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It's not about the furries anymore. (Furries and Cons)
13 years ago
Sweet sensation
The music that we play
Will ease your mind
The music that we play
Will ease your mind
I'm going to try to keep this as low as I can on the angst scale. I'm obviously not at MFF, and it's the first year I havn't been able to go in quite some time.
Backtracking about 6 years back, AC06 was my first con. I graduated high school, my life was hell, and furry was my only solace in the world. I walked into that hotel and could not even begin to contain my grin. This is where I belong, I had thought. I thought it was a fitting time to have a first convention, the first year AC would come to Pittsburgh, closer to me and to a new venue. It was a new experience for everyone. I had an amazing time going to panels, geeking out over big name furry people, jaw dropping at the raves and generally being a giant furfag. Every year since then, save for FWA, was experiences that only got better and better as I learned how to best make the most of my time.
But time went on and although my interest in furry has remained solid and strong, I soon found myself going to cons for a completely different reason. At cons, I met amazing people from all over the world. People with all different skills, personalities, quirks, cultural differences, and it is just absolutely amazing. How amazing, I thought, that we live in a time where THOUSANDS of people from all over the world have the ability to fly to one place on this earth and converge and meet like a family reunion because of 1s and 0s that form words an ideas on a screen.
That's insane. Have you ever really thought about that? I have many times found myself in a room at furry conventions with a bunch of people just laughing and joking and carrying on, only to have it hit me half way in that I am in a room with people from clear across this planet. At one point I'm in a room with people from all four corners of the U.S, a few guys from Australia, a guy from Greece, a few UK furs. At other parties, it'd be even more broad a group of people.
That's crazy. crazy, crazy awesome. What is even more awesome then that is the unity among us. To laugh, drink, joke about our differences at times, scritch and cuddle like giant furfags, poke fun and and laugh at people in fursuits for a weekend, and at the end of it fly back all the way across this planet, some of us, to our respective homes.
I really do implore people to think about how lucky we are to live in a time where we can do that, really.
I suppose, on that note, that's why it gets to me when I have to miss a convention. It's not the fact that I won't be able to have fun for a weekend, it's the fact that I am missing a family reunion. A gathering of friends of whom I may never see again and some of whom I would die for. I have never found myself sitting moping at the idea of everyone else out there having fun, but I do mope about the fact that I am missing out on experiences with people I love. Truly, deeply love.
Even at cons I get this incredibly cheesy urge at the end of it all to grab some of my friends, hug them tight, and tell them how much they mean to me. Usually, I opt to hug them tight and tell them not farewell, but 'until next time', with an unspoken yet just as known expression that tells what I want to say... Because really, at the end of it all, it's not about being sad that it's over, it's about being glad that it happened.
So there's my little rant.
As I side note, here's some things I've learned over the years at cons:
1) Room with the people you want to spent time with the most. If you're there for panels over people, rooming with local people might be your thing. If you're like me, try to room with people you don't get to spend time with out of cons and whom you'd like to spend the most time with. Obviously, make sure you can trust that they'll be there, and have a fall back as rooming with people who have to travel lengthy ways to get to cons may run into problems.
2) Don't make plans. Don't make plans prior to the con. If you want to go to panels, fine, but keep in mind that if you're sitting there going "I'm going to do this at this time", then you won't have nearly as much time as if you're doing things on the fly. Go to eat with friends you don't see often. Wander around a lot with no real goal other then to see people you know.
3) There are plenty of ways to meet people if you don't know anyone. If you're shy, don't let it get to you. There's plenty of places to do so (gaming rooms, board gaming, zoo). Even wandering around the dealer's den/artist alley and respectfully (key word) butting into passing conversations* can be a great way to meet new people.
*: Any other time I'd say no, but furries at cons are pretty open to it. obviously unless it's a group of friends in a circle talking, don't just walk up and start yammering away, but go around, look at stuff, make a comment or so at people who are doing the same. there are many ways to do it. Just think of what would and wouldn't make you feel awkward if you were in their/different positions.
4) Get up early, stay up late., but always get a decent amount of sleep, eat meals, and shower. I usually shoot to get up around 8-9AM and stay up til 2-3AM. this is just my opinion, but the more you're awake, the more experiences you're having.. and that's why you're there, right? just don't push yourself and break yourself to do it. Be smart. People will tell you to get a certain amount of sleep, but if you can do with less, do with less. Just don't lie to yourself and/or try to stay awake the entire con.
5) Don't make it stressful. I've been struggling with this myself, but remember that you're there for a vacation, and that you can just as well stress yourself trying to do too many things with too many people. Sometimes you have to choose and that's fine (I always suggest choosing further away friends over local friends. you can ALWAYS see them.)
6) Tip. Don't be a dick. This isn't just for going out to eat, or hotels, but it probably isn't a bad idea to tip artists that you commission either. I'm guilty in not doing it, but it also never occurred to me until recently (durr).
7) Chat with artists/dealers but don't hog their space. If you don't intend to buy anything, or are browsing and chatting, always make way for people who may want to actually purchase something. That being said, I'm sure artists/dealers get a little pent up sitting at those tables for so long. Most don't mind a friendly chat, but again... Don't hog their time too much either, because keep in mind that they have work to do. Artists can correct that at any point if I'm wrong.
8) Don't be starstruck. As I said above, I used to be the type to geek over big names, but it really is silly. Hell some people seem to think I'm popular, but I don't really do anything. I sometimes get the feeling that if you're socially apt and "talk to big names", people will think you're popular. I dont know, you think this guy is a big name, I think this guy is just a cool dude. w/e, I guess. But at any rate, don't try to be friends with someone because their popular. That's silly.
9) Budget! Hell, do what I do and round everything to whatever value seems 'worst comes to worst'. Actually, that isn't a bad idea for life in general, and it's how I get by. Instead of aiming to budget based off of the literal cost of things, round everything up, add in some "oh shit, this costed more" money along with some emergency money... Just budget everything on the safe side and 9 times our of 10 you'll come out thinking "Wow, this is cool, I didn't spend nearly as much as I thought.". That being said, don't write off going to a con if you can't particularly justify going when you're budgeting everything high, but also don't go to a con when you're dirt fucking poor. That one is important. You've other things to worry about, and your friends will understand.
I think that one is actually pretty important. Oddly enough, budgeting for cons made me learn good methods of budgeting for everything else IRL. You don't -necessarily- have to write everything down (especially with most banks having online banking, along with smartphones), but keeping a loose track of everything as you go and adjusting your spending habits is nice. If you purposefully budget rounding everything high and planning for the worst, you don't have to worry as much from transaction to transaction whether you're on track.
TL:DR for this one, and to drive the point home: Round everything up, plan for the worst. Less stress all around.
10) There is no number 10. I just felt stupid for ending it on 9
Backtracking about 6 years back, AC06 was my first con. I graduated high school, my life was hell, and furry was my only solace in the world. I walked into that hotel and could not even begin to contain my grin. This is where I belong, I had thought. I thought it was a fitting time to have a first convention, the first year AC would come to Pittsburgh, closer to me and to a new venue. It was a new experience for everyone. I had an amazing time going to panels, geeking out over big name furry people, jaw dropping at the raves and generally being a giant furfag. Every year since then, save for FWA, was experiences that only got better and better as I learned how to best make the most of my time.
But time went on and although my interest in furry has remained solid and strong, I soon found myself going to cons for a completely different reason. At cons, I met amazing people from all over the world. People with all different skills, personalities, quirks, cultural differences, and it is just absolutely amazing. How amazing, I thought, that we live in a time where THOUSANDS of people from all over the world have the ability to fly to one place on this earth and converge and meet like a family reunion because of 1s and 0s that form words an ideas on a screen.
That's insane. Have you ever really thought about that? I have many times found myself in a room at furry conventions with a bunch of people just laughing and joking and carrying on, only to have it hit me half way in that I am in a room with people from clear across this planet. At one point I'm in a room with people from all four corners of the U.S, a few guys from Australia, a guy from Greece, a few UK furs. At other parties, it'd be even more broad a group of people.
That's crazy. crazy, crazy awesome. What is even more awesome then that is the unity among us. To laugh, drink, joke about our differences at times, scritch and cuddle like giant furfags, poke fun and and laugh at people in fursuits for a weekend, and at the end of it fly back all the way across this planet, some of us, to our respective homes.
I really do implore people to think about how lucky we are to live in a time where we can do that, really.
I suppose, on that note, that's why it gets to me when I have to miss a convention. It's not the fact that I won't be able to have fun for a weekend, it's the fact that I am missing a family reunion. A gathering of friends of whom I may never see again and some of whom I would die for. I have never found myself sitting moping at the idea of everyone else out there having fun, but I do mope about the fact that I am missing out on experiences with people I love. Truly, deeply love.
Even at cons I get this incredibly cheesy urge at the end of it all to grab some of my friends, hug them tight, and tell them how much they mean to me. Usually, I opt to hug them tight and tell them not farewell, but 'until next time', with an unspoken yet just as known expression that tells what I want to say... Because really, at the end of it all, it's not about being sad that it's over, it's about being glad that it happened.
So there's my little rant.
As I side note, here's some things I've learned over the years at cons:
1) Room with the people you want to spent time with the most. If you're there for panels over people, rooming with local people might be your thing. If you're like me, try to room with people you don't get to spend time with out of cons and whom you'd like to spend the most time with. Obviously, make sure you can trust that they'll be there, and have a fall back as rooming with people who have to travel lengthy ways to get to cons may run into problems.
2) Don't make plans. Don't make plans prior to the con. If you want to go to panels, fine, but keep in mind that if you're sitting there going "I'm going to do this at this time", then you won't have nearly as much time as if you're doing things on the fly. Go to eat with friends you don't see often. Wander around a lot with no real goal other then to see people you know.
3) There are plenty of ways to meet people if you don't know anyone. If you're shy, don't let it get to you. There's plenty of places to do so (gaming rooms, board gaming, zoo). Even wandering around the dealer's den/artist alley and respectfully (key word) butting into passing conversations* can be a great way to meet new people.
*: Any other time I'd say no, but furries at cons are pretty open to it. obviously unless it's a group of friends in a circle talking, don't just walk up and start yammering away, but go around, look at stuff, make a comment or so at people who are doing the same. there are many ways to do it. Just think of what would and wouldn't make you feel awkward if you were in their/different positions.
4) Get up early, stay up late., but always get a decent amount of sleep, eat meals, and shower. I usually shoot to get up around 8-9AM and stay up til 2-3AM. this is just my opinion, but the more you're awake, the more experiences you're having.. and that's why you're there, right? just don't push yourself and break yourself to do it. Be smart. People will tell you to get a certain amount of sleep, but if you can do with less, do with less. Just don't lie to yourself and/or try to stay awake the entire con.
5) Don't make it stressful. I've been struggling with this myself, but remember that you're there for a vacation, and that you can just as well stress yourself trying to do too many things with too many people. Sometimes you have to choose and that's fine (I always suggest choosing further away friends over local friends. you can ALWAYS see them.)
6) Tip. Don't be a dick. This isn't just for going out to eat, or hotels, but it probably isn't a bad idea to tip artists that you commission either. I'm guilty in not doing it, but it also never occurred to me until recently (durr).
7) Chat with artists/dealers but don't hog their space. If you don't intend to buy anything, or are browsing and chatting, always make way for people who may want to actually purchase something. That being said, I'm sure artists/dealers get a little pent up sitting at those tables for so long. Most don't mind a friendly chat, but again... Don't hog their time too much either, because keep in mind that they have work to do. Artists can correct that at any point if I'm wrong.
8) Don't be starstruck. As I said above, I used to be the type to geek over big names, but it really is silly. Hell some people seem to think I'm popular, but I don't really do anything. I sometimes get the feeling that if you're socially apt and "talk to big names", people will think you're popular. I dont know, you think this guy is a big name, I think this guy is just a cool dude. w/e, I guess. But at any rate, don't try to be friends with someone because their popular. That's silly.
9) Budget! Hell, do what I do and round everything to whatever value seems 'worst comes to worst'. Actually, that isn't a bad idea for life in general, and it's how I get by. Instead of aiming to budget based off of the literal cost of things, round everything up, add in some "oh shit, this costed more" money along with some emergency money... Just budget everything on the safe side and 9 times our of 10 you'll come out thinking "Wow, this is cool, I didn't spend nearly as much as I thought.". That being said, don't write off going to a con if you can't particularly justify going when you're budgeting everything high, but also don't go to a con when you're dirt fucking poor. That one is important. You've other things to worry about, and your friends will understand.
I think that one is actually pretty important. Oddly enough, budgeting for cons made me learn good methods of budgeting for everything else IRL. You don't -necessarily- have to write everything down (especially with most banks having online banking, along with smartphones), but keeping a loose track of everything as you go and adjusting your spending habits is nice. If you purposefully budget rounding everything high and planning for the worst, you don't have to worry as much from transaction to transaction whether you're on track.
TL:DR for this one, and to drive the point home: Round everything up, plan for the worst. Less stress all around.
10) There is no number 10. I just felt stupid for ending it on 9
2.) This is probably why I end up stressing myself at ANY con (especially anime cons but that is besides the point). I think I will try this next year with exception to one panel if it is something I REALLY want to go to. Otherwise, I will go if people mention it to me (aka "Hey Mana we are going here wanna join?" )
3.) I need to get better at this. Was feeling all sorts of shyness. I'm not shy with people once I know them though X3
4.) Yes, totally agree :D
5.) Another big thing to work on. I stressed over everything last convention. Mainly over OCD neat freak type of things.