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Anthro New England, Post-Con
10 years ago
Okay...I will start by saying that I did not have a good experience. I will then continue by saying that not much of it was the fault of ANE at all.
Bias Disclosure:
The Hyatt Regency Camrbidge encountered a significant problem in that their parking garage had a roof collapse on the 7th level ( out of 8 ) the Friday of the convention. Combined with a business meeting and the day shift workers parking in the garage and nearby, there were no parking spaces avalaible until the afternoon. We arrived at 10am, I dropped off my riders and went to find parking. The valets sent me to two spots that I couldn't park ( I could've, but I would've been towed if I stayed ), and then gave me rather poor directions that got me lost on the opposite side of Boston. It took 90 minutes to park the car (on the wrong side of the river), and another two and a half hours to figure out the situation, hail a cab, and get to the hotel. Then atop that, I had to go back to my car at 4:30 and drive back to the hotel, where I was lucky to find a single spot. The entire adventure cost me 73 dollars (63 of which the hotel graciously refunded me, as I wasn't able to get a receipt for the second cab fare), and took about 5-6 hours of my time on Friday. I will speak frankly...the experience utterly ruined the con for me. I spent the rest of the weekend strung out and burned out from the experience.
I understand that it wasn't possible to predict the event occurring, but the hotel didn't seem to have done anything to have secured reliable alternate parking when I arrived. They sent me to closed lots on the MIT campus, didn't seem to have any clear plan, and honestly (petty as it sounds), the valets gave directions so quickly and shortly that it was as though they were treating people like they knew the city like the back of their hands.
Convention:
The con itself was, at least in my opinion, quite good, but hamstringed by what could only be described as underestimating how successful it would be. 757 attendees, a record, and the con seemed set up to support maybe 2-300. The tabletop room had 3 tables, the game room could support maybe a dozen, the zoo had seating for maybe 60, so many people ended up shunted into the lobby (where we ended up accumulating enough noise complaints Saturday night that we were shunted unto a side hallway. Understandable, but kinda sucky). The fursuit dance competition overfilled and they had to turn spectators away, understandably so given the crowding.
From what I heard, there were panels cancelled, but I didn't hear which ones were cancelled, and what rooms they were in. I'm making a guess that it was some of the ones in the Paul Revere rooms, as there was a second group ( some swim group I think ) that was there Saturday night. Due to the lack of conspace, there was a lot of intermingling between the groups, and not all of it was good. I overheard at least one conversation of a furry trying to dissuade a person from the notion that all furries were pedophiles...it was a long conversation, and I think if we had more private space, that simply wouldn't have happened.
Panels:
I attended one panel: Make me a Fursona. This is hands down the BEST FUCKING PANEL IDEA EVER. I think all conventions should have some variation or spin on this idea, it's great for ice-breaking, as well as for first con-goers and new furries.
The premise is that some attendees sign up to stand up in front of the audience and describe a character idea to a panel of 3 artists. The artists start to sketch badge concepts while the Panel Host asks the furry to talk about themselves, their involvement in the panel, and why they picked that character idea. At the end, the artists present the sketches to the audience and the furry, and the furry picks one artist to make them a badge based off the sketch. Then the next furry gets up and the process repeats.
Many people went up to participate, the process of deciding badges was fun (some people asked the audience to vote, leading to hilarious attempts to make up a voting system). I was the last person on the list, which netted me my very first colored badge. The host, Nester, was awesome, and it was his first panel hosting.
BEST. PANEL. EVER.
Dealer's Den:
Dragon's Lair was there, which was great. Grand variety of vendors and artists, with plenty of space. I never felt like I couldn't move around or navigate an area due to the layout, which is good. Artist's Alley was also nice, and the chairs were left at night to let people hang out there. All in all, no complaints, and many compliments. Got a woodburning pendant from a very nice lady.
Fursuiting/Parade:
Lot of suiters, nice fursuit parade. It was quite short for a parade route, and the convention had the brilliant (not sarcastic) idea of having all the suiters sit down and take the photo from atop a ladder, to ensure everyone could be seen in the photo. I can't wait to see it. Headless lounge was nice, with a door open to the outside and a fan to let the cold in.
Game rooms:
Good hours, good stock. Didn't go in much due to overcrowding.
Misc:
FRIGGIN' ELEVATORS. They had lights on the top and bottom, and the lights would reflect off the other elevators when they passed. I got vertigo and motionsick so many times over the weekend from that, I started having to stare at the door or close my eyes, which didn't help much at all. Two broke down, but they fixed them within 24 hours.
Final Notes:
I would go again, if we had more space, or if we had a different location entirely. I don't want to go back to that hotel, honestly. Hopefully the con is able to adjust for the large crowd, else they will have retention issues in the future. Still, they did fantastic with what they had and what they were able to do, and I hope it stays a success.
Bias Disclosure:
The Hyatt Regency Camrbidge encountered a significant problem in that their parking garage had a roof collapse on the 7th level ( out of 8 ) the Friday of the convention. Combined with a business meeting and the day shift workers parking in the garage and nearby, there were no parking spaces avalaible until the afternoon. We arrived at 10am, I dropped off my riders and went to find parking. The valets sent me to two spots that I couldn't park ( I could've, but I would've been towed if I stayed ), and then gave me rather poor directions that got me lost on the opposite side of Boston. It took 90 minutes to park the car (on the wrong side of the river), and another two and a half hours to figure out the situation, hail a cab, and get to the hotel. Then atop that, I had to go back to my car at 4:30 and drive back to the hotel, where I was lucky to find a single spot. The entire adventure cost me 73 dollars (63 of which the hotel graciously refunded me, as I wasn't able to get a receipt for the second cab fare), and took about 5-6 hours of my time on Friday. I will speak frankly...the experience utterly ruined the con for me. I spent the rest of the weekend strung out and burned out from the experience.
I understand that it wasn't possible to predict the event occurring, but the hotel didn't seem to have done anything to have secured reliable alternate parking when I arrived. They sent me to closed lots on the MIT campus, didn't seem to have any clear plan, and honestly (petty as it sounds), the valets gave directions so quickly and shortly that it was as though they were treating people like they knew the city like the back of their hands.
Convention:
The con itself was, at least in my opinion, quite good, but hamstringed by what could only be described as underestimating how successful it would be. 757 attendees, a record, and the con seemed set up to support maybe 2-300. The tabletop room had 3 tables, the game room could support maybe a dozen, the zoo had seating for maybe 60, so many people ended up shunted into the lobby (where we ended up accumulating enough noise complaints Saturday night that we were shunted unto a side hallway. Understandable, but kinda sucky). The fursuit dance competition overfilled and they had to turn spectators away, understandably so given the crowding.
From what I heard, there were panels cancelled, but I didn't hear which ones were cancelled, and what rooms they were in. I'm making a guess that it was some of the ones in the Paul Revere rooms, as there was a second group ( some swim group I think ) that was there Saturday night. Due to the lack of conspace, there was a lot of intermingling between the groups, and not all of it was good. I overheard at least one conversation of a furry trying to dissuade a person from the notion that all furries were pedophiles...it was a long conversation, and I think if we had more private space, that simply wouldn't have happened.
Panels:
I attended one panel: Make me a Fursona. This is hands down the BEST FUCKING PANEL IDEA EVER. I think all conventions should have some variation or spin on this idea, it's great for ice-breaking, as well as for first con-goers and new furries.
The premise is that some attendees sign up to stand up in front of the audience and describe a character idea to a panel of 3 artists. The artists start to sketch badge concepts while the Panel Host asks the furry to talk about themselves, their involvement in the panel, and why they picked that character idea. At the end, the artists present the sketches to the audience and the furry, and the furry picks one artist to make them a badge based off the sketch. Then the next furry gets up and the process repeats.
Many people went up to participate, the process of deciding badges was fun (some people asked the audience to vote, leading to hilarious attempts to make up a voting system). I was the last person on the list, which netted me my very first colored badge. The host, Nester, was awesome, and it was his first panel hosting.
BEST. PANEL. EVER.
Dealer's Den:
Dragon's Lair was there, which was great. Grand variety of vendors and artists, with plenty of space. I never felt like I couldn't move around or navigate an area due to the layout, which is good. Artist's Alley was also nice, and the chairs were left at night to let people hang out there. All in all, no complaints, and many compliments. Got a woodburning pendant from a very nice lady.
Fursuiting/Parade:
Lot of suiters, nice fursuit parade. It was quite short for a parade route, and the convention had the brilliant (not sarcastic) idea of having all the suiters sit down and take the photo from atop a ladder, to ensure everyone could be seen in the photo. I can't wait to see it. Headless lounge was nice, with a door open to the outside and a fan to let the cold in.
Game rooms:
Good hours, good stock. Didn't go in much due to overcrowding.
Misc:
FRIGGIN' ELEVATORS. They had lights on the top and bottom, and the lights would reflect off the other elevators when they passed. I got vertigo and motionsick so many times over the weekend from that, I started having to stare at the door or close my eyes, which didn't help much at all. Two broke down, but they fixed them within 24 hours.
Final Notes:
I would go again, if we had more space, or if we had a different location entirely. I don't want to go back to that hotel, honestly. Hopefully the con is able to adjust for the large crowd, else they will have retention issues in the future. Still, they did fantastic with what they had and what they were able to do, and I hope it stays a success.
i hope i can attend next year! and glad to hear you had (almost) a Wicked Awesome time!