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Anthrcon 2012 in review!
13 years ago
(PLEASE NOTE: Some names of people I met won't be placed here as I cannot find you on FA or have not taken down your info during AC, if you know who you are then let me say that I was glad to have met you and spent time with you.)
Anthrocon has yet again came and went, for my third year in a row I have enjoyed the shenanigans of the furry fandom at its largest gathering in North America (I don't say world cause I think there's one in the UK that's bigger, but that's just off the top of my head) and having gone through the motions of a con and loving the experience like before, I can safely say this convention has now officially ended, though I have yet to fully get myself sorted back at home, I can say that I'm quite happy to have went even though prior thoughts were of uncertainty and uneasiness.
Let's get down to business, this has been my third year going to Ac, and each time I go I learn something new about the community. The fandom, despite the negative connotation presented to it through the media and the interwebs, is actually one of the kindness communities anyone can be part of; people, most anyway, are generally kind-heated and helpful, despite the drama that still resides deep within the social history of the group. To touch a bit on the history for those who don't know, Anthrocon is partly a study, set up by several universities, to understand how a fandom such as this is formed, followed and developed through the ages. its quite daunting to imagine how old AC is, having started around the late 1998 (known as Albania Anthrocon) and going on into its 14th year with a record breaking 5000+ attendies (20% of those (1044) as fursuiters) and still climbing.
Apart from the history and fantastical numbers of attendees, tis not the subject 0f this journal, but rather a note on how my experience at the con was. It begins on Wednesday morning; catching a 6am bus to leave from Downtown Toronto heading toi Buffalo, then Eerie, then finally Pittsburgh itself in the span of 12 hours. it wasn't a bad trip, working a 12 hour shift on a common basis is a good way of getting your body and mind use to the strain of sitting around doing nothing for such a period of time. Aside from the reading and the laptop use (drawing is out of the question with the bumps) the trip eventually ended with us arriving in Pittsburg around 5:20pm (1720). After a brief shuffling off the bus and getting the dub-step down pat, I met up with my good friend and best bro
MikeMurdock who had been waiting for me all day. I felt touch, especially since I couldn't really return his texts back to him during the trip as my Canadian phone would overcharge me for texting (.75 cents a text) and tro be met by a good friend is always comforting when you're in an alien city.
We made our way to the Omni from the bus terminal, a quick hop-skip-&-jump from the station, past the Westin towards a rather nice, almost "ritzy" hotel just a few blocks from the David Lawrence Convention Center (DLCC). It was very lavishing in design, perhaps dating back pre-modern design hotels such as the Double Tree or Westin, whatever the case, it was fancy. Mike and I simply plopped ourselves in the lobby, without a room to place our things, the hotel was kind enough o let us keep our gear locked in a secured room until our room-owners arrived later in the evening, so that left us several hours to do what we pleased.
Since it was Wednsday and the con was a day away from starting, we decided to just kick back and relax while we waited for our roomies, suffice to say, not much happen on Wednesday, so lets move on to Thursday.
I want to put a deep thanks out to
Dumarsi for letting me chill in his room for the night. Had a blast and look forward to seeing you in the future. You guys in the room were all awesome and hope we can meet up in cons to come.
Anyway, Thursday, registered bright and early, got my stuff sorted and above all met up with some wonderful peeps.
TygerStKuan above all as we FINALLY were able to meet face to face. She's as sweet as ever and was quite happy to see her. I also was introduced to our room-boss Mike and I were staying with 
jetillian and her mate 
RewRanslynn both these peeps were Awesome Possoms and I was quite happy to have met them through Tyger.
The rest of the day was quite fantastic, once registration was done there isn't much else aside from a few mixers and meet ups. I went about the Zoo, chilled with friends, and just enjoyed the calm before the storm.
FRIDAY
Du du du DUH DUH!
Opening Ceremonies at 10am, that was something quite fantastic. I was quite impressed with what was in store for AC this year, being considered a giant leap in the size of attendees, as stated before, it was quite fantastic to experience such an undertaking, especially with all the fun to be had thereafter. Once ceremonies were done, its off to the Artist Alley and Dealers Den for the first slew of Commissions, was great to see
gNAW again as well, always nice to hear he's doing fine. I took the time thereafter to go and check on a few meetups, especially the Ontario fur meets as well as running into a few new faces of some good acquaintances; above all, 
Izixs a wonderful individual who goes by the name Dr. Ixizs. He and I shared some interesting tidbits of info during the afternoon and evening of the Con and partook in one of my personal fave panels "Publishing your work for Business' (Or something like that) it was very interesting, one of the panels I really enjoyed and took a lot out of.
With that said, not much else happened Friday, mostly chilled in the room and watched anime.
Saturday
Day 02
Saturday is probably the busiest day of the Con, being the center of attention and all that. I can't really recall doing much on Saturday, checking out a few more places, enjoying time with friends, seeing stuff in the Dealers Den and Artist Alley, above all however was the Parade was awesome as always and seeing some more individuals I was hoping to see, such as
TigerBlack and 
FlyingFire.
Again, not much else...I think because this con left me with quite a wide plate of food but little bit I could really bite into. Perhaps I need to rethink and plan my trip for next year a bit better.
Sunday
Last day!
Sunday, Sunday SUNDAY!| the final day of the con. Looking back, it was the quietest day of the con; sparse people in the AA and DD, most furs had partied the night away last night so they all slept in till 3, aside from a few closing notions and the closing ceremonies in the afternoon, the con wound down pretty smoothly and getting a chance to meet and say chao to a bunch of good friends always is a plus.
For all the people I met and spent time with I'm happy to have been given the opportunity to meet and greet all of you, spending time with you was fun and look forward to meeting you again at AC 2013!
Anthrocon has yet again came and went, for my third year in a row I have enjoyed the shenanigans of the furry fandom at its largest gathering in North America (I don't say world cause I think there's one in the UK that's bigger, but that's just off the top of my head) and having gone through the motions of a con and loving the experience like before, I can safely say this convention has now officially ended, though I have yet to fully get myself sorted back at home, I can say that I'm quite happy to have went even though prior thoughts were of uncertainty and uneasiness.
Let's get down to business, this has been my third year going to Ac, and each time I go I learn something new about the community. The fandom, despite the negative connotation presented to it through the media and the interwebs, is actually one of the kindness communities anyone can be part of; people, most anyway, are generally kind-heated and helpful, despite the drama that still resides deep within the social history of the group. To touch a bit on the history for those who don't know, Anthrocon is partly a study, set up by several universities, to understand how a fandom such as this is formed, followed and developed through the ages. its quite daunting to imagine how old AC is, having started around the late 1998 (known as Albania Anthrocon) and going on into its 14th year with a record breaking 5000+ attendies (20% of those (1044) as fursuiters) and still climbing.
Apart from the history and fantastical numbers of attendees, tis not the subject 0f this journal, but rather a note on how my experience at the con was. It begins on Wednesday morning; catching a 6am bus to leave from Downtown Toronto heading toi Buffalo, then Eerie, then finally Pittsburgh itself in the span of 12 hours. it wasn't a bad trip, working a 12 hour shift on a common basis is a good way of getting your body and mind use to the strain of sitting around doing nothing for such a period of time. Aside from the reading and the laptop use (drawing is out of the question with the bumps) the trip eventually ended with us arriving in Pittsburg around 5:20pm (1720). After a brief shuffling off the bus and getting the dub-step down pat, I met up with my good friend and best bro
MikeMurdock who had been waiting for me all day. I felt touch, especially since I couldn't really return his texts back to him during the trip as my Canadian phone would overcharge me for texting (.75 cents a text) and tro be met by a good friend is always comforting when you're in an alien city. We made our way to the Omni from the bus terminal, a quick hop-skip-&-jump from the station, past the Westin towards a rather nice, almost "ritzy" hotel just a few blocks from the David Lawrence Convention Center (DLCC). It was very lavishing in design, perhaps dating back pre-modern design hotels such as the Double Tree or Westin, whatever the case, it was fancy. Mike and I simply plopped ourselves in the lobby, without a room to place our things, the hotel was kind enough o let us keep our gear locked in a secured room until our room-owners arrived later in the evening, so that left us several hours to do what we pleased.
Since it was Wednsday and the con was a day away from starting, we decided to just kick back and relax while we waited for our roomies, suffice to say, not much happen on Wednesday, so lets move on to Thursday.
I want to put a deep thanks out to
Dumarsi for letting me chill in his room for the night. Had a blast and look forward to seeing you in the future. You guys in the room were all awesome and hope we can meet up in cons to come.Anyway, Thursday, registered bright and early, got my stuff sorted and above all met up with some wonderful peeps.
TygerStKuan above all as we FINALLY were able to meet face to face. She's as sweet as ever and was quite happy to see her. I also was introduced to our room-boss Mike and I were staying with 
jetillian and her mate 
RewRanslynn both these peeps were Awesome Possoms and I was quite happy to have met them through Tyger.The rest of the day was quite fantastic, once registration was done there isn't much else aside from a few mixers and meet ups. I went about the Zoo, chilled with friends, and just enjoyed the calm before the storm.
FRIDAY
Du du du DUH DUH!
Opening Ceremonies at 10am, that was something quite fantastic. I was quite impressed with what was in store for AC this year, being considered a giant leap in the size of attendees, as stated before, it was quite fantastic to experience such an undertaking, especially with all the fun to be had thereafter. Once ceremonies were done, its off to the Artist Alley and Dealers Den for the first slew of Commissions, was great to see
gNAW again as well, always nice to hear he's doing fine. I took the time thereafter to go and check on a few meetups, especially the Ontario fur meets as well as running into a few new faces of some good acquaintances; above all, 
Izixs a wonderful individual who goes by the name Dr. Ixizs. He and I shared some interesting tidbits of info during the afternoon and evening of the Con and partook in one of my personal fave panels "Publishing your work for Business' (Or something like that) it was very interesting, one of the panels I really enjoyed and took a lot out of.With that said, not much else happened Friday, mostly chilled in the room and watched anime.
Saturday
Day 02
Saturday is probably the busiest day of the Con, being the center of attention and all that. I can't really recall doing much on Saturday, checking out a few more places, enjoying time with friends, seeing stuff in the Dealers Den and Artist Alley, above all however was the Parade was awesome as always and seeing some more individuals I was hoping to see, such as
TigerBlack and 
FlyingFire.Again, not much else...I think because this con left me with quite a wide plate of food but little bit I could really bite into. Perhaps I need to rethink and plan my trip for next year a bit better.
Sunday
Last day!
Sunday, Sunday SUNDAY!| the final day of the con. Looking back, it was the quietest day of the con; sparse people in the AA and DD, most furs had partied the night away last night so they all slept in till 3, aside from a few closing notions and the closing ceremonies in the afternoon, the con wound down pretty smoothly and getting a chance to meet and say chao to a bunch of good friends always is a plus.
For all the people I met and spent time with I'm happy to have been given the opportunity to meet and greet all of you, spending time with you was fun and look forward to meeting you again at AC 2013!
I am the ROOM-BOSS.
rofl. love it
Glad you had a good time--and hopefully for many years to come! :D