Finally done with the week-long excursion that AnthroSouthEast became. It was the first time I was able to attend a con's opening year (had the chance with FangCon but financial uncertainty got in the way). I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and kind of figured it'd be similar to the aforementioned FangCon's 2nd and 3rd years...it ended up having much higher attendance, and subsequently much better quality in its vendors. It was actually quite a fun con, and I could tell that they were looking at what other cons were doing right and trying to implement that. More than any other con I've been to, it had an almost family feel, which was neat. Lots of older furs there too, which is a nice change of pace from all the tweens running around FWA....I didn't feel too out of place there.

Originally I had intended to go to FursonaCon this year, but when I requested that week off at work, they made a mistake in scheduling it due to the schedule change we went through after it was made. Much to my dismay, they actually put me down for the wrong week of vacation, but after doing some research it just-so-happened that ASE was having it's first ever convention during that week and that it was within reasonable driving distance in Chattanooga, Tennessee! It was touch and go trying to schedule this however, almost right up until the con; a "local" fur I was going to go with spontaneously quit his job a week after I started setting things into motion and was unable to attend the event with us. I had to source roommates from the ASE Telegram chat, but I was lucky enough to get in with a group of some really great people. We all had a great time, and I even unexpectedly met some SC locals there!

Next year, unless things radically change or life does another switcharoo on me, I plan to attend FWA and FursonaCon...Although I hear the NC furs finally got something going with their Tarpaw meets, and that might be even closer to me than FWA...

I still have lots of conventions to scratch off of my bucket list, but I must say it was an honor that ASE was my "Year 1" achievement. It has plenty of room to grow, and I've no doubt that it will stick around for a long time. If anything should ever happen to FWA, ASE will be the one to watch.