MFF 2017-Post Convention Report

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Trace
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MFF 2017-Post Convention Report

#1

Post by Trace »

This year, I was fortunate enough to be able to go with my boyfriend to Midwest Furfest, held in Rosemont, Illinois, just outside of Chicago.
It turned out to be the largest furry convention ever held, with about 8700 attendees. I don't think that we quite knew what we were getting ourselves into, but I'd say it turned out to be an even better experience than either of us thought it would be.
It's hard to convey what it was like just to walk through the halls of the hotel and convention center and see fursuiters everywhere, or to notice furs walking the streets of Rosemont.
The convention seems to be well-known by the locals, and seems to maintain a very good reputation.
Checking into our hotel, we were asked by the staff if we were excited for it. Our room key cards were customised for the convention, with art done by one of the guests of honor.
We were asked a few times by various locals about the convention. Getting dinner the night before the convention started, our waitress asked us "Are you here for the convention?" When we replied that we were, she said "It's that furry thing, right?"
Another night, we were asked about our characters by a staff person at a restaurant at the mall. I didn't really know what to say, so I just showed her my con badge, which read "Trace". She expressed how much she enjoyed finding out about the characters of everyone from the convention who came through.
As for the convention itself... the staff did an incredible job. Even with difficulties with the registration system and far more attendees than anyone anticipated, it seemed like everyone had a great time. (The extreme length of the registration line became a recurring joke for the rest of the convention.)
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The programming was pretty incredible. There were some wonderful panels, including an incredibly fun take on Whose Line is it Anyway? (Punnily titled Whose Lion is it Anyway?)
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We also went to some incredible panels on writing, hosted by professional writers within the furry fandom, including Kyell Gold and Tempe O'Kun. We were rather surprised that these panels were less attended than some of the larger event panels, with usually only one or two dozen other people attending the panels with us.
At one of the panels Tempe O'Kun was hosting, he actually mentioned the SA fandom. He mentioned that he had been on the South Afrifur Pawdcast, and expressed how much he had enjoyed it. He also expressed mild disappointment that most of the furry fandom outside the US didn't have much variation in species distribution more representative of local animals. He specifically mentioned Erdwolf as a writer, and said he appreciated his choice of fursona.
One thing I was struck by was the sheer amount of creativity on display. Between seeing fursuits everywhere, browsing through the dealers' room and artists' alley and being fortunate enough to have strangers draw in my sketchbook, it was awesome to see so much art and talent centered around the fandom.
It was also incredible to get to get to meet some of our favourite writers and webcomic artists. They were all really cool people, and it was inspiring just to get to interact with them a bit.
I thought it was funny that Tempe O'Kun actually talked me into buying his book while we were browsing one of the bookselling tables.
We were actually fortunate enough to be able to commission badges from Chu, author of the webcomic Slightly Damned. She did an excellent job with them.
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We were also able to attend two of the dances that were held over several nights, even if we didn't stay for very long. Both times, it was like a giant, fuzzy rave.
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But I have to say, one of my favourite things was the general convention atmosphere. It was incredible just walking around, seeing gorgeous fursuits everywhere (including a few characters I recognized, from sticker packs and other sources).
Seeing fursuiters interacting with other suiters and with non-suiters was a real treat. It felt like a little taste of what an anthro world could be like.
So... I guess that's most of what I have to say offhand. I got plenty of pictures, and I will be planning to post quite a few more of them shortly.
All I really have to add at the moment is that I only wish that I had been able to meet up with some of you there. Having more friends present would be about the only thing that could have made the experience better.
"I change shapes just to hide in this place, but I'm still, I'm still an animal" -Miike Snow, 'Animal'
"Where there's life, there's hope."-Terence
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