I have confirmed the very sad news that Anthrocon staff member Wade "Darkwolfie" Dooley passed away peacefully this morning after a long hospitalization following a diagnosis of H1N1 influenza. I spoke with his wife, who asked me to pass along a very brief message: "Just let the Fandom know that he loved them."

Last night in Sigourney Weaver's interview with Jon Stewart she said, "You offer me ears and a tail, and I'll go anywhere for you."

Of course she was referring to the upcoming Avatar movie but sounds like the offer should be extended for a future convention!

Hi all! I'm hoping one of the staff can help me, as it's been a week since I sent an e-mail to the dealers e-mail address and have yet to receive a reply. I understand it might be busy, but a week is kinda yea XD; I might try sending another e-mail, too.

Last year I was in the dealers den (Korth, Table F07) and I had paid for power, but never got it at my table due to an error during set-up. I simply borrowed my neighbor's laminator since they made it seem like a bit of a difficulty to fix it for me.

Is there any way I could be credited for power this year since I paid for power last year, but never got it? I would really appreciate an answer ASAP either here or to my e-mail (Korthie AT gmail.com) as I want to mail out my app on the 7th and need to have this figured out.

Thanks!

Good News, Everyone!

The FIFA Committee has had an official drawing of the 32 Nations that will be contending at the FIFA World Cup. We now have a set schedule of the Group Matches! However, I am sad to report only TWO Matches per day will be shown at the FanZone for timing purposes.

Below you will find a Complete AnthroCon Scheduling of the games and Nations that will be shown and the countries in the World Cup running.







See your favorite in the running? :3

ALSO!! SURPRISE #2!! My restaurant, Yaching's East-West Cuisine, is sponsoring a FIFA World Cup Tournament on the XBox 360! A tournament where you can win...You guessed it...An XBox 360!! :D

No joke!! Win an Xbox 360!! You versus 32 other contenders!! More details to come...

I must take the time to thank you all for your support to make this a memorable event at AnthroCon and show everyone that we furries are also in love with the World's Most Beautiful Game! All are welcome to come, take part, cheer, sing, dance and have fun. :3

KINAKO! IT IS TIME! More to come!

Hello friends and fellow game hosts!

This quick entry is to get folks willing to host games at Anthrocon 2010 thinking about what they'd like to host as part of the Table Top Gaming track. We made a great start to rebuilding this track in 2009 and all the games were well received; I want to see that trend continue.

I'm looking to fill next year's schedule with table-top Role Playing Games, Collectible Card Games, Non-casino Card Games, Board Games, Game Demonstrations, Miniatures Games, Live Action Role Play and Group/Party Games (Human Chess, Lupus in Tabula, Twister).

If you already know you want to run games at next year's AC, feel free to e-mail me at foxesden AT hotmail.com I'll be beating the bushes in earnest starting in January.

Thank you for your time!

Swift Fox
Table-Top Gaming Track
Anthrocon 2010
foxesden AT hotmail.com

*dodges the stampede*

(Anthrocon Dealer Information Page)

Dr. Kathy Gerbasi, the Niagara County Community College (NY) social psychologist who has been conducting research about furry fandom, has been interviewed on an Irish radio station.
http://drg-kcgerbasi.livejournal.com/10761.html
http://drg-kcgerbasi.livejournal.com/11081.html

The interview is available online until next week, on
http://media.newstalk.ie/listenback/

Scroll down to "Moncrieff" and click on his picture. On the next menu, find the Friday November 20 line and click on Part 1 to start playing.

The player has a creative way to scroll to a particular point in the clip -- find the pause button on the lower left, and note the ring around it. Click on the ring (try at about the 10 o'clock position) to skip ahead and look at the digital readout next to the button to see where you are. The interview begins at about 49:00, but unfortunately the end gets cut off.

Last year I noticed there was a panel (I only caught the last half because I thought it was at 2 and it was really at 1, oops!) about a vote for the top cartoon characters, and it featured a gentleman from the Toonseum in Pittsbugh.

I didn't have a chance to visit it, but it was part of the Children's Museum on the North Side of town...and I made a mental note to visit it next year. Guess what: it's moved...
and is right next to the Con. Jerry Beck's cartoon brew blog says the Toonseum just had its grand opening at 945 Liberty Ave.

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/events/toonseum.html

Jerry writes:
>>A new museum of animation, cartoon and comic art has opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It’s called ToonSeum and it just had its grand opening last weekend. Reportedly its not a huge space, but is nicely done. Their first exhibit focuses on animation art: “Enchanted Drawings: A Century of Animation.” The exhibit will feature original art from Gertie the Dinosaur to Spongebob and more. On display will be rare artifacts, including an original Disney animation director’s desk from the early Hyperion studio.

>>It’s quite an achievement to establish a cartoon museum in such a sports oriented city — I wish it luck. The ToonSeum is located on the first floor of the Bruno Building at 945 Liberty Avenue. The Enchanted Drawings exhibit runs through Jan. 3, 2010.

---
How close is it? How about a tenth of a mile? From the convention center, walk
down 10th street and turn left onto Liberty Ave. Near FURnando's and the late lamented Steel City Diner

Video mentioning the move...which has now happened.
http://www.post-gazette.com/multimedia/?videoid=102215

The Anthrocon Board will soon be deciding on the Charity to support for 2010. If you know of a charitable organization that you would like to recommend be added to the current candidate list, please suggest it here or on the Anthrocon website forums by December 31st.

Criteria for candidacy:
- Must be animal-related (exceptions possible)
- Must be 501(c)3
- Must be within approximately 60 miles of the Pittsburgh, PA metropolitan area
- Must be incorporated in Pennsylvania (can't be in Ohio or West Virginia)

Hey there DJs! Are you interested in some Stage Time at the Anthrocon 2010 dances? Prepare your audition mixes! Every year, Anthrocon provides many hours of dances, showcasing the talents of some of the best DJs the Furry Fandom has to offer. If you're interested in being a part of this magic, send us your audition mix (details below). All auditions must be received by January 1st! Selection will begin in January.

In order to DJ at Anthrocon, you must submit an audition mix. The best format is MP3, but almost anything will do. If you're not sure if your media is acceptable, e-mail the address below to find out. Most likely we'll be able to work with it.

Please be sure your mix is at least 30 minutes, and at most 90 minutes. When considering DJs, the following items play a part in selection.

- Live mixing skill
- Phrase and beatmatching
- The use of mixing hardware
- Song selection
- Genre (Don't assume we won't play what you mix, take a chance! If it kicks ass I might book you even if we've never had that genre before)
- Attitude
- Experience

Please understand, no single one of these things will determine who gets to DJ and who doesn't. The selection process is a balancing act.

Send all questions and comments to: smblion at anthrocon dot org

A reminder, if you have DJed Anthrocon in recent years an audition mix is not needed, but you MUST e-mail me to notify me of your interest to return in 2010. If you do not e-mail me you will not be booked.

Don't know if you guys have noticed, but Pre-Registration is open! Go!

I already have.

I was in fursuit at "les utopiales" in Nantes, France this week end.
http://www.utopiales.org/2009/
As we were hanging around with one of my friend in her scrat's cosplay, and me in my blue vixen fursuit I had at AC this last summer
http://www.presseocean.fr/actu/galeriephoto_detailsGalerie_-Le-cosplay-des-Utopiales-2009_3252-111404_GaleriePhoto.Htm#pubTop
I've heard someone beside me saying the word furry, which is something we don't hear often here, and it was James Gurney waving at us from his table as he was signing some books. I've waved back but had to fly away as Scrat was escaping and we had to watch over him with some friends (you know how Scrat can put himself in danger for just a little nut).
I wish I could have had the time to take at least one picture with him, as I don't know if I will be able to come back next year to AC.
He was a real great guest of honor here and it was nice seeing him and his wonderful artwork, and as he seems happy when seeing only two fursuits around, he should really enjoy being at AC ^_^

...is The World's Most Beautiful Game.



We need support to show that the World Cup is welcome at AnthroCon. You support and frevor greatly appreciated! :D

Ngiyanemukela Abantu Bonke! Welcome Everyone!

The winners of the Anthrocon 2009 Highlights Video Contest have been decided!

Our esteemed guests, Bob Balistreri, Bob Boyle, and Joe Harris were kind enough to watch all the videos and render their decisions regarding whose highlight videos posted to YouTube kicked the most tail.

We were all very impressed with the quality of videos everyone submitted... thank you all for participating!

As promised, the creators of the top three ranked videos will will receive:

• a 2010 Anthrocon Super-Sponsor membership (Grand prize),
• a 2010 Anthrocon Sponsor membership (First Runner-up),
• or a 2010 Anthrocon Attending membership (Second Runner-up).

<drumroll>

Special Mention

Coyoty/CoyotyDave, "Anthrocon 2009 - Attack of the Painters"

Blitz Wolf/BlitzWolf96, "AnthroCon 2009 - OMG Aliens!"

Xerxes Qados/Plankhead, "An Anthrocon 2009 Retrospective"

Second Runner-up - 2010 Anthrocon Attending membership

Big Blue Fox/FelixGubbo, "Anthrocon 2009 - The Highlights"

First Runner-up - 2010 Anthrocon Sponsor membership

Oreo/OreoTheWolf, "Anthrocon 2009 - Invaders Must Die"

Grand Prize - 2010 Anthrocon Super-Sponsor membership

CraftyAndy/RottenEggCreations, "Anthrocon 2009: OMG Aliens Highlights Reel"

Congratulations, all!

Thank you all for your hard work, and see you next year!

Hey there DJs! Are you interested in some Stage Time at the Anthrocon 2010 dances? Prepare your audition mixes! Every year, Anthrocon provides many hours of dances, showcasing the talents of some of the best DJs the Furry Fandom has to offer. If you're interested in being a part of this magic, send us your audition mix (details below). All auditions must be received by December January 1st! Selection will begin in January.

In order to DJ at Anthrocon, you must submit an audition mix. The best format is MP3, but almost anything will do. If you're not sure if your media is acceptable, e-mail the address below to find out. Most likely we'll be able to work with it.

Please be sure your mix is at least 30 minutes, and at most 90 minutes. When considering DJs, the following items play a part in selection.

- Live mixing skill
- Phrase and beatmatching
- The use of mixing hardware
- Song selection
- Genre (Don't assume we won't play what you mix, take a chance! If it kicks ass I might book you even if we've never had that genre before)
- Attitude
- Experience

Please understand, no single one of these things will determine who gets to DJ and who doesn't. The selection process is a balancing act.

Send all questions and comments to: smblion at anthrocon dot org

i need to find this artist: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/astralabortion/ other than his FA because he hasn't been on in FOREVER...syber n i commissioned him at the same time at the artist's alley (i believe) this year (09) n we havent heard anything since. i NEED to get ahold of him. i havent received any updates on my badge commish n syber isnt even on his list ;_; if you can point me to a way to contact him, that would be hella appreciated! <3

<3 Clementine

Since I often see artists and customers seeking each other out, I would like to make a suggestion to the artists who take commissions/custom orders. Because I admittedly have a bad memory, I made myself up a handy Excel spreadsheet form that I use each time I take a custom order. The information I take on my form is behind the cut, but you could alter it any way you see fit, to include things like badge name, real name, etc. I find that if I fill out the form each time, I don't forget to ask for important details or info. Plus it insures that I have all the contact info for a customer. I also keep a notebook with the custom order numbers to keep track of what has been done and what still needs work, payment, etc.

Greetings everyone.

Since 2007 I've been organizing the Figure Drawing sessions at Midwest Furfest. Each year I've had a number of wonderful folks help volunteer as models and speakers, and over all it's been well received. This year they will be held on November 20th from 2 - 4PM CST (General Audience) and 9 - 11PM CST (Adult Audience).

For those unfamiliar with figure drawing classes, it allows you to draw from a live subject model and develope your anatomy skills. Since there are an array of artists that attend MFF, I wanted to help provide this and introduce those who haven't either had the opportunity to go or haven't attended one before.

The sessions are broken up into three areas:
*General Audience (drawing from clothed models and drawing from fursuit models) - Two one hour sessions held in the afternoon.
*Adult Audience (drawing from nude models) - Two hour session held in the evening.

Regarding the nude session. We generally have security present to make sure those attending are either part of the session or coming to draw. Those attending may not come to just stare, and cameras and phones may not be allowed out (either left elsewhere or stowed).

For those planning on attending Anthrocon next year, if you would be interested in these taking place please let me know. I would be happy to organize them.

-Erika

The G20 Summit, which President Obama attended, was held at the David L Lawrence Convention Center, the same place as Anthrocon.

Our beloved Kagemushi is the President of Anthrocon.

I think it would be cool if Kage requested the same chair that Obama sat in for the opening and closing ceremonies

I have been mulling over this for a while now and I have decided I'm going to do a Dealers Table at Anthrocon 2010.
Now I need to ask some questions and leave things here for myself.
Do you REALLY have to stay at your table all day everyday?
I would really like to make it to panels this year since I have missed them every year due to Artist Alley complications and such and I would like to be with friends some days. I am shooting to have someone share a table with me, would I have to have them watch my table for me because I really don't want to seem like I'm taking advantage of them just to go to a panel or hang with friends for a little.

Also, when do you have to pay for taxes and how do you figure them out [someone who sold please explain.]

So here is one thing I would like to ask, Is there anyone who would like to share a table with me? It would be where there is power, It would be a Double Table so there will be VERY spacious room to work. I am super friendly and will do just about anything to make sure you are comfortable sitting with me. [I usually bring small munchies with me which you are more than welcome to help yourself to ^^]

Thanks Everyone!