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Recounting RMFC 2016
9 years ago
I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
Last weekend was Rocky Mountain Furry Convention 2016. It's been over for 5 days now, and I'm still trying to sort out my thoughts about it. Maybe writing them down now will help.
FRIDAY:
Seeing as how once again I couldn't afford a hotel room, I drove up early so I could get my badge picked up. Fortunately, I had decided to pre-register this year, so getting my convention badge was fairly quick. Hung around for a while before opening ceremonies. Managed to get a decent seat for that and recorded the event. Wandered around for a bit, but came back for the Guests of Honor panel. I guess that was okay. Had lunch afterwards. In order to cut down on costs, I decided to pack lunches each day, so I could stay in the convention space. Browsed around the Dealer's Den afterwards for a bit. Went to the Housepets! panel at 1 PM, which was fun, but I had to leave partway through. Spent some time in the movie room and caught part of Brother Bear. Ended up going to Fursuit Charades at 3 PM, and recorded part of that. Left partway through again, as I think it may have been around this time when I heard that the convention store was running low on t-shirts, so I went to buy one. I guess I should have just bundled it into my registration this year, but I wasn't sure I would be able to afford it. Well, that took $21 out of my cash budget, as I decided to pick up a convention poster as well. Had a granola bar for a snack around 4 PM and went to the Furrywood Voice panel at 4:30. It was mostly technical, but it did give me some things to think about for my YouTube channel, although I don't think I'll be able to realistically implement any of it, as my budget for my channel is practically nothing. Decided to head home after that, although first I caught a small amount of Zootopia in the movie room before leaving.
SATURDAY:
Arrived a little early once again. Managed to catch some of Balto in the movie room, which I had not seen before, so that was interesting. After that, I went to the Dealer's Den to make my purchases for this year. I picked up some novels the FurPlanet table, which took up the $100 I was willing to put on credit. After that, I purchased a print and a badge commission from DarkNatasha and two prints and a new backpack tag from Michele Light, as my current backpack tag has been through a lot of damage. I also purchased a copy of Ice Queen from Rabbit Valley as well as a copy of Yarf! Volume 3 and a copy of Starlight Gardens from Jarlidium Press. Later I would purchase a copy of Peter and Company from Boneitis, who was running the Katbox table. And this is where it gets weird, because somehow I managed to lose $10. Not in the sense that I dropped it, at least, I don't think I dropped it. What I mean is I keep going over my notes, and my total of cash spent on purchases keeps coming up $10 below what I should have had. Maybe I gave someone a $20 when I meant to give them a $10 and they didn't notice, or I gave them a $20 and didn't pick up my change, or perhaps my records are wrong and I wrote down something as being $10 less than it should have been. I honestly have no idea. It doesn't matter much anyway, but it would have been nice to support an additional artist. At any rate, after that I went to what I thought was the Making Comics 101 panel, but ended up walking into the Conveying Emotion in Writing panel. I stuck around there for about an hour, then left early to get a good spot for the fursuit parade. Unfortunately, the staff decided to cancel the parade, but didn't put any obvious notices in the convention space. Still, they did organize a small parade, so I got set up to record that and had my lunch while waiting. However, maybe they shouldn't have really bothered with what they went with. Plus, my recording didn't turn out well, as partway through, my camera had shut off for no obvious reason. Well, after that ended, I went back to the movie room and ended up catching most of Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is an excellent movie. Next I went to the Kyell Gold Reading, where he read part of an upcoming novel he is working on as well as taking questions. Stuck around after that for Fur Your Entertainment, which was a panel put on by an improv comedy group based in Denver. That was pretty funny, and a good way to wrap up the day.
SUNDAY:
Once again, arrived a little early. Went to the Freedom Dogs and Donuts panel, mostly for the donuts. Hung around there for a while, then left. Went to the Dealer's Den one last time and picked up a copy of Housepets! Book 1 as well as picking up my new badge. Went to the Improv Comedy Workshop panel after that. That was a lot of fun. Sat in on the Free Can Cook panel afterwards. Sadly, I didn't pay that much attention to it this year. Had lunch after that, which required leaving the convention space, as the day before, the hotel put up signs saying that outside food and drink wasn't allowed in the convention space. I was worried that I may have contributed to that ban, as I had accidentally knocked over a bottle of root beer in the game room the day before, but it looks more like the hotel was trying to keep people from buying fast food from nearby restaurants and bringing it into the convention, thus monopolizing on their restaurant and the stand they had set up. After that, I caught a good chunk of a schlock movie called The Food of the Gods, wherein a strange substance causes animals to grow large, and there are rodents of unusual size. After that I was able to catch the first hour of Zootopia, since it was being re-screened. I left that early and went to the Town Hall Meeting to get a good setup for Closing Ceremonies. Managed to record Closing Ceremonies, and I feel I caught that pretty decently. Went home after that.
So that was the convention. How do I feel about it? Well, I don't think it was nearly as good as it has been in prior years. For one thing, the theme felt weak this year. I don't believe there were any panels about B-Movies, neither of the guests of honor were involved with making B-Movies (to my knowledge,) and the only event that really tied into the theme was the screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I couldn't attend. And of course, there was the problems with the hotel. Namely, the hallway in the convention space was not designed for people in big, bulky costumes, resulting in traffic problems. Plus, the distance from one end of the convention space to the other was longer than you think it would be.
On the plus side, I liked how the Dealer's Den was laid out this year. Having more open space is always a good thing, as it means less crowding and less chance of collision. And next year the convention should be returning to the Denver Tech Center Marriott, which should be good.
Okay, I just need to sort through my pictures and videos and see what can be salvaged. I'll see you next time.
FRIDAY:
Seeing as how once again I couldn't afford a hotel room, I drove up early so I could get my badge picked up. Fortunately, I had decided to pre-register this year, so getting my convention badge was fairly quick. Hung around for a while before opening ceremonies. Managed to get a decent seat for that and recorded the event. Wandered around for a bit, but came back for the Guests of Honor panel. I guess that was okay. Had lunch afterwards. In order to cut down on costs, I decided to pack lunches each day, so I could stay in the convention space. Browsed around the Dealer's Den afterwards for a bit. Went to the Housepets! panel at 1 PM, which was fun, but I had to leave partway through. Spent some time in the movie room and caught part of Brother Bear. Ended up going to Fursuit Charades at 3 PM, and recorded part of that. Left partway through again, as I think it may have been around this time when I heard that the convention store was running low on t-shirts, so I went to buy one. I guess I should have just bundled it into my registration this year, but I wasn't sure I would be able to afford it. Well, that took $21 out of my cash budget, as I decided to pick up a convention poster as well. Had a granola bar for a snack around 4 PM and went to the Furrywood Voice panel at 4:30. It was mostly technical, but it did give me some things to think about for my YouTube channel, although I don't think I'll be able to realistically implement any of it, as my budget for my channel is practically nothing. Decided to head home after that, although first I caught a small amount of Zootopia in the movie room before leaving.
SATURDAY:
Arrived a little early once again. Managed to catch some of Balto in the movie room, which I had not seen before, so that was interesting. After that, I went to the Dealer's Den to make my purchases for this year. I picked up some novels the FurPlanet table, which took up the $100 I was willing to put on credit. After that, I purchased a print and a badge commission from DarkNatasha and two prints and a new backpack tag from Michele Light, as my current backpack tag has been through a lot of damage. I also purchased a copy of Ice Queen from Rabbit Valley as well as a copy of Yarf! Volume 3 and a copy of Starlight Gardens from Jarlidium Press. Later I would purchase a copy of Peter and Company from Boneitis, who was running the Katbox table. And this is where it gets weird, because somehow I managed to lose $10. Not in the sense that I dropped it, at least, I don't think I dropped it. What I mean is I keep going over my notes, and my total of cash spent on purchases keeps coming up $10 below what I should have had. Maybe I gave someone a $20 when I meant to give them a $10 and they didn't notice, or I gave them a $20 and didn't pick up my change, or perhaps my records are wrong and I wrote down something as being $10 less than it should have been. I honestly have no idea. It doesn't matter much anyway, but it would have been nice to support an additional artist. At any rate, after that I went to what I thought was the Making Comics 101 panel, but ended up walking into the Conveying Emotion in Writing panel. I stuck around there for about an hour, then left early to get a good spot for the fursuit parade. Unfortunately, the staff decided to cancel the parade, but didn't put any obvious notices in the convention space. Still, they did organize a small parade, so I got set up to record that and had my lunch while waiting. However, maybe they shouldn't have really bothered with what they went with. Plus, my recording didn't turn out well, as partway through, my camera had shut off for no obvious reason. Well, after that ended, I went back to the movie room and ended up catching most of Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is an excellent movie. Next I went to the Kyell Gold Reading, where he read part of an upcoming novel he is working on as well as taking questions. Stuck around after that for Fur Your Entertainment, which was a panel put on by an improv comedy group based in Denver. That was pretty funny, and a good way to wrap up the day.
SUNDAY:
Once again, arrived a little early. Went to the Freedom Dogs and Donuts panel, mostly for the donuts. Hung around there for a while, then left. Went to the Dealer's Den one last time and picked up a copy of Housepets! Book 1 as well as picking up my new badge. Went to the Improv Comedy Workshop panel after that. That was a lot of fun. Sat in on the Free Can Cook panel afterwards. Sadly, I didn't pay that much attention to it this year. Had lunch after that, which required leaving the convention space, as the day before, the hotel put up signs saying that outside food and drink wasn't allowed in the convention space. I was worried that I may have contributed to that ban, as I had accidentally knocked over a bottle of root beer in the game room the day before, but it looks more like the hotel was trying to keep people from buying fast food from nearby restaurants and bringing it into the convention, thus monopolizing on their restaurant and the stand they had set up. After that, I caught a good chunk of a schlock movie called The Food of the Gods, wherein a strange substance causes animals to grow large, and there are rodents of unusual size. After that I was able to catch the first hour of Zootopia, since it was being re-screened. I left that early and went to the Town Hall Meeting to get a good setup for Closing Ceremonies. Managed to record Closing Ceremonies, and I feel I caught that pretty decently. Went home after that.
So that was the convention. How do I feel about it? Well, I don't think it was nearly as good as it has been in prior years. For one thing, the theme felt weak this year. I don't believe there were any panels about B-Movies, neither of the guests of honor were involved with making B-Movies (to my knowledge,) and the only event that really tied into the theme was the screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I couldn't attend. And of course, there was the problems with the hotel. Namely, the hallway in the convention space was not designed for people in big, bulky costumes, resulting in traffic problems. Plus, the distance from one end of the convention space to the other was longer than you think it would be.
On the plus side, I liked how the Dealer's Den was laid out this year. Having more open space is always a good thing, as it means less crowding and less chance of collision. And next year the convention should be returning to the Denver Tech Center Marriott, which should be good.
Okay, I just need to sort through my pictures and videos and see what can be salvaged. I'll see you next time.
