The article IS fair, but rambly and kinda incoherent to me. =/ It reads less like a journalism article and more like a "look what I did last weekend!" blogger post. They lighted on things like parties and the drug scene, which is really not a subculture I'd like getting even more mixed into furry fandom, personally. Too much water in the blood thins it to where it no longer supports life.

Yeah it's pretty superficial. It probably would have been better and more coherent if she made friends there, or at least got nice professional profiles of some of the people there, to show them as well-rounded people who just happen to do a subculture thing. A subculture is a lot more than a party... it's a fantastic party though, and I don't care if they show that :)

A lot of us aren't there for 'the party' at all though. I don't go to cons to party, myself, I'm not connected to that lifestyle in any way. Call me square, lol, but what a lot of my friends consider "partying" just involves pizza and a movie at someone's house. Frankly, I think having a 'party floor' at the con at all invites plenty of non-furry folks and people who are ONLY looking for a party and not involved or interested in the furry fandom at all. Case in point, look at all the frat boys and party crashers who had to be kicked out at FC this year.

I go to party and meet people :) I like real life socializing way better than online. I don't think there is any way to say who is "real furry", and I don't care what label anyone wants to use, or if they are frat boys or just curious. (Hehe, curious frat boys sound really easy to confuse with hot gay dancing. :) If they're enjoying themselves, cool. The more the merrier. Some of them are always drawn back, and gradually they find themselves planning to get a fursuit or something else they never thought they'd do. That's why it's a place where anyone can go young or old, instead of the same old farts doing it since 1990. I DID have to temporarily kick out 2 unexpected guests who were "normal" friends expecting to crash in the hotel room and cramp my style, when I was expecting to use it for something. But now they want to come back, and they want me to go to Burning Man and bring furriness to other places not just for furries, so it all worked out nicely. I also volunteered to do a panel about a specialized art skill at the con, so it was a party and more too. :)

I'm one of those "old farts doing it since 1990" and I like how the fandom USED to be, myself. Keep in mind without old (wealthy) farts like me, there wouldn't BE any conventions to go to - who do you think pays for them?

Andy Rooney? The real answer is "people with weird sex lives". (Shhh *secret paw signal*) Speaking of things that have improved since the 90's... well, haters gonna hate :)