Furpocalypse 2018 (original) (raw)

This post is months late but I thought I'd jot it down for posterity's sake just the same... at least what I remember.

My furry con days seem to be in their sunset period, I didn't attend any in 2017 and almost didn't attend any this year... but I found the thought of skipping them all again depressing so I made the effort to attend one day of Furpocalypse in Connecticut. It's within driving distance of my parent's home so it's a doable day-trip, so long as I plan the weekend for outside NYC.

The saturday morning of the convention began very slowly, I saw very few people milling about or registering for the day... which seemed off because parking was mostly full at the hotel (though in part because apparently the parking garage roof is under repair and this cut off at least two rows of spaces. Was a bit disappointed that when I registered I found that they had run out of con-books (though I found an abandoned one late in the day which I snagged for myself).
Honestly the convention for myself is very low-key these days, don't hang out with too many locals anymore so I spent the first half of the day basically wandering around from the Dealer's Den (which felt a tad light this year) though I did run into beerhorse, the game room, and just around - snapping pictures of fursuits that caught my eye and such.

Of course I ran into panzier which was cool that I had a chance to chat with, been over a year since I had seen him last - maybe a Kidz Expo from a couple years earlier or the last Penguin Plunge event we did?
Shortly thereafter I set myself up in a decent spot for the fursuit parade, while waiting there I was spotted by cubbi , another person I haven't seen in a long time (thinking maybe the Long Island meet back in like 2014?). Lot of stuff going on in his life, as I said been out of the loop with a lot of local people I'd known in the past.
Parade starts, some nice costumes, and very cool to also spot two I recognized: Mustel and Warzy... and when the parade reached its last suitor I follow so I could snap some group shots of everyone. Unfortunately the weather was shit that day (though that helped me find a parking space since the car show was rescheduled for the following day) but the rain kept the parade completely indoors - so instead of the spacious parking lot it instead ended cramped in the zoo area. Not even enough space to get in for a picture, though I did get some heavily cropped shots from an adjacent window.

At that point the convention was essentially over for me, there weren't any folks left to chill with, not really much left to do there, I spotted some panels, stopped by the game room, checked out the movie room (caught the beginning sequence of Labyrinth), and then did one last scan of the dealer's den (bought a flask)... so I decided to head out a little early.

I ended up almost getting to my car when someone else I haven't seen in forever spotted me - athauglas. Another long chat to catch up on details I'd been out of the loop on for awhile, hung out with him for a bit as he tried to help some stranded furs start up their car, then unfortunately we had to part ways - his convention weekend was just starting, mine ending.

Headed out to the nearby Friendly's for dinner (love their sundaes and there are none near my home).

Overall, except for again the saving grace of seeing people I haven't seen in ages, a rather tepid convention. As a note, the hotel has changed hands - I believe it's now part of the Red Roof Inn, I forget the previous owners. But they've still got a bit of work ahead of them, the hotel was seriously going downhill the last time I'd been there, it didn't look nearly as bad this year but I wasn't in any of the rooms so I can't speak for that (I know some have reported splotchy carpets and worse). Frankly I miss some of the previous locations (when it was in its previous FurFright incarnation)... but I guess those days are long gone and I'm assuming the hotel gives the convention a great rate or something to warrant staying there.

We'll see what happens in 2019, at some point I'd like to start attending conventions again that are outside a day-trip driving distance. I'll make an effort to attend this one again next year but likely 2020 is out, my sister is planning her wedding to take place on Halloween of that year... and FP seems to be gravitating towards that holiday weekend these days.

Sorry for any people or details I missed, like I said - I should have made this post back in October rather than at the tail-end of the year. I've been not doing great with getting out of this rut of apathy.