Further Confusion: January 20 - 25th
This has definitely been the longest amount of time I have spent at a con ever... which is interesting because FC is also the con I have spent the least amount of time. I arrived on JetBlue with a large contingent of furries from the north-east, joined a busload of about ten of us to the hotel.
The hotel itself is quite different from the old Doubletree, almost opposites in many respects. Thankfully the weather mostly cleared up by saturday and remained decent for the remainder of the convention (got to enjoy at least some of the new downtown locale). I roomed with a good friend of mine, tigerman, and a friend of his, Drake. Rooms felt a little smaller than the previous hotel, but the bathrooms were amazing :) And I am glad we ended up in the other tower (just outside the main hotel) on the third floor - did not really experience any delays with elevators and if there was a line... the stairs were nearby. As with most hotels at a convention, elevators can be a pain in the ass - especially with the main party floor being on the 19th (I tell ya, that could be a pain). But also the roomplan of this hotel was... not intuitive. You could have room 229 on one side of the hallway and directly across from it is room 204... ummm, why?
Now to the more important features, the con remained pretty well organized - which I've come to expect from Further Confusion, though this year perhaps because of new location - some things seemed less smooth. I don't think I've ever arrived this early to the con, so seeing the lines as registration was a bit of a shock - I think for a person registering at the con it may have taken about two hours to run from the end of the line to payment. I simply upgraded, though there did seem to be some confusion at the payment portion (not sure if it was just whether the credit machine wasn't set up or what but... eh, whatever). I should have also checked in advance what swag the different levels would get, when I asked at a few information stations... nobody seemed to know.
Saw a bunch of people this con, though not everyone I was hoping to see - though a few others I did not expect to see so... eh, not too bad. Forgive me for not doing individual shout-outs, I always forget people on there - if I saw you, I enjoyed seeing you no matter how brief the encounter. The fact that I saw people I knew, saw people I had just met or only known online, or people I haven't seen in waaay too long... kept a better control over my sanity than I would have expected from how I felt the first day... I get into this emo-depressed funk at large gatherings way too often for my comfort these days :/
I do have to give a shout out to growlcoon, I shall make sure the guy gets more exposure out there :)
And another shout out to Conner, thanks so much for the sketch man - I love it. You need to get your stuff out there, it'll give you more exposure and chance to produce more.
Fursuits... OMG, so many awesome suits! I loved the ranting Drama Llama, and it's been years since I last saw the Borg Llama, then there were so many great avian costumes, plus so many people took the Gold Rush theme to heart with outfits on top of outfits, and... is Poncho the mascot for the con or just a suit someone made to look like the mascot? Adorable. The fursuit parade was insanely huge... what was the count I posted before? 479? And that's certainly not everyone, there were fursuiters sitting it out on the sidelines while the rest marched to the flashing bulbs of digital photography. What's the count at other cons? It doesn't seem to matter which convention you attend, year over year the counts rises like a mother-fucker - someone with more information and time on their hands should do a graph of fursuit parade numbers over the years (different colored lines for different cons), I bet you it'd look like an impassable mountain ^.^
Parties... I did not attend as many or for as long as I normally do. I mostly chalk that up to some other issues I'll talk about in more detail at the end of this post. I did enjoy dropping by Klingon's Blackhole party, the Doctor Steele party, Sabot's party that last night, TF's party, and some others which I don't know if they had a specific name for or not. I got tipsy twice, yes I kept count - but not full-blown drunk, which I may catch up on this weekend :P
Art Show / Dealer's Den-
Y'know, everytime I go to the Dealer's Den I'm like "I want to get a new badge, I want to get a commission, I want to create a new character which I'll take to heart and do right this time..." then I get there and I'm like uh... I didn't buy much this year, on the recommendation of Drake I bought the first collection of I.S.O. - which looks like a great comic, I'll wait for the next tradeback to come out rather than buy individual issues. Also bought a few other comics, third tradeback of Fur-Piled, second issue of Anti-Social Behavior, third issue of runtt's comic, and... I think most of the Lensman books. A few prints also, one which I don't remember the artist but is favorited on my FA account and another which was by Blotch - a beautiful scene with a city building and a tiger just enjoying the view, and a comical kitty puking colorful kitties picture (so much cheaper than the one on display in the art show!). I was really hoping a new issue of Circles would be out, I've not kept up with what's new or not but I guess it's still being worked on, also hoped to see if any new issues of Extinctioners were out. Some other things which I don't remember off the top of my head but wished were available.
The Art Show was nice, is it me or did it feel smaller than last time I attended? Some really great stuff, I can't say anything that really 'popped' for me - something that I must own, but stuff worth getting nonetheless (holy shit, 2005 I bought a few of those must haves - I love owning art that just makes me feel I really got something I like). I ended up getting the winning bid on three items, all of which I placed a bid on an hour before the auction closed. Managed to bring two of them on the plane home with me, the third will hopefully make it no problem with the shipping.
Honestly... I can't really remember anything else off the top of my head to mention right now, so here's where the post really shows the con - pictures! Oh wait, before I mention that - is this an west coast thing with the flasks? Seriously, first day of the con I think I was offered sips from like four different flasks... not that I'm complaining but wow, I guess I'll have to bring one of my own next time ^.^
Back to pictures... I reduced the size of these from what I normally share, it'll save bandwidth on both our computers ^.^;;;
I wish I got more of a side view picture, the suit is an awesome looking rabbit but... you can't quite tell so much head on in this photo.
If you saw my previous post, this is what I'm talking about. Had a great shot lined up with the Mastodon and the Wooly Rhino, was about to take the picture and then... camera battery died :(
Didn't see that suit again the remainder of the con.
Some folks were able to turn a profit I believe ^.^;;;
Ummm...
Dead Dog Party
I didn't make it to the rant and praise gathering at the end, so I really don't know how many things were covered. For what it's worth, I'll list my own input here...
First off, and most important, the party cut-off of midnight. What is going on here??? That thing caught me so off guard... I was seriously stunned friday night when I just got done hanging with some people and decided to head up to the 'party floor' only to find out they were telling people they had to leave. What's the point of a party floor if that's going to happen? And why such an early cut-off point for all parties? Some of my fondest memories at this con were wandering around two or three in the morning, chilling with people, hanging out at parties... midnight? Things are just getting started! Seriously, needs to be addressed - the hotel might be great on so many levels but this can be a deal-breaker for a lot of people. Flying across the country, can't tell you how much money was spent at this con, and then you find out about this? It's... devastating in a way.
Hotel: The hotel staff were awesome, they really got into the flavor of the con with their own little ears (though honestly, theirs looked a little creepy ^.^;;;). Everyone I dealt with was great. The main lobby and ballroom level were also very nice - I liked the wide space and the fact that you could loop around in case you missed anything (though I'm sure it could be a little confusing if you weren't sure which direction is shorter to wherever you were heading). I loved the Doubletree but lets be honest, some parts of the main floor on that hotel had bottlenecks, especially around the restaurant on the main floor. That this hotel is located near a lot of places to eat is a huge plus as well, and I liked the wide sidewalk space between the towers - good place to chill without getting hit by a car.
The room floors however were... confusing. Like a maze is a comment I heard a lot. The numbering of the rooms made very little sense at all. Also, was there a hot tub in this hotel? I never saw it... and where the pool was located wasn't that great either, though admittedly - the weather this year was not made for swimming. But also because it was in a less accessible location, no fursuit shots of people near the pool :/
At the beginning, I had a feeling the hotel might be nicknamed the Fairmount... but after a couple days I started hearing rumblings of calling it the Failmont, which I think is unwarranted. Oh, I did hear of some real assinine behavior that got my blood boiling - at least on person marking up a bathroom stall with some stupid comments that show them to be childish, self-centered, and stupid (I heard someone wrote in ink, "How do you get to the Doubletree from here?") - if that person were located, I would suggest perma-banning them from ever attending this con again, that destructive childish shit really pisses me off.
Patron level... I'm sorry but at that cost, I really was expecting more. I heard no print art was submitted, which sucks but okay that happens. But no clear information was given on the pins, again another mistake which happens. The Guest of Honor lunch though... I was disappointed. A caesar salad, some pasta, and a parfait? No protein, no meat? I don't know if that's more an issue with the hotel or not but... well, I was hoping for more.
Fursuit parade - already mentioned in a previous post and I appreciated the response from staff (which wow, very nice to get a response on my no-name lj ^.^;;;). I know, it's the first year at the hotel and the kinks are getting shaken out, also I doubt (though I haven't really been attending many cons consistently these days) the number of fursuiters could have been predicted nor the huge amount of people wanting to take pictures. My personal preference, I prefer a really long parade over a short one - I don't get to fursuit nearly enough during the year and it's really nice to be around a lot of very beautiful and well-performed characters.
The Internet Area - I'm not a fan of Macs but the Internet location was a great location and smoothly run. I heard complaints about the internet connection in rooms and around the hotel but I did not have any problems when using a con computer.
The Art Show - I always hope for bigger but hey, it's at got one (my own opinion, I consider the art show a very important part of the convention experience - I love buying new original art). The payment time at the end... extremely smooth... well, except for my last name being mismarked as Roole :P
I guess that's it... I mean really for complaints, the party cut-off time is the real issue that's a gripe, everything else is mostly optional stuff that can make the con better experience or be avoided altogether if you are not interested in dealing with it.
Lastly, I am very glad I took JetBlue - the timing of the flights might not have always been great but the trip probably ran a lot more smoothly because I had their direct flight. Transferring to reach a location is a bitch, the trip may have been a lot less enjoyable had I used a different airline.
The hotel itself is quite different from the old Doubletree, almost opposites in many respects. Thankfully the weather mostly cleared up by saturday and remained decent for the remainder of the convention (got to enjoy at least some of the new downtown locale). I roomed with a good friend of mine, tigerman, and a friend of his, Drake. Rooms felt a little smaller than the previous hotel, but the bathrooms were amazing :) And I am glad we ended up in the other tower (just outside the main hotel) on the third floor - did not really experience any delays with elevators and if there was a line... the stairs were nearby. As with most hotels at a convention, elevators can be a pain in the ass - especially with the main party floor being on the 19th (I tell ya, that could be a pain). But also the roomplan of this hotel was... not intuitive. You could have room 229 on one side of the hallway and directly across from it is room 204... ummm, why?
Now to the more important features, the con remained pretty well organized - which I've come to expect from Further Confusion, though this year perhaps because of new location - some things seemed less smooth. I don't think I've ever arrived this early to the con, so seeing the lines as registration was a bit of a shock - I think for a person registering at the con it may have taken about two hours to run from the end of the line to payment. I simply upgraded, though there did seem to be some confusion at the payment portion (not sure if it was just whether the credit machine wasn't set up or what but... eh, whatever). I should have also checked in advance what swag the different levels would get, when I asked at a few information stations... nobody seemed to know.
Saw a bunch of people this con, though not everyone I was hoping to see - though a few others I did not expect to see so... eh, not too bad. Forgive me for not doing individual shout-outs, I always forget people on there - if I saw you, I enjoyed seeing you no matter how brief the encounter. The fact that I saw people I knew, saw people I had just met or only known online, or people I haven't seen in waaay too long... kept a better control over my sanity than I would have expected from how I felt the first day... I get into this emo-depressed funk at large gatherings way too often for my comfort these days :/
I do have to give a shout out to growlcoon, I shall make sure the guy gets more exposure out there :)
And another shout out to Conner, thanks so much for the sketch man - I love it. You need to get your stuff out there, it'll give you more exposure and chance to produce more.
Fursuits... OMG, so many awesome suits! I loved the ranting Drama Llama, and it's been years since I last saw the Borg Llama, then there were so many great avian costumes, plus so many people took the Gold Rush theme to heart with outfits on top of outfits, and... is Poncho the mascot for the con or just a suit someone made to look like the mascot? Adorable. The fursuit parade was insanely huge... what was the count I posted before? 479? And that's certainly not everyone, there were fursuiters sitting it out on the sidelines while the rest marched to the flashing bulbs of digital photography. What's the count at other cons? It doesn't seem to matter which convention you attend, year over year the counts rises like a mother-fucker - someone with more information and time on their hands should do a graph of fursuit parade numbers over the years (different colored lines for different cons), I bet you it'd look like an impassable mountain ^.^
Parties... I did not attend as many or for as long as I normally do. I mostly chalk that up to some other issues I'll talk about in more detail at the end of this post. I did enjoy dropping by Klingon's Blackhole party, the Doctor Steele party, Sabot's party that last night, TF's party, and some others which I don't know if they had a specific name for or not. I got tipsy twice, yes I kept count - but not full-blown drunk, which I may catch up on this weekend :P
Art Show / Dealer's Den-
Y'know, everytime I go to the Dealer's Den I'm like "I want to get a new badge, I want to get a commission, I want to create a new character which I'll take to heart and do right this time..." then I get there and I'm like uh... I didn't buy much this year, on the recommendation of Drake I bought the first collection of I.S.O. - which looks like a great comic, I'll wait for the next tradeback to come out rather than buy individual issues. Also bought a few other comics, third tradeback of Fur-Piled, second issue of Anti-Social Behavior, third issue of runtt's comic, and... I think most of the Lensman books. A few prints also, one which I don't remember the artist but is favorited on my FA account and another which was by Blotch - a beautiful scene with a city building and a tiger just enjoying the view, and a comical kitty puking colorful kitties picture (so much cheaper than the one on display in the art show!). I was really hoping a new issue of Circles would be out, I've not kept up with what's new or not but I guess it's still being worked on, also hoped to see if any new issues of Extinctioners were out. Some other things which I don't remember off the top of my head but wished were available.
The Art Show was nice, is it me or did it feel smaller than last time I attended? Some really great stuff, I can't say anything that really 'popped' for me - something that I must own, but stuff worth getting nonetheless (holy shit, 2005 I bought a few of those must haves - I love owning art that just makes me feel I really got something I like). I ended up getting the winning bid on three items, all of which I placed a bid on an hour before the auction closed. Managed to bring two of them on the plane home with me, the third will hopefully make it no problem with the shipping.
Honestly... I can't really remember anything else off the top of my head to mention right now, so here's where the post really shows the con - pictures! Oh wait, before I mention that - is this an west coast thing with the flasks? Seriously, first day of the con I think I was offered sips from like four different flasks... not that I'm complaining but wow, I guess I'll have to bring one of my own next time ^.^
Back to pictures... I reduced the size of these from what I normally share, it'll save bandwidth on both our computers ^.^;;;
I wish I got more of a side view picture, the suit is an awesome looking rabbit but... you can't quite tell so much head on in this photo.
If you saw my previous post, this is what I'm talking about. Had a great shot lined up with the Mastodon and the Wooly Rhino, was about to take the picture and then... camera battery died :(
Didn't see that suit again the remainder of the con.
Some folks were able to turn a profit I believe ^.^;;;
Ummm...
Dead Dog Party
I didn't make it to the rant and praise gathering at the end, so I really don't know how many things were covered. For what it's worth, I'll list my own input here...
First off, and most important, the party cut-off of midnight. What is going on here??? That thing caught me so off guard... I was seriously stunned friday night when I just got done hanging with some people and decided to head up to the 'party floor' only to find out they were telling people they had to leave. What's the point of a party floor if that's going to happen? And why such an early cut-off point for all parties? Some of my fondest memories at this con were wandering around two or three in the morning, chilling with people, hanging out at parties... midnight? Things are just getting started! Seriously, needs to be addressed - the hotel might be great on so many levels but this can be a deal-breaker for a lot of people. Flying across the country, can't tell you how much money was spent at this con, and then you find out about this? It's... devastating in a way.
Hotel: The hotel staff were awesome, they really got into the flavor of the con with their own little ears (though honestly, theirs looked a little creepy ^.^;;;). Everyone I dealt with was great. The main lobby and ballroom level were also very nice - I liked the wide space and the fact that you could loop around in case you missed anything (though I'm sure it could be a little confusing if you weren't sure which direction is shorter to wherever you were heading). I loved the Doubletree but lets be honest, some parts of the main floor on that hotel had bottlenecks, especially around the restaurant on the main floor. That this hotel is located near a lot of places to eat is a huge plus as well, and I liked the wide sidewalk space between the towers - good place to chill without getting hit by a car.
The room floors however were... confusing. Like a maze is a comment I heard a lot. The numbering of the rooms made very little sense at all. Also, was there a hot tub in this hotel? I never saw it... and where the pool was located wasn't that great either, though admittedly - the weather this year was not made for swimming. But also because it was in a less accessible location, no fursuit shots of people near the pool :/
At the beginning, I had a feeling the hotel might be nicknamed the Fairmount... but after a couple days I started hearing rumblings of calling it the Failmont, which I think is unwarranted. Oh, I did hear of some real assinine behavior that got my blood boiling - at least on person marking up a bathroom stall with some stupid comments that show them to be childish, self-centered, and stupid (I heard someone wrote in ink, "How do you get to the Doubletree from here?") - if that person were located, I would suggest perma-banning them from ever attending this con again, that destructive childish shit really pisses me off.
Patron level... I'm sorry but at that cost, I really was expecting more. I heard no print art was submitted, which sucks but okay that happens. But no clear information was given on the pins, again another mistake which happens. The Guest of Honor lunch though... I was disappointed. A caesar salad, some pasta, and a parfait? No protein, no meat? I don't know if that's more an issue with the hotel or not but... well, I was hoping for more.
Fursuit parade - already mentioned in a previous post and I appreciated the response from staff (which wow, very nice to get a response on my no-name lj ^.^;;;). I know, it's the first year at the hotel and the kinks are getting shaken out, also I doubt (though I haven't really been attending many cons consistently these days) the number of fursuiters could have been predicted nor the huge amount of people wanting to take pictures. My personal preference, I prefer a really long parade over a short one - I don't get to fursuit nearly enough during the year and it's really nice to be around a lot of very beautiful and well-performed characters.
The Internet Area - I'm not a fan of Macs but the Internet location was a great location and smoothly run. I heard complaints about the internet connection in rooms and around the hotel but I did not have any problems when using a con computer.
The Art Show - I always hope for bigger but hey, it's at got one (my own opinion, I consider the art show a very important part of the convention experience - I love buying new original art). The payment time at the end... extremely smooth... well, except for my last name being mismarked as Roole :P
I guess that's it... I mean really for complaints, the party cut-off time is the real issue that's a gripe, everything else is mostly optional stuff that can make the con better experience or be avoided altogether if you are not interested in dealing with it.
Lastly, I am very glad I took JetBlue - the timing of the flights might not have always been great but the trip probably ran a lot more smoothly because I had their direct flight. Transferring to reach a location is a bitch, the trip may have been a lot less enjoyable had I used a different airline.