Furry Fiesta 2009!
Like I said at the end of my LJ post earlier today, between the dates of February 20 and February 22 I attended the first Texas Furry Fiesta in Addison, Texas. I've been looking forward to this since I registered for the convention in August, and the convention did not disappoint. If anything, it blew the old Texas FurCon out of the water. Furs from as far away as New England came down to join us, the previous records for general attendance and for number of fursuiters at a first-year furry convention were broken, and it's almost certain that the convention will be back next year, bigger and even better. I met many interesting and friendly people there, including Arc Nova, Icefox, and Phoex from the Napping Cat's Dream. They were just as fun a bunch to spend time with in person as they were in the fora. Wearing a T-shirt with a large Napping Cat logo during the first day and working the symbol into my commissioned convention badge proved to be highly effective means of attracting the attention of other Dreamers. In addition to meeting some familiar faces, I found myself making a few new friends, such as the militant (but FUN) Star Gazer and Mr. Stoker Bramwell. Both proved to be excellent conversationalists, but I felt a bit more clued in when talking with Stoker. What can I say, I'm not that much of a military historian when things get more than slightly past the Renaissance. Even so, good (and wacky) senses of humor seemed to be a near-universal trait, so I muddled through. Though I was still a bit nervous at times, I felt a lot more confident about taking an active role in interacting with others than I did at the Austin convention. Maybe I've just gotten more sure of myself in the intervening period, or maybe I just went in knowing how fun and friendly the environment of a furry convention could be. Most likely, it was a mix of the two.
I chose to spend far more time attending panels and events than I did in 2004, possibly because there was a lot more to do and see this time around: Dances, concerts, a video room, a gaming room, the Dealers' Den and Artists' Alley, fursuited antics, and panel tracks for writers, artists, and fursuiters, just to name a few. When I wasn't browsing the dealers' wares or roaming around and socializing (or attending a major event), I naturally gravitated toward the writers' panels. I love to read, and while I haven't completed any of my personal creative writing projects I do consider myself to be a writer of sorts, so I loved the chance to geek out with similarily minded folk. The panels were even hosted by three of my favorite authors within the fandom: Phil Geusz, Wanderer, and Kyell Gold. Once I got the stars out of my eyes they were all really nice people to talk to, though Mr. Gold tended to be busily going from place to place whenever I caught sight of him outside of the panels.
I really can't say enough about how impressed I was by the convention staff. There were occassions when things didn't go quite as planned, but the staff and volunteers pulled the pieces together and made something fun happen one way or another. Furthermore, they did it with a good sense of humor and without taking themselves too seriously. As far as I could tell, there was very little drama of the negative sort to be found; just fun, silliness, and the occassional bit of overacting (yes, the pot is calling the kettle black). In short, I loved almost every minute of my time there. I've already registered for Fiesta 2010, to be held next February at the same location.
Speaking of the location, the Crowne Plaza hotel that hosted the convention was great! There were times when I felt a bit underdressed for such a fancy hotel, but the staff were friendly and accommodating, the rooms were clean and comfortable, and in general I got the feeling that we (and our money) were genuinely welcome at the hotel. Even the guests that weren't part of the convention seemed to go with the flow and have fun with us, or at least not run screaming for the door. By the way, there were two other conventions going on that weekend: one was an orthodontists' convention that shared the second floor with us, and the other was a hairdresser/beautician convention on the first floor. The orthodontists seemed to find us a little off-putting at first (can you blame them?), but adjusted pretty well by the time the weekend was over. The hairdressers, when the occassional encounter occurred, seemed friendly and engaging. Then again, in the words of another Fiesta attendee "some of them are more fabulous than we are!" I just about died laughing when I heard that, followed by a near spit-take when I heard that a few wandered upstairs looking for dates. Now that's what I call confidence!
I chose to spend far more time attending panels and events than I did in 2004, possibly because there was a lot more to do and see this time around: Dances, concerts, a video room, a gaming room, the Dealers' Den and Artists' Alley, fursuited antics, and panel tracks for writers, artists, and fursuiters, just to name a few. When I wasn't browsing the dealers' wares or roaming around and socializing (or attending a major event), I naturally gravitated toward the writers' panels. I love to read, and while I haven't completed any of my personal creative writing projects I do consider myself to be a writer of sorts, so I loved the chance to geek out with similarily minded folk. The panels were even hosted by three of my favorite authors within the fandom: Phil Geusz, Wanderer, and Kyell Gold. Once I got the stars out of my eyes they were all really nice people to talk to, though Mr. Gold tended to be busily going from place to place whenever I caught sight of him outside of the panels.
I really can't say enough about how impressed I was by the convention staff. There were occassions when things didn't go quite as planned, but the staff and volunteers pulled the pieces together and made something fun happen one way or another. Furthermore, they did it with a good sense of humor and without taking themselves too seriously. As far as I could tell, there was very little drama of the negative sort to be found; just fun, silliness, and the occassional bit of overacting (yes, the pot is calling the kettle black). In short, I loved almost every minute of my time there. I've already registered for Fiesta 2010, to be held next February at the same location.
Speaking of the location, the Crowne Plaza hotel that hosted the convention was great! There were times when I felt a bit underdressed for such a fancy hotel, but the staff were friendly and accommodating, the rooms were clean and comfortable, and in general I got the feeling that we (and our money) were genuinely welcome at the hotel. Even the guests that weren't part of the convention seemed to go with the flow and have fun with us, or at least not run screaming for the door. By the way, there were two other conventions going on that weekend: one was an orthodontists' convention that shared the second floor with us, and the other was a hairdresser/beautician convention on the first floor. The orthodontists seemed to find us a little off-putting at first (can you blame them?), but adjusted pretty well by the time the weekend was over. The hairdressers, when the occassional encounter occurred, seemed friendly and engaging. Then again, in the words of another Fiesta attendee "some of them are more fabulous than we are!" I just about died laughing when I heard that, followed by a near spit-take when I heard that a few wandered upstairs looking for dates. Now that's what I call confidence!