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My own two cents on FWA
12 years ago
Well after 18+ hours in the car, 1150 or so miles, and more stairs than I care to remember I’ve made it back from FWA.
While it may not matter to you these are just my thoughts upon returning from Furry Weekend Atlanta.
The drive was fine, aside from being long I really didn’t mind it as I like to drive. Still 8.5 hours in a day is about my limit. Outside of some rain and snow through Kentucky on the way home the driving weather was perfect.
The area around the con hotel (this was my first FWA so I don’t know where it was before) was great. Downtown Atlanta is a very active place and I think it was more so this weekend. I may be in the minority but I like to explore a tiny bit of the city and life outside the con. Lots of stuff with-in walking distance and if I had more money or time I would have liked to have seen even more. I did walk over through Olympic Centennial Park, past CNN and Coca-Cola, and more. Saturday there was a St. Patrick’s day parade just outside the hotel and Sunday morning the Georgia Marathon was taking place nearby too. Food options were plentiful, super close-by, and even more appreciated - many affordable options. I didn’t sample many new places but the Irish pub (Meehan’s) right next to the hotel was good and a nice option considering the weekend. It was pretty cool that everywhere around the hotel and on these downtown street there were furries and fursuiters in the crowd.
The hotel itself was a nice hotel but in my opinion not well suited at all for a furry con. I am not an expert on cons by any means and I know this was their first time at this hotel, but the setup was not good. First if you went to the con or talked to anybody else who went, one word – ELEVATORS! God awful. I’ve heard the horror stories of elevators at AC and I’d say this would be right up there with that. Too high a hotel, and as much as furries hang around and go back and forth to rooms, fifteen to twenty minutes to wait for a elevator to pack into was not uncommon. That and stairs mostly were not an option at all, believe me I tried and my room was only on the 36th floor. So if you needed to run up to your room for anything in the middle of the day you were looking at at least 45 minutes to get there and back. Plus the convention space was clustered around the elevators in the center and spread between four floors so to go from one area to another you had to work your way past the folks crowded around the elevators. The pool and fitness center were nice, I had a nice short work out one morning and went swimming twice (early in the morning was the best time and also the easiest to get there on the elevators at that time).
The con itself was good. I went to several panels, mostly writing related and I think except for one (maybe two) were all given by Kyell Gold who seemed to be the entire writing track for this con, not that there is anything wrong with that. The dealer’s den was large and actually I though pretty spacious and did not feel crowded. Lots and lots of fursuiters and a very big parade. The best part of the parade for me was watching a woman next to me and her small (one year old?) girl and her reaction to all the furries that she was waving at and saying hi to as they passed by. The other events were good too but mostly a blur. Was able to say hi to a few folks I knew and meet lots of new furs and it would have been nice to hang out with some of them some more.
Overall a very good con and a nice experience. I’d have to say though, if it is at this Westin again next year I won’t be going back. If they find another location I may consider it. Yeah I know that may be a little over dramatic and I’m sure they don’t care if one small time fur from Ohio won’t be back but when I pay out good money for something I expect to enjoy it fully and this hotel’s setup just doesn’t work for me.
Oh well, now back to finding a new job.
While it may not matter to you these are just my thoughts upon returning from Furry Weekend Atlanta.
The drive was fine, aside from being long I really didn’t mind it as I like to drive. Still 8.5 hours in a day is about my limit. Outside of some rain and snow through Kentucky on the way home the driving weather was perfect.
The area around the con hotel (this was my first FWA so I don’t know where it was before) was great. Downtown Atlanta is a very active place and I think it was more so this weekend. I may be in the minority but I like to explore a tiny bit of the city and life outside the con. Lots of stuff with-in walking distance and if I had more money or time I would have liked to have seen even more. I did walk over through Olympic Centennial Park, past CNN and Coca-Cola, and more. Saturday there was a St. Patrick’s day parade just outside the hotel and Sunday morning the Georgia Marathon was taking place nearby too. Food options were plentiful, super close-by, and even more appreciated - many affordable options. I didn’t sample many new places but the Irish pub (Meehan’s) right next to the hotel was good and a nice option considering the weekend. It was pretty cool that everywhere around the hotel and on these downtown street there were furries and fursuiters in the crowd.
The hotel itself was a nice hotel but in my opinion not well suited at all for a furry con. I am not an expert on cons by any means and I know this was their first time at this hotel, but the setup was not good. First if you went to the con or talked to anybody else who went, one word – ELEVATORS! God awful. I’ve heard the horror stories of elevators at AC and I’d say this would be right up there with that. Too high a hotel, and as much as furries hang around and go back and forth to rooms, fifteen to twenty minutes to wait for a elevator to pack into was not uncommon. That and stairs mostly were not an option at all, believe me I tried and my room was only on the 36th floor. So if you needed to run up to your room for anything in the middle of the day you were looking at at least 45 minutes to get there and back. Plus the convention space was clustered around the elevators in the center and spread between four floors so to go from one area to another you had to work your way past the folks crowded around the elevators. The pool and fitness center were nice, I had a nice short work out one morning and went swimming twice (early in the morning was the best time and also the easiest to get there on the elevators at that time).
The con itself was good. I went to several panels, mostly writing related and I think except for one (maybe two) were all given by Kyell Gold who seemed to be the entire writing track for this con, not that there is anything wrong with that. The dealer’s den was large and actually I though pretty spacious and did not feel crowded. Lots and lots of fursuiters and a very big parade. The best part of the parade for me was watching a woman next to me and her small (one year old?) girl and her reaction to all the furries that she was waving at and saying hi to as they passed by. The other events were good too but mostly a blur. Was able to say hi to a few folks I knew and meet lots of new furs and it would have been nice to hang out with some of them some more.
Overall a very good con and a nice experience. I’d have to say though, if it is at this Westin again next year I won’t be going back. If they find another location I may consider it. Yeah I know that may be a little over dramatic and I’m sure they don’t care if one small time fur from Ohio won’t be back but when I pay out good money for something I expect to enjoy it fully and this hotel’s setup just doesn’t work for me.
Oh well, now back to finding a new job.
It took a lot of courage to wear football gear in the lobbies lol
My first year they were at the nearby Hilton (they're ALL nearby downtown), then they moved to the Sheraton (both more normal than the Westin or Hyatt are). Not sure why they moved either time (rumor is the Hilton was having other groups get weirded out, but I can't confirm that).
I went bug-eyed when a friend told me it was at the black, monolithic, cylinder in the sky...*ahem* I mean the Westin this year. The downtown Westin is all but a city landmark because of its distinct structure in the skyline and for the Sundial rotating restaurant on top. Definitely a tourist pull in-general. So that's why the elevators were bad: cooky construction + elevators can only go up the center due to gimmick at the top + tourist destination.
(source: ATL native...for now)
Anyway, aside from those issues though, I thought the hotel was quite luxurious, and the con area quite spacious. And yes, lots of awesome locales and eateries in the area. ^_^ Maybe next year I can actually meet more people...
I can forgive the elevator issues, I just wish the stairs were a viable alternative. My own experience was I took the stairs down from the 36th floor. Taking the stairs down to the 4th floor to find that it was a fire door and would sound an alarm if opened, climbing back up to the 8th floor (the next floor with a door) to find the card reader was broken out. Climbing up to the next door on the 12th floor to find the card reader on that door broken but fortunately the door was not locked. Then still having to wait 15 minutes for a down elevator.
Yeah I heard about the stairs travails. I never tried them, just waited forever for the elevators. Luckily I didn't have to do much back and forth-ing, and if I make it to next year's by then they will hopefully have worked this out. :)