(P.S. me and a couple of my friends are thinking about maybe buying an artist's table at AnthroCon next month. Do you know how that works? Do they do group rates, or allow multiple people per booth? None of us are furries - the other two have never even heard of furries before, although one of them saw Boomer on TV once - so we are not willing to pay full price.

Also, what's a reasonable sales figure? Do artists wind up losing money at AnthroCon? I've read horror stories about failed 'Cons, but surely the old gray AnthroCon is a blue chip investment, yes?)

pretend you are Mormons trying to convert the attendees, film the results

I've vended at Anthrocon once before, two years ago. Their vendor room was crazy big for a con their size and was removed from almost all of the content, plus they put their guests at the very front of the room. Result: the room was a ghost town most of the weekend and the money from attendees was spread very thin. It felt like a cash grab on the vendors; cons that oversell the vendor room screw over the vendors, and I'm pretty sure our table barely broke even at best.

Anthrocon's Artist Alley is a weird deal where you get your table the day of, possibly by lottery, and a bunch of people abandoned their tables the year we were there. We were selling buttons, plushes, etc. not drawn art.

So yeah, furries have money, but e-commerce means they don't have to dump it at cons as much. Your mileage may vary, and maybe they grew some common sense about the number of vendors they allow in. They have less than 6,000 attendees, so they're a blue chip, but they're by no means a large con, and their vendors/attendee ratio was more than double what you see at most cons.

My own two cents, your mileage may vary, sample size of only one year, but not going back.

Also for reference person who did this vends for a living at a dozen plus events a year, including huge events (Otakon, NYCC), so this isn't a "kid selling crap art blames event" story.

No, the plushes she makes don't have buttholes.

Yeah, shoot, I probably won't do it then. None of us have much business sense, and only one of us has extensive experience with selling art - to newspapers and things, though, not at Cons. He's very good at comic book style drawings, but he's never drawn anthros before, so we'd probably just be setting ourselves up for failure.

I may still go, though, as a non-vendor. I've always wanted to see it for myself!

Goddammit, EvilHomer.

I'd say go and check it out, though I didn't get any crazy stories from it. That being said, vending and general exhaustion when we were there (it was stupid hot) plus our hotel being fairly far from the con meant we didn't do much there after hours besides chill and hang out away from the con. I didn't really bother putting on costumes since it was blazing hot outside and didn't want to melt, so I may have missed out on stories by looking fairly normal.

What amused me was how much the local businesses put on a show for the event, including special meal deals served in commemorative dog bowls. No, I'm not joking. They also crank the AC in there and offer super long straws at the snack bar for fursuiters, which is a nice touch.

On the off chance I spot you, I'll be sure to say hello, EH.

PS i have no idea what you look like

I'll be the guy with a goatee, shaved head, and glasses, who's about twenty pounds overweight and looks really prone to anxiety attacks when in crowds of people.

Even if it was prefab, it was pretty interesting to see the Dog theme they came up with. I've seen a few of those items at thrift stores, at least the glazed Dachshund that's just the shape of the pooch with no features.

The Disney Dalmatians costume, I've seen that at a Fur convention at least once. People thought it was for fun, but the guy might have been a serious fan, I don't know, there are some puppy type Furs who are 101/102 Dalmatians fans.

I don't know what the vending situation is like personally, I never tried to vend at any of these. Seems like any fandom though, but animal specific like Furry accessories, cheap clip-on tails, to items based on memes going on in Furry at the moment, or the latest characters that Furs might like, Rocket Raccoon being one now. There's always insider stuff, like Furry musicians with DVDs and CDs available.

There's an Artist's Alley too, that used to be nice, but I don't hear much about it these days, regular vending seems to be bigger, or the media is just not on the porno within these days.

Homer, your description, you need to look more distinctive or nobody will know you! You could make a Pit Bull costume, that will help, then have an extra large tag that says Homer on it.

Bad Ideas In Action, you got it, Fernando's, renamed Furnando's for the event is across the street from the convention hotel, and they have the Dog dishes. I got one after someone threw theirs away or dropped it outside, a good keepsake.

This year I heard on the radio that the fine dining fish restaurant at the hotel has been replaced with a burger joint, I think it's BRGR, more down with what Furries would like. "Is this some kind of an animal rights group? "We eat meat sir!"

BOMR

>> Homer, your description, you need to look more distinctive or nobody will know you!

I know, that was the joke! I've actually got a Morrissey haircut (a sloppy one, since I do it myself), but otherwise it is accurate.

I've been thinking that if I ever made a fursuit, it would definitely be a pitbull. I don't know what color, though; maybe the same color as one of my old dogs (like brindle tiger striped, or white and black spotted), or perhaps a pitbull colored like Rainbow Dash?

Or maybe a Sonichu costume? Do furries like Sonichu? I know furries like Sonic and some of them like Pokemon.

Hi Homer, yeah I'd think you'd be among the at least dozens of attendees who fit that description.. ;)

I think a Pitbull would be good, I don't see that breed being represented a lot among fuzzies. A Pitbull with Rainbow Dash's colors would make you a Pit Pony or Pit Brony, and would be interesting. I'm all for putting everything you're interested in, into the character. Most of my output is personal like that, windows to the soul.

I don't know what Furries might think of Sonichu, I'm sure many know about him, and some would recognize a Sonichu costume, I'd think.

Boomie

18 made me facepalm, 25 made me go WTF, but 29....man, 29. Faith in humanity restored.