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BLFC Report (Wall of Text Crits)
12 years ago
General
Wednesday night - I headed down to Orem to pick up the first person I was taking and spent the night.
Thursday - Made the drive to Reno, had dinner, picked up my badge and did general hanging out.
Friday - Woke up, just set up in the art show, and got breakfast before opening ceremonies. After opening ceremonies I went to give my panel and attempt to teach people how not to fail at conventions. I think I did an okay job, but not the best. After my panel I walked around the dealer’s den and chatted for a bit before heading up to get in suit. After being in suit for just a little while and doing some wandering around again and playing some blackjack I was dragged off to the room for...stuff...I then hung out in the room for a bit before going down and playing some penny slots and losing $10 and had food. It wasn’t long before I ended back up in the room for a shower before the party where I did a bit more...stuff...with the person who dragged me off before. After the party some of us went and got food before bed.
Saturday - I played some video poker in the morning while waiting for people to get breakfast with and we got that at Mcdonalds in the nearby Walmart. After that I did some more video poker eventually being out another $10. After that I got my suit one and mostly sat at the blackjack table in the con space for most of the day with a break for the parade. At about 6:30 I went to get out of suit and take a shower before dinner when I got a text that I can grab the stuff that didn’t sell in the art show, so I finished my shower and headed down to do that. Only 6 items didn’t sell, so that was good. Then I went to a formal type dinner with a bunch of furs and it was really good. After dinner I went to change my clothes and ended up sitting in the room in my underwear for a while before putting on some clothes and checking out the dance for a couple minutes. After that I headed back to the room and started getting packed up...which involved getting naked so I could pack the last of the dirty clothes I was wearing that day. Then I hung out for a bit before bed.
Sunday - I got up and did the last of my packing then we packed up the car and checked out. Then we got breakfast while waiting for people to wake up so we could say goodbye to them. After saying some goodbyes we drove off through some high cross winds through Nevada, it was a rather sad day.
This convention was amazing and I’m totally planning to head back next year, I’ll probably fly though so I don’t have to worry about driving in the high winds again. If you couldn’t make it this year do everything you can to go next year.
Since this was a first year con I want to talk about the actual location and some of the stuff that they do differently.
Rooms - There were 2 room types available, the major differences are that the more expensive rooms have a refrigerator and a microwave. They also have a wall mounted flat screen TV instead of an old CRT which allows more table space. The bathroom is mostly the same as far as I know except that it has a large shower instead of a tub. I personally liked the refrigerator, microwave, and extra table space so I think the extra $40/night was worth it. Plus, with a refrigerator and microwave you can leftovers from your meals and have them a second time.
Food - I didn’t eat at every restaurant so I’ll only talk about the places I did try.
Cafe Sierra - This is the place I ate the most at 3 times over the weekend, dinner, late night snack, and breakfast. Everything I ate here was really good, the only thing I found odd was that the meatball included with the macaroni and cheese had tomato sauce on it and it was a weird combination.
Johnny Rockets - This is a standard Johnny Rockets, not bad burgers, delicious shakes, and now the originator of the fat dragon agenda when they gave me a free shake.
Port O’ Subs - A simple sandwich shop. I went here for breakfast before opening ceremonies. It was good, but the place stayed rather busy the whole con, expect a wait if you want one of their sandwiches.
McDonalds - You won’t find this one on any of the maps, it’s in the Walmart across the street across the parking lot, it’s your standard McDonalds.
Rim - This is the somewhat more upscale Asian Fusion restaurant at the resort. The food was really good. I ordered some Kung Pao Chicken and, while expecting some spice(Being from Utah I never expect much because everyone here seems to fear it) I wasn’t expecting the level I got which was a good level. It was rather nice to have food that wasn’t afraid to be spicy. They also have an all you can eat sushi offer, but you have to sit at the sushi bar to get it and it only seats about 12. Waits can be well over an hour so if you want to get in for a regular meal make a reservation, if you want the all you can eat, make an early or late lunch of eat to help the wait time.
Convention Space - They’re trying to do something different by having as much of the convention space as open as possible. What this means is that the main stage, dealer’s den, art show, and a lot of hang out space is all in one space. The idea behind it is to get everyone together in the same room socializing and to allow the dealers to experience more of the con than they otherwise would. I think this worked really well and hope they continue the methodology for as long as they can.
Art Show - Normally I don’t think this would be worth bringing up, but this one was different so it needs some mention. First off, I think a lot of artists were scared off because of the style of auction, but now that some of us have experienced it first hand, I think it should be viewed differently. The way it’s done is blind bidding, in other words you can’t see what other people bid. The reason artists should like this is that it encourages people to bid the most they’re willing to pay for an item up front. For instance one of my tails went for $200, the highest bid I received in a voice auction was $150 at FC this year, so this is really good. The system is good for buyers too in that they set their max price and then don’t have to babysit the auction to make sure they win the item. I don’t think I’d want every convention to switch to this model, but some variety is always nice. Maybe they can start offering a choice to the artist in how they want to run it themselves.
Everything else was pretty much your standard furry convention, good friends, new friends, good hugs and an all around good time. This is also the only con that’s really had me staying out until 2-3 in the morning, so there's that.
Thursday - Made the drive to Reno, had dinner, picked up my badge and did general hanging out.
Friday - Woke up, just set up in the art show, and got breakfast before opening ceremonies. After opening ceremonies I went to give my panel and attempt to teach people how not to fail at conventions. I think I did an okay job, but not the best. After my panel I walked around the dealer’s den and chatted for a bit before heading up to get in suit. After being in suit for just a little while and doing some wandering around again and playing some blackjack I was dragged off to the room for...stuff...I then hung out in the room for a bit before going down and playing some penny slots and losing $10 and had food. It wasn’t long before I ended back up in the room for a shower before the party where I did a bit more...stuff...with the person who dragged me off before. After the party some of us went and got food before bed.
Saturday - I played some video poker in the morning while waiting for people to get breakfast with and we got that at Mcdonalds in the nearby Walmart. After that I did some more video poker eventually being out another $10. After that I got my suit one and mostly sat at the blackjack table in the con space for most of the day with a break for the parade. At about 6:30 I went to get out of suit and take a shower before dinner when I got a text that I can grab the stuff that didn’t sell in the art show, so I finished my shower and headed down to do that. Only 6 items didn’t sell, so that was good. Then I went to a formal type dinner with a bunch of furs and it was really good. After dinner I went to change my clothes and ended up sitting in the room in my underwear for a while before putting on some clothes and checking out the dance for a couple minutes. After that I headed back to the room and started getting packed up...which involved getting naked so I could pack the last of the dirty clothes I was wearing that day. Then I hung out for a bit before bed.
Sunday - I got up and did the last of my packing then we packed up the car and checked out. Then we got breakfast while waiting for people to wake up so we could say goodbye to them. After saying some goodbyes we drove off through some high cross winds through Nevada, it was a rather sad day.
This convention was amazing and I’m totally planning to head back next year, I’ll probably fly though so I don’t have to worry about driving in the high winds again. If you couldn’t make it this year do everything you can to go next year.
Since this was a first year con I want to talk about the actual location and some of the stuff that they do differently.
Rooms - There were 2 room types available, the major differences are that the more expensive rooms have a refrigerator and a microwave. They also have a wall mounted flat screen TV instead of an old CRT which allows more table space. The bathroom is mostly the same as far as I know except that it has a large shower instead of a tub. I personally liked the refrigerator, microwave, and extra table space so I think the extra $40/night was worth it. Plus, with a refrigerator and microwave you can leftovers from your meals and have them a second time.
Food - I didn’t eat at every restaurant so I’ll only talk about the places I did try.
Cafe Sierra - This is the place I ate the most at 3 times over the weekend, dinner, late night snack, and breakfast. Everything I ate here was really good, the only thing I found odd was that the meatball included with the macaroni and cheese had tomato sauce on it and it was a weird combination.
Johnny Rockets - This is a standard Johnny Rockets, not bad burgers, delicious shakes, and now the originator of the fat dragon agenda when they gave me a free shake.
Port O’ Subs - A simple sandwich shop. I went here for breakfast before opening ceremonies. It was good, but the place stayed rather busy the whole con, expect a wait if you want one of their sandwiches.
McDonalds - You won’t find this one on any of the maps, it’s in the Walmart across the street across the parking lot, it’s your standard McDonalds.
Rim - This is the somewhat more upscale Asian Fusion restaurant at the resort. The food was really good. I ordered some Kung Pao Chicken and, while expecting some spice(Being from Utah I never expect much because everyone here seems to fear it) I wasn’t expecting the level I got which was a good level. It was rather nice to have food that wasn’t afraid to be spicy. They also have an all you can eat sushi offer, but you have to sit at the sushi bar to get it and it only seats about 12. Waits can be well over an hour so if you want to get in for a regular meal make a reservation, if you want the all you can eat, make an early or late lunch of eat to help the wait time.
Convention Space - They’re trying to do something different by having as much of the convention space as open as possible. What this means is that the main stage, dealer’s den, art show, and a lot of hang out space is all in one space. The idea behind it is to get everyone together in the same room socializing and to allow the dealers to experience more of the con than they otherwise would. I think this worked really well and hope they continue the methodology for as long as they can.
Art Show - Normally I don’t think this would be worth bringing up, but this one was different so it needs some mention. First off, I think a lot of artists were scared off because of the style of auction, but now that some of us have experienced it first hand, I think it should be viewed differently. The way it’s done is blind bidding, in other words you can’t see what other people bid. The reason artists should like this is that it encourages people to bid the most they’re willing to pay for an item up front. For instance one of my tails went for $200, the highest bid I received in a voice auction was $150 at FC this year, so this is really good. The system is good for buyers too in that they set their max price and then don’t have to babysit the auction to make sure they win the item. I don’t think I’d want every convention to switch to this model, but some variety is always nice. Maybe they can start offering a choice to the artist in how they want to run it themselves.
Everything else was pretty much your standard furry convention, good friends, new friends, good hugs and an all around good time. This is also the only con that’s really had me staying out until 2-3 in the morning, so there's that.
IT WAS A BLAST ^.^