Home, footsore, exhausted
Nov. 23rd, 2008 09:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoMore hours fursuiting at once than ever before, more hours spent
standing in hallways and lobbies talking with friends (because this
hotel offers damned few convenient chairs or benches in public areas.)
Cold weather with cold enough winds that I was chilled outside while
wearing a fursuit!
Scored an Argos badge from Jim Groat, will scan and post soon. Also a
cute plush wuffie for my mate, and a very fluffed up fox hand puppet
for myself. Foxfeather's design for the con t-shirt is awesome.
Mixed reports for the hotel. Rooms are nice, no elevator failures
(perhaps because gophers helped to manage the traffic flow this year)
and all the staff with whom I had contact were courteous and helpful.
Parking was a disaster. I don't think they have enough parking space
for one car per guest room, let alone three or four plus day
attendees. Stairwells were open and usable to avoid the elevator
crunch, a room on the fursuit floors (1-5) was available to me when I
arrived on Friday without any delay. Not enough seating in public
areas of the hotel, people sitting on floors all over. Con Suite was
on the 16th floor, reachable only by overloaded elevators or climbing
the stairs all the way? (That's hopeless, folks.) Art show space,
dealer space, and large group presentation space all seemed better
easier to access (but that may be subjective opinion.) Stairwells are
all sheet metal and extremely noisy, with little or no soundproofing.
Our room was right across the hall from one, with herds of elephants
clomping up and down until two or three in the morning.
Restaurant opportunities in the immediate vicinity are disappointing
to say the least. Lots of four and five dollar sign restaurants within
short walking distance. Things more likely to fit the average furry
budget were farther away, requiring long hikes in the cold wind or
giving up a hard won parking space in order to drive a couple of
miles. (This is very, very bad in my opinion.)
A minor glitch that was rather disappointing: The plastic keycards
issued had custom artwork and logo on them for MFF. This was a really
nice touch. Not being able to have the card disabled and returned to
the guest as a souvenir was disappointing, though. They won't be
reusing these, I was told they will be shredded. Having furry art on
the card instead of babes in bikinis (as at the Hyatt) was nice, but
it would have been even nicer to be able to keep the card.
Lots of photos taken of Argos and Steed, should be available before
too long. Very little writing got done, I may have to bail on the NaNo
for this year, but haven't decided yet. As I found in 2005, finishing
a fursuit and working on the NaNo in the same month seem to be
mutually exclusive.
standing in hallways and lobbies talking with friends (because this
hotel offers damned few convenient chairs or benches in public areas.)
Cold weather with cold enough winds that I was chilled outside while
wearing a fursuit!
Scored an Argos badge from Jim Groat, will scan and post soon. Also a
cute plush wuffie for my mate, and a very fluffed up fox hand puppet
for myself. Foxfeather's design for the con t-shirt is awesome.
Mixed reports for the hotel. Rooms are nice, no elevator failures
(perhaps because gophers helped to manage the traffic flow this year)
and all the staff with whom I had contact were courteous and helpful.
Parking was a disaster. I don't think they have enough parking space
for one car per guest room, let alone three or four plus day
attendees. Stairwells were open and usable to avoid the elevator
crunch, a room on the fursuit floors (1-5) was available to me when I
arrived on Friday without any delay. Not enough seating in public
areas of the hotel, people sitting on floors all over. Con Suite was
on the 16th floor, reachable only by overloaded elevators or climbing
the stairs all the way? (That's hopeless, folks.) Art show space,
dealer space, and large group presentation space all seemed better
easier to access (but that may be subjective opinion.) Stairwells are
all sheet metal and extremely noisy, with little or no soundproofing.
Our room was right across the hall from one, with herds of elephants
clomping up and down until two or three in the morning.
Restaurant opportunities in the immediate vicinity are disappointing
to say the least. Lots of four and five dollar sign restaurants within
short walking distance. Things more likely to fit the average furry
budget were farther away, requiring long hikes in the cold wind or
giving up a hard won parking space in order to drive a couple of
miles. (This is very, very bad in my opinion.)
A minor glitch that was rather disappointing: The plastic keycards
issued had custom artwork and logo on them for MFF. This was a really
nice touch. Not being able to have the card disabled and returned to
the guest as a souvenir was disappointing, though. They won't be
reusing these, I was told they will be shredded. Having furry art on
the card instead of babes in bikinis (as at the Hyatt) was nice, but
it would have been even nicer to be able to keep the card.
Lots of photos taken of Argos and Steed, should be available before
too long. Very little writing got done, I may have to bail on the NaNo
for this year, but haven't decided yet. As I found in 2005, finishing
a fursuit and working on the NaNo in the same month seem to be
mutually exclusive.
