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FurFest: No, I Didn't Get In
9 years ago
General
I stayed at an overflow hotel last year for Midwest FurFest.
I'm an asthmatic, over-weight, and a year-and-a-half from turning 50.
Last year was really difficult for me. I barely was able to attend to the convention. Walking hurt. My lungs hurt. I swore that, in the future, I would only attend if I could get into the main hotel.
Yes, I'm not in a wheelchair, yet, but I still have trouble making it to the main hotel even when only a block or two away.
I sincerely wish they would have a sub-block of rooms set-up to accommodate people with physical hardships. Heck, giving Sponsors and SuperSponsors and volunteers who put in 20+ hours of work an early room shot would be benficial.
I know it would be very difficult and present its own problems but such a system would at least make me feel a bit better about the convention which I've supported with my presence and money every year since before it existed ... back when it was just the furry track of programming at DucKon.
I've worked on many conventions, being on the con-comm of 6 of them. As I've grown older, I've begun to realize that accommodation should be made for the people who help make the convention what it is. For example, folk who come every year for an extended number of years, help add to the environment and "feel" of the convention. Not all of them, sure, but quite a few. Those who volunteer, who run games or events, fit into this category as well. People who directly donate money as a Sponsor or Super-Sponsor definitely help.
These people, I think, should deserve early access to room allocation.
Additionally, those who have mobility issues, need to be accommodated in the room block. It can be difficult to police, difficult to verify, but the alternative is being told "main hotel is full; it's only a one- or two-block walk from an overflow hotel". Honestly, that's not possible for me. I'm trying as hard as I can to lose weight and fix myself but that's not always possible.
The best conventions, if they know their programming is all in the same hotel or place, will reserve a certain percentage of their room block for those with mobility issues. Then, in the sign-up forms, they ask if mobility issues are needed. The percentage of the room block to be set aside reflects what demand there is from the attendees and an assessment based upon what previous years have revealed.
Earlier today, I was pretty angry. I'm not any more. I feel badly that I couldn't get in to the main hotel. I know, from last year's experience, that the overflow hotels are too far of a walk for me. Shuttle services might help as long as they are fairly frequent, say every 15 minutes to every 20 minutes from 8 am to Midnight (with half hour increments at other times).
I present this journal entry to both say "I'm sorry for those who had to bear witness to my rants on Twitter, earlier" as well as to propose something better than the system that is currently in place.
Yours,
Sylvan Scott
I'm an asthmatic, over-weight, and a year-and-a-half from turning 50.
Last year was really difficult for me. I barely was able to attend to the convention. Walking hurt. My lungs hurt. I swore that, in the future, I would only attend if I could get into the main hotel.
Yes, I'm not in a wheelchair, yet, but I still have trouble making it to the main hotel even when only a block or two away.
I sincerely wish they would have a sub-block of rooms set-up to accommodate people with physical hardships. Heck, giving Sponsors and SuperSponsors and volunteers who put in 20+ hours of work an early room shot would be benficial.
I know it would be very difficult and present its own problems but such a system would at least make me feel a bit better about the convention which I've supported with my presence and money every year since before it existed ... back when it was just the furry track of programming at DucKon.
I've worked on many conventions, being on the con-comm of 6 of them. As I've grown older, I've begun to realize that accommodation should be made for the people who help make the convention what it is. For example, folk who come every year for an extended number of years, help add to the environment and "feel" of the convention. Not all of them, sure, but quite a few. Those who volunteer, who run games or events, fit into this category as well. People who directly donate money as a Sponsor or Super-Sponsor definitely help.
These people, I think, should deserve early access to room allocation.
Additionally, those who have mobility issues, need to be accommodated in the room block. It can be difficult to police, difficult to verify, but the alternative is being told "main hotel is full; it's only a one- or two-block walk from an overflow hotel". Honestly, that's not possible for me. I'm trying as hard as I can to lose weight and fix myself but that's not always possible.
The best conventions, if they know their programming is all in the same hotel or place, will reserve a certain percentage of their room block for those with mobility issues. Then, in the sign-up forms, they ask if mobility issues are needed. The percentage of the room block to be set aside reflects what demand there is from the attendees and an assessment based upon what previous years have revealed.
Earlier today, I was pretty angry. I'm not any more. I feel badly that I couldn't get in to the main hotel. I know, from last year's experience, that the overflow hotels are too far of a walk for me. Shuttle services might help as long as they are fairly frequent, say every 15 minutes to every 20 minutes from 8 am to Midnight (with half hour increments at other times).
I present this journal entry to both say "I'm sorry for those who had to bear witness to my rants on Twitter, earlier" as well as to propose something better than the system that is currently in place.
Yours,
Sylvan Scott
i know it gets harder each year.
Have you tried primatene with epinephrine? it really helps open things up, or another inhaled steroid perhaps, did wonders for my mate.
As for AnthroCon, I used to go but it is often the same weekend as the local convention, CONvergence, which I worked at for 16 years. Some years I would go to both: from one major con to another. I stopped doing that because I couldn't keep doing both.
However, lately, I understand that AC has gone over to a convention center rather than a hotel model. In this case, the amount of walking that I need to do is much, much more. It is unlikely that I'll go to a convention center con, these days. I used to drive to Gen*Con every year but that, too, is beyond me ever since it moved from Milwaukee to Indianapolis.
Does that make sense; does that describe the issues a bit more clearly?
Yours,
Sylvan