MFF 2010 recap
I have way too much fun at fur cons to keep track of all the things I did and didn't like.
THE GOOD
- The hotel is NICE. I mean, VERY nice. When you walk in there, you wouldn't think such a nice hotel would have ever hosted something like an Anime convention. Really, it looks that good. I was in one of the atrium rooms, and had plenty of room for my stuff. The rooms circle the lobby, and that area can get pretty loud. But there's a wall in each of the rooms that helps soften the noise a bit, and sleeping wasn't a problem.
We had plenty of space to move around, both in and out of fursuit. Not once did I feel cramped or crowded, and we had nearly three whole floors of space to use for programming, socializing, etc.
- The staff... well, some seemed to enjoy our company, and some didn't. It's a fairly upscale hotel, and they always wore nice suits and other business wear. But I had zero issues with them; check-in/check-out was quick and easy, and they were helpful and answered the few questions I had.
- The food was expensive; the breakfast and dinner buffets cost $22 each ($18 after the convention discount). But as hotel food goes, it was plentiful, right there, and tasty. I paid the money and ate there every day, breakfast and dinner, and never left the hotel.
- The sponsor brunch was... whoa. I ate so much... GOOD food. I ate so much that I didn't have much to say to anyone while I was there. I was too busy eating! There was so much... good food. I'm not sure I like the whole two-floor setup (which was done because we simply didn't have enough room on either of the two floors), and I'm not sure if I missed the big racoon cake because of that (I didn't see it there, and I wanted to get photos of it). But the food was excellent. I'll sponsor again, next year, for more of it!
So yeah, the hotel is a winner. It's a HUGE improvement over the Westin we had for 2008 and 2009. And I, like many others have stated, hope that MFF stays there for the forseeable future.
THE NOT-SO-GOOD
- With a new hotel comes new problems that can affect programming, and we definitely had a couple. The Friday and Saturday fursuit events were held way too late in the evening, at 10PM Central time. They were also held in one of the smaller rooms of the convention, in the lower lobby.
Those fursuit events never draw big crowds, and I understand that. Really, the majority of people interested in them are fursuiters. So, the room choice may be okay, and I can live with it. But the time was the real killer for me. At that time of the evening, I'm not very active in... well, anything. I really wanted to participate, but I couldn't find the energy or motivation to suit up at that hour. It was just too late. I did get some snapshots at the Friday games, though:
- I attended both the Friday and Saturday dances (the main dances), and I have to say that they just didn't do it for me. When I'm in fursuit, I prefer slower and more familiar music that isn't a bunch of electro-techno-fied remixes. It's easier for me to get into a dancing/performing mood when I hear the 80s/90s/top-40 stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'll dance to the more hyper-BPM stuff if the energy is there. But I didn't feel any energy at the Friday and Saturday dances. I walked in, listened to the music for a while, and watch. I didn't hear, see, or feel anything that could have forced me to run to my hotel room to suit up and dance. Still, they dances weren't a total loss for me:
- The fursuit parade was okay. Yes, it could have been better, but you don't get practice runs for those, and we had the whole new hotel thing to deal with. One of the escalators broke down shortly before the parade began, and that caused a major slowdown. Also, the setup for the group photo at the end of the parade was... questionable. We were positioned near one of the parking lots, and we obviously couldn't set up there. But if you look at some of the photos, you'll see that it was fursuiters vs. flagpoles...
...and the flagpoles won a few of those rounds. :| Those aren't my photos, but you can see all of them at http://www.dexcat.net/furfestgallery/main.php .
- The Furry Variety Show was more of the same as it's been, in previous years (and at other cons). I never go in expecting much out of them, and I usually leave the show with mixed feelings. As usual, a few acts were okay, a couple were less-than-okay, and none of them were amazing. You can't really expect much from the FVS since you're dealing with fursuiters who can't be very active, and the acts aren't judged. But hey, it did provide some entertainment.
Once again, I had a horrible seat for the show. The 'preferred seating' for sponsors didn't happen this year (for whatever reason), and I was beaten to the better seats, despite being about the fourth or fifth person in line, at the door, before the show started. Also, the show ran over its alloted time (AGAIN), and it caused 30 - 45 minute delay for the Saturday dance because the setup couldn't begin until it ended. Unfortunately, those 30-45 minutes were belonged to the 'fursuit-friendly' part of the dance, and, well... :|
----------
Those were just some of the highlights and lowlights of my MFF 2010 adventure. Really, I don't have any major complaints, and the few issues I listed here can be easily addressed and fixed by the staff (if they choose to).
I'll talk about the photography issues in the next entry. But for now, I have to say that MFF 2010 was a great time for me, and I'll definitely go back next year. :)
THE GOOD
- The hotel is NICE. I mean, VERY nice. When you walk in there, you wouldn't think such a nice hotel would have ever hosted something like an Anime convention. Really, it looks that good. I was in one of the atrium rooms, and had plenty of room for my stuff. The rooms circle the lobby, and that area can get pretty loud. But there's a wall in each of the rooms that helps soften the noise a bit, and sleeping wasn't a problem.
We had plenty of space to move around, both in and out of fursuit. Not once did I feel cramped or crowded, and we had nearly three whole floors of space to use for programming, socializing, etc.
- The staff... well, some seemed to enjoy our company, and some didn't. It's a fairly upscale hotel, and they always wore nice suits and other business wear. But I had zero issues with them; check-in/check-out was quick and easy, and they were helpful and answered the few questions I had.
- The food was expensive; the breakfast and dinner buffets cost $22 each ($18 after the convention discount). But as hotel food goes, it was plentiful, right there, and tasty. I paid the money and ate there every day, breakfast and dinner, and never left the hotel.
- The sponsor brunch was... whoa. I ate so much... GOOD food. I ate so much that I didn't have much to say to anyone while I was there. I was too busy eating! There was so much... good food. I'm not sure I like the whole two-floor setup (which was done because we simply didn't have enough room on either of the two floors), and I'm not sure if I missed the big racoon cake because of that (I didn't see it there, and I wanted to get photos of it). But the food was excellent. I'll sponsor again, next year, for more of it!
So yeah, the hotel is a winner. It's a HUGE improvement over the Westin we had for 2008 and 2009. And I, like many others have stated, hope that MFF stays there for the forseeable future.
THE NOT-SO-GOOD
- With a new hotel comes new problems that can affect programming, and we definitely had a couple. The Friday and Saturday fursuit events were held way too late in the evening, at 10PM Central time. They were also held in one of the smaller rooms of the convention, in the lower lobby.
Those fursuit events never draw big crowds, and I understand that. Really, the majority of people interested in them are fursuiters. So, the room choice may be okay, and I can live with it. But the time was the real killer for me. At that time of the evening, I'm not very active in... well, anything. I really wanted to participate, but I couldn't find the energy or motivation to suit up at that hour. It was just too late. I did get some snapshots at the Friday games, though:
- I attended both the Friday and Saturday dances (the main dances), and I have to say that they just didn't do it for me. When I'm in fursuit, I prefer slower and more familiar music that isn't a bunch of electro-techno-fied remixes. It's easier for me to get into a dancing/performing mood when I hear the 80s/90s/top-40 stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'll dance to the more hyper-BPM stuff if the energy is there. But I didn't feel any energy at the Friday and Saturday dances. I walked in, listened to the music for a while, and watch. I didn't hear, see, or feel anything that could have forced me to run to my hotel room to suit up and dance. Still, they dances weren't a total loss for me:
- The fursuit parade was okay. Yes, it could have been better, but you don't get practice runs for those, and we had the whole new hotel thing to deal with. One of the escalators broke down shortly before the parade began, and that caused a major slowdown. Also, the setup for the group photo at the end of the parade was... questionable. We were positioned near one of the parking lots, and we obviously couldn't set up there. But if you look at some of the photos, you'll see that it was fursuiters vs. flagpoles...
...and the flagpoles won a few of those rounds. :| Those aren't my photos, but you can see all of them at http://www.dexcat.net/furfestgallery/main.php .
- The Furry Variety Show was more of the same as it's been, in previous years (and at other cons). I never go in expecting much out of them, and I usually leave the show with mixed feelings. As usual, a few acts were okay, a couple were less-than-okay, and none of them were amazing. You can't really expect much from the FVS since you're dealing with fursuiters who can't be very active, and the acts aren't judged. But hey, it did provide some entertainment.
Once again, I had a horrible seat for the show. The 'preferred seating' for sponsors didn't happen this year (for whatever reason), and I was beaten to the better seats, despite being about the fourth or fifth person in line, at the door, before the show started. Also, the show ran over its alloted time (AGAIN), and it caused 30 - 45 minute delay for the Saturday dance because the setup couldn't begin until it ended. Unfortunately, those 30-45 minutes were belonged to the 'fursuit-friendly' part of the dance, and, well... :|
----------
Those were just some of the highlights and lowlights of my MFF 2010 adventure. Really, I don't have any major complaints, and the few issues I listed here can be easily addressed and fixed by the staff (if they choose to).
I'll talk about the photography issues in the next entry. But for now, I have to say that MFF 2010 was a great time for me, and I'll definitely go back next year. :)