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In light of recent events.
10 years ago
It looks like it's time for one of my rants.. And I may get flamed. We all have our opinions, this is mine. A lot of it is common sense and courtesy.
To some degree, I feel we need to police ourselves. If we see something going on at a convention that goes against the Code of Conduct or reflects badly on the convention, we should be reporting it to con staff. From there it is up to them to decide what should be done. If you get your badge pulled, don't berate them because you were a dumbass and broke the rules.
Respect and thank the convention staff. They give up a lot of their own personal time for months to pull off a successful 3 day weekend for you to enjoy. And they don't get paid for this either! All they want is for you to have a good time, follow the rules and to have pulled off a successful convention.
If the con organizers have to find a new hotel to host the next years con, thanks to a few morons trashing the hotel, the amount of work they have to do just doubled. They may even say "screw it" and drop the con all together. So dumbass, now where are you gonna go to get drunk and trash someone else's place?
A convention is not an excuse to duplicate what you see in the movie "Animal House". Do you really have to get sloppy drunk? Go to the far end of the parking lot to smoke your blunt, not the smoking area. The person standing next to you could be security on break without their badge on. Bye Felicia!
Exercise some decorum in public. Please keep your fetish stuff to your room. I recently saw some leather and vinyl fetish gear out in public at a convention, and we've all heard about the diapers at RainFurrest. Sorry, this is a fur convention, not a fetish convention. If that's what you're into, go to a fetish con. Same with your racist opinion gear. I have yet to meet a furry who is racist.
The hotel and it's staff should be respected. Be polite to them, thank them when they help you, say please when you ask for extra towels. You are a guest in their facility. Would you want someone trashing your house? These people work hard every day to provide you with a clean room where you can rest comfortably. Lets not make their barely-more-than-minimum-wage job harder than it all ready is.
Do leave the housekeeper a decent tip when you leave, they appreciate it. Believe me, all that shedded fur on the carpet is not easy to vacuum up!
Bring trash bags for the 5 cases of beer cans you emptied, and the 18 delivery pizza boxes. Honestly, you should know by now they all won't all fit in the little trash cans in the room. Even if there are two of them!
Respect other convention attendees and patrons of the hotel. Especially when it comes to the elevators. I've watched fullsuits get pushed out of the way so some drunk idiot can get back to his room for another beer.
Don't push every floor button inside, or the top floor button when you're only going up 1 floor. It just makes the wait longer for everyone else. Maybe that's why you had to wait so long for the elevator in the first place.
Now I'm not saying not to have fun. I certainly have fun at conventions. I'm sober, although I may have a drink or two. I fursuit a lot, hang out with friends, and hopefully even eat something decent with said friends. So far I always have good memories when I leave, and look forward to returning the next year.
To some degree, I feel we need to police ourselves. If we see something going on at a convention that goes against the Code of Conduct or reflects badly on the convention, we should be reporting it to con staff. From there it is up to them to decide what should be done. If you get your badge pulled, don't berate them because you were a dumbass and broke the rules.
Respect and thank the convention staff. They give up a lot of their own personal time for months to pull off a successful 3 day weekend for you to enjoy. And they don't get paid for this either! All they want is for you to have a good time, follow the rules and to have pulled off a successful convention.
If the con organizers have to find a new hotel to host the next years con, thanks to a few morons trashing the hotel, the amount of work they have to do just doubled. They may even say "screw it" and drop the con all together. So dumbass, now where are you gonna go to get drunk and trash someone else's place?
A convention is not an excuse to duplicate what you see in the movie "Animal House". Do you really have to get sloppy drunk? Go to the far end of the parking lot to smoke your blunt, not the smoking area. The person standing next to you could be security on break without their badge on. Bye Felicia!
Exercise some decorum in public. Please keep your fetish stuff to your room. I recently saw some leather and vinyl fetish gear out in public at a convention, and we've all heard about the diapers at RainFurrest. Sorry, this is a fur convention, not a fetish convention. If that's what you're into, go to a fetish con. Same with your racist opinion gear. I have yet to meet a furry who is racist.
The hotel and it's staff should be respected. Be polite to them, thank them when they help you, say please when you ask for extra towels. You are a guest in their facility. Would you want someone trashing your house? These people work hard every day to provide you with a clean room where you can rest comfortably. Lets not make their barely-more-than-minimum-wage job harder than it all ready is.
Do leave the housekeeper a decent tip when you leave, they appreciate it. Believe me, all that shedded fur on the carpet is not easy to vacuum up!
Bring trash bags for the 5 cases of beer cans you emptied, and the 18 delivery pizza boxes. Honestly, you should know by now they all won't all fit in the little trash cans in the room. Even if there are two of them!
Respect other convention attendees and patrons of the hotel. Especially when it comes to the elevators. I've watched fullsuits get pushed out of the way so some drunk idiot can get back to his room for another beer.
Don't push every floor button inside, or the top floor button when you're only going up 1 floor. It just makes the wait longer for everyone else. Maybe that's why you had to wait so long for the elevator in the first place.
Now I'm not saying not to have fun. I certainly have fun at conventions. I'm sober, although I may have a drink or two. I fursuit a lot, hang out with friends, and hopefully even eat something decent with said friends. So far I always have good memories when I leave, and look forward to returning the next year.
makes me feel kind of sad :(
Everyone is busy, me included. I have a partial to complete by Fangcon, and two sets of had and feet paws by Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then two body suits by FWA - at least they don't have complicated markings..
It's a patience game waiting for the suit maker you want to open for commissions.
This happened at FangCon last year WHILE MINORS WHERE IN THE MAIN CON SPACE. No one seemed to care.
But no...
Also, just because its a con, doesn't mean you should go wild and have wild parties and leave the rooms trashed. If you're gonna have a party in your room, be mindful of the other guests staying there, that aren't part of the convention. They don't want to hear a bunch of loud growling and howling in the middle of the night. They want what normal people want, and that's SLEEP. I feel bad for people staying at a hotel for normal reasons, and having to deal with a convention. First, they're confused, and maybe a bit surprised, and then there are some that are just "ah fuck no" about it. lol.
That's why I don't like the idea of conventions being in hotels. If they can get it at a convention center, that's great. Even better. but having conventions in hotels is hard on everyone if you ask me.
The interesting thing to note, at small conventions, generally the public is very receptive to furries..
I stay at the hotel next door for FWA, which is connected by a skybridge to the convention hotel.
I do agree that having "after dark" forums and panels does give a message of "this is ok". Maybe there should be a disclaimer at the beginning of those panels..
Everything shall be PG-13 rated. Fetish gear is not specifically mentioned, but clothing and behavior is.
The issue is not necessarily what we feel is right, but how we are perceived by others, including the hotel management with whom we would like to return to next year for a con venue.
I was thinking along the lines of how fetish stuff should go along with its own con somewhere far from minors. I had that thought at the last con. Sure you can probably do 18+ stuff after dark but place rules that the doors should be shut at all times during the panel and how it will not be tolerated if you wear the fetish items outside of your room or the panel.
Having someone run around in puppy/bondage/diapers/underwear while you are trying to explain to a non con goer what is going on at the hotel is not something I personally want to go through again. I personally will never use my suits in some manners and I would rather some non furry think that I dont do that kind of stuff. Yet all furries get a bad rep from the few that do.
I even cringed when that "murrsuit" was for sale on Furbuy. Yuck.
As far as con goes. Remember your manners. Just because you relate to a farm animal does not mean you yourself was born in a barn. Clean up after yourselves. TAKE SHOWERS AND DO LAUNDRY. Also be nice to the hotel and staff. Take care or your room and the hotel like it was your own home. It is your home for the weekend when you think about it.
Also maybe figure a system for security to evict mutiple offenders. Like some way to know that this person had a warning already. And depending on the offense either give a warning and document it or immediately get rid of the problem.
At FWA even some of the stuff that was within the CoC took me a bit to get used to.
I sure hope Rainfurest can find a new venue. They were the first con I heard about and wanted to go to when I was first getting into the fandom.
General Rating of the Convention:
"Attendees, when in public areas, may not wear clothing which is overly revealing or inappropriate to the atmosphere of the convention"
Miscellaneous notes:
"the singular rule that supersedes all others is, 'Any action or behavior that causes significant interference with convention operations, excessive discomfort to other attendees, or adversely affects Fur the ‘More’s relationship with its guests, its venue or the public is strictly forbidden'"
A con's CoC is only as good as the enforcement, kind of like speed limits. I really think that cons may need to start adding a section on the interpretation of the official CoC, such as "final interpretation of the CoC is at the sole discretion of the convention chairmen/board of directors/governing body of the convention." Unfortunately I think this is needed to fight against the "rule lawyers" that are out there.
I have seen a paragraph, usually at the end of some CoC stating something along the lines of the Convention Organizers have final say in what is acceptable.
Yes, I actually do read these things.
It's a contract, and there could be a hidden line somewhere saying that you have now signed over the deed to your house..
He's developed a good image of Anthrocon with Pittsburgh, its residents, the convention center and the hotels. To have to relocate the con elsewhere would be a horribly daunting task.
The last night there was a guy ranting on the elevator about security because he had his badge pulled when got caught smoking weed outside the Westin. What he didn't realize is 3 of the people riding in the elevator with us were con security..
As far as hotel rooms go, I try to leave them ready to be easily cleaned. Trash is all together and bagged as best we can, used towels are in the bathroom laid open to help prevent mildew, beds are turned down ready to be stripped and any extra hairballs from a certain someone are picked up...especially if he's in a "blow". (I always feel especially sorry for the hotel crew then)
As someone else stated above, the con staff are also subject to the CoC, and even if they have an interest in a fetish, need to enforce the rules.
And good for you!!
I know that extra effort you put forth has to be appreciated by the hotel staff!!
I was always taught to treat other people's stuff as good/better than my own.
The timing just seemed appropriate.
My intent is to make people think, and be aware of the effect their actions have on others..