A bit delayed in getting to this, but here goes!

AO 2024 has come and gone, and Ohio's only full-fledged furry convention has certainly grown. With 1950 attendees, we demolished the previous record mark of 1261, and did so remarkably peacefully. From the con opening until after closing ceremonies there were no ambulance calls, no police calls, no fire trucks, and no reported thefts. Unfortunately, the massive growth did also mean there was briefly no parking on Saturday, which created problems of its own, but it's a small price to pay for a con well done.

The History of Anthrohio panel that I hosted on Friday went great. I was NOT expecting multiple former con chairs to be in attendance, and I'll admit it was a little nerve-wracking to detail the history of a convention I did not attend to the people who ran it, but everyone seemed to enjoy it and we got a lot of great feedback.

Adding to the feeling of being on the Hot Seat was the ambient temperature in the hotel. While the HVAC system did just fine in Main Events and the Dealers' Den, it was seriously struggling in the common areas, with temps getting well into the 80s on a weekend that was both hotter and more humid than Georgia had been during FWA. As such, my fursuit never left the tote all weekend; I partialed around plenty, though, so keep an eye on submissions as I keep rolling out more photos.

One of the biggest benefits of AO is always the number of locals I get to spend time with, and this year was no exception. I co-hosted a lovely (somewhat lewd) room party on Friday night, and ran it back Saturday evening for good measure. Got to spend some time with friends in the pool early in the weekend too (before it got too grody) and even helped a certain Badger make some vodka disappear late Friday night. A good party is always a good warm up for the dance, too, and the Saturday night rave knocked it out of the park; K9INE's set blew the doors off the place, and was but one of several great sets over the course of the weekend.

Despite the shortcomings of the venue, this was by far the best Anthrohio I've attended, and more than made up for a somewhat lackluster experience at FWA. The significant growth of the con was taken in stride by all the staff, and it went off largely without a hitch as a result. I can't wait to see what (and where) 2025 will bring us! In the meantime, it's less than a month until Anthrocon, so stay tuned!