos

Many thanks this year go to Warphammer and Kyreeth, for taking the fursuit photos, including the group photo during Saturday'sparade.

The big picture can be found here.

The photo is kinda big, and may cause problems in some browsers, so here are some smaller versions of the photo:

A preview of the above photos.

Were you looking for the rest of the fursuit photos? They are over here! If you are looking for photos with the baseball backdrop, those start on page 28.

We hope you enjoy the Anthrocon 2017 photos, and don't forget that if you'd like to share your own photos, please upload them to our group on Flickr.