Suite Living... 2014 Edition
MFF 2014 is upon us... Heck, this time last year, I'd have friends staying over already and I'd be checking in tomorrow! But with the date change, we've got two more weeks, so I guess this is long overdue. The reality is, I have no clue what 2015 holds for these room parties. As con-chair elect for Midwest Furfest 2015, this is the last MFF I'll have any semblance of "free time" to oversee room parties, because I'll be too busy overseeing the convention. So... How we'll approach this in the future, I'm not sure. And to be bluntly honest? I had seriously debated closing the parties this year. They're expensive, they're time-consuming and they take a LOT of manpower to run. Everyone wants to DJ or Bartend, but finding people to clean, scrub, watch the door, etc... It's hard work.
But the reality is, with new responsibility next year, I'll be passing the torch on these parties and I don't want to go out with a whimper, I'd rather go out with a bang. So here's the annual recap, read on:
You may know the story, but I like telling it, so let's step back eight years, shall we? We had a suite at Anthrocon and we were really excited. Our parties had outgrown the standard hotel room footprint and we needed more space to relax and reconnect with friends. So, as we settled in on Thursday night, of course, there was a party. And it was, awesome. And then on Friday night, we had another party... But as it progressed, we found a lot of strangers in the mix. We all assumed that they knew "someone" and while we stopped many of them, it became a problem. And then on Saturday night? Pure chaos.
The morning after that party, as we all sat down to lunch the question was raised... What happened? And the answer was simple. People saw a pair of double doors, they heard a party... They came in. The few that were questioned on their way in claimed they had friends inside, but within short order, the doors were overwhelmed and the room was, quite literally packed. I mean, PACKED. In the end, regardless of the reasons, people saw a party room, they wanted to have fun, they came in. We were exhausted. The room was a wreck. The mess was, unbelievable. And then the reality set in. This was "my" room and if anything happened to it or the people within it... I was liable. Me. The one guy whose name was on the dotted line down at the front desk. We genuinely kicked around the idea of shutting it down completely, leaving it empty that night and just going to other parties. But, the entire point of renting this room, was for these parties. Was the experiment a failure right off the bat? We didn't think so, and we struggled with a decision for some time but ultimately decided... We were going to create invitations and make sure that the only people in our room, were our friends.
I hated this idea. HATED it. I felt like we were being these miserable, elitist fucks, hiding away in our room and not letting anybody in. And as I looked out each of the three sets of doors into the hallway, I saw people sitting along the walls, hanging out. Not, coming in. Just... Waiting. Hoping. And I felt genuinely sick to my stomach. Until a friend came back after checking out another party and shared this story: As the door to the suite closed behind him, the furs in the hall all jumped up and began pleading with him to let them in. Begging, bargaining, each claiming they had friends inside. And they were each awesome people they swore, they even had stuff to offer! One had beer. One had mixers. Another had straight up liquor and one, heck... had a pizza. My friend looked around and he asked why, if they had, quite literally everything they needed to have their own party, including people, why they didn't just do that? As a group, they shrugged and one explained that... It wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be... THAT party, as he gestured at the door and they all began to sit down again.
And so, as he shared this story and I looked back out the door to see these furs still sitting there, I realized... Those people? That story? That reasoning? They didn't have friends inside. They just wanted to crash somebody else's party. And so, eight years later? We haven't looked back. It isn't elitist to want to spend time with your friends. It doesn't make you a bad person to want to trust or at least know somebody who trusts, every single person you let into your own personal hotel room.
And that's just it! The suite is just a room. A big, beautiful room... But still just a room. For the 90% of the con that you're NOT in that room, other people are sleeping in it... They're showering in it... They're getting it ready for the next day and of course, the next night's events. And SURE, there's a party in their room every night and everyone knows where they're staying, so that's a lot of fun! But unfortunately, that also means there's a party in their room every night and everyone knows where they're staying, so there's no real escape from the chaos of a convention... So, that can kinda suck sometimes. Not to mention:
- Every night, they have to re-pack their luggage and lock it away.
- They often can't choose their own bedtime.
- Every morning, they find mysterious wet spots on the carpet, through their (no-longer-clean) socks or bare feet.
- Their bedtime ritual includes scrubbing, soaking, tossing garbage and giving the entire suite a quick cleaning.
- At some point in the party, without fail, they have to sterilize a bathroom because somebody drank too much... *shudders*
- They can't really "let loose" with their friends, because of something called "liability."
- They instinctively cringe at early morning knocks at the door. Or late-night knocks... Any knocks really...
- They become close friends with a maid whom they tip heavily.
- No matter how careful they are, sometimes their personal property just... disappears.
- And... Oh yeah... On top of all that, THEY GET TO PAY MORE FOR THIS "PRIVILEGE"!!!
IF, and ONLY IF, you have been to the previous parties mentioned above and plan on being at more this con, (you should know if you're invited, but if not, ask) and you would like to donate towards the cost of these parties, then please click here:
Use PayPal to donate to (money at woodymutt dot com) in whatever amount you can afford, from $1 to whatever, it's ALL appreciated!
(And PLEASE, if your email address isn't self-identifying or there's a chance I don't know your legal name, please clarify that in the notes.)
If you're not sure you can make it, hold off for now. If you're not sure how much cash you'll have until the convention, well then feel free to wait until then and either hand it to me, or use it to tip your bartenders! (Remember, your bartenders are giving up part of their con, to make yours better... But hopefully they're having fun doing it!). And if you can't donate cash, we can always use people working the door to check invitations or running bar-back to help out the bartenders. Or, we always appreciate additional booze or supplies that you find you won't need at the convention or... Honestly, if you can't help in any other way? When it really comes down to it, your smiling face is all the donation we really need. Because, no matter how great the room or how strong the drinks, the thing that REALLY makes these parties a success? Is YOU.
Thanks in advance... I can't wait to see you all SOON!