Tag: Midwest Furfest

Really I did not know until recently that Rolling Stone had one of their photographers at MFF 2019 and they treat furries with respect.

LINK

An example

Do I really have to post the quote we all know about that Milo IDIOT calling for MFF and all fur cons to shut down because they won’t give him a platform to shout out his messages of hate? Here it is Dec 12 and nothing major happened at MFF period. So what went wrong or right depending on your perspective.

Milo and his followers did not know that since that gas attack MFF is the safest con in the entire country. 1st of all the Hyatt Regency O’Hare and the nearby convention center have cameras in the 1000s. Really you have to be blind not to miss them, 2nd there is security everywhere. I have been told by a member of the hotel staff that security can reach any place there is trouble at MFF within 90 seconds. I don’t doubt it at all, it is also a well known that undercover law enforcement is everywhere during the con. The region MFF is held is under the protection of the following: TSA, Homeland Security, the FBI, and the Rosemont Police.

I personally witnessed this one man telling a friend that he had to lay low during the convention for some trouble he started and that he and his friend would be tossed from the hotel if he was even seen.

Now for the Fallout

You have to be as dumb as a rock to post your name in a hate group and still expect to keep your job.

Now get a load of this one of the following names, I am unsure which actually worked for Den Fur.

It seems as soon as Den Fur found out one of its own employees called for there destruction. Fallout will happen.

Since all these cons talk to one another they will never be working for a fur con ever again and I would bet my entire paycheck they will NEVER be allowed even near one ever again.

I think working for a fur con would be the greatest job anyone could ever have. Because your only job is to make someone happy. But when your stupid, and I will go on record saying my dog is smarter than them. You do extremely dumb things.

I call this section Fallout as we are about to give it to them. This is something else I heard at MFF and I have been asked not to name my source. But everyone on that list has been banned from every fur con in the entire country, and just try and get a hotel room, even when there is no fur con, they are now on the banned list.

The Banned List was something I only heard about after the Rainfurrest Disaster. When the equally stupid idiots who cause that mess there actually tried to get in the Hyatt Regency after Rainfurrest and during that year’s MFF. The hotel actually threatened to call the cops if they didn’t leave, and those same idiots are now on that Banned List. Why it’s very simple and it all comes down to money. These cons, in fact, any con the nearby hotels make a lot of money and try to destroy a source of income…you aren’t staying there period.

Maybe it’s just me, but I have never seen anyone even talk what it was like being a Sponsor at anyone con let alone MFF. I know the traditional answer is they want to support the con. Would you believe this is not what I found? The several other sponsors I spoke with during MFF generally gave the same answer over and over again. It seems they all hated LINES, especially the one at Registration, which is fully the reason I did it. I sorta figured there would be some sort of line, not what I found. I got there around 10:30AM and actually made the Opening Ceremonies in the Sponsor Line no less. I will admit no first row, but at least I was close enough to see things better than in years past. But in other cases, depending on whether the event was popular or not it made no difference. Getting the Tee Shirt and the Brunch, not to mention that one of a kind pin made my experience this year even more memorable. I will be doing another Sponsor Badge next year, where MFF promised better signage, also better-informed volunteers.

My Swag

Look at the lanyard, it’s already on my work ID.

Close up of the PIN

If you hadn’t noticed this was not the same pin they were selling in the Dealers Area.

Sadly with MFF being over until next year, it time to go over things you might have heard on social media and weren’t sure was true or not. I am going to do my best to answer them as honestly as I can.

First Registration

Even though this photo was taken on Sunday, Registration had more people wondering if that QR System was going to work or not than anything else during the entire convention. Without a doubt it did work, Registration was at least twice as fast as in previous years. The longest wait times I was told were under 4 hours and that was Thursday, shorter than compared to 7 hours of previous years. Even on Saturday when I met up with friends. Last year they waited for more than 2 hours, this year 90 mins exactly. There even was actual times nobody was in line, that actually happened several times during the convention.

Yes, that announcement was made to encourage people to upgrade their badge to shorten their wait times, and yes they did call out your fursona when picking up your badge.

But despite all of this everyone had fun, some even had time to relax.

Yes, we all heard about the threats made by whom I will call something I can’t even say, but nothing major happened. I would thank an increase in overall security not to mention the patrols by uniformed Rosemont Police Officers, as well as undercover law enforcement. It was well known to the staff that agents of several different law enforcement agencies were there, many of whom are furries themselves. I can just verify this, although I can’t get into detail due to the source.

With MFF moving more events and areas to the convention center it actually seemed less crowded than in previous years and this is despite having 11,000 attendees this past year.

Food Options

Hyatt Regency O’Hare POP Up Resturant

Food options this year could not be any better, for years everyone has been complaining about limited options for those on a tight budget. Who actually wants to spend $25 on a meal? The popup pictured above was selling taco dinners for around $10. Plus places like McDonald’s had a well-placed ad showing that they were close as well as other places. Even Rosemont stepped up with their free shuttle bus, I know a lot more furries use it to check out other places, as well as the discount many places were offering.

Then there is…

The Con Suite

I have been told not many cons in general offer such things, but I will do my best to describe it as best I can.

They offer snacks everything from carrots, chips to even fresh fruit as well as..

Soda and all for FREE and you can eat as much as you want. At certain times they even offer sandwiches.

As for the staff…

One even made a point to me that MFF treats its staff very well.

That’s about it except for 2 things. With the dog show happening at the same time accidents will happen. Yes, a few dogs crapped on the floor, there was a rumor that some furry did not, but happily, it wasn’t true.

Every year during the Closing Ceremony they auction a space on the soda machine for charity. This year was no exception, it generally goes for $1,000 what you get for that is your fursona, holding your favorite soda throughout the entire convention. So everyone there will see it.

I just decided on 1 more MFF piece what it is really like for Sponsors, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

UPDATE

I just remembered this morning that I left one thing out. That was my conversation with those at Ringtail Cafe and what it was like being a Dealer at MFF. For the record, Ringtail Cafe is the people behind those Furry Mystery Boxes that you saw everywhere at the con. Turns out they sold 1,000s and the Fox Dad (literally a test run) sold out not in hours but minutes. Here I was imagining they took small trucks to MFF. In the case of the larger dealers, the opposite was true.

Even though I did a couple of panels, a fursuit dance and hit the Artist Alley and Dealers Den a few times I want to focus on what is to me are the 2 most important events of the final day of any MFF.

The Fursuit Games

What can I say they make me laugh, silly events + fursuiters = I always have a great time…and this year they were giving out prizes to those who did the best during some audience games.

Here are the 2 I won

Yes, I know silly prizes for silly games, but I really always have a great time.

Lastly The Closing Ceremony

To me, it’s sad to see MFF 2019 come to an end. I could go into how 9 members of their staff were given awards for the outstanding work they do. Or how Rama, the Head of the 2019 convention who was given a special award by the Board of Directors for his outstanding work.

No most are just interested in numbers. So it seems despite all the rumors there were only 11,000 attendees. Including some last-minute donations, MFF raised $110, 956. Then you add that matching donation, by that anonymous donor they raised $221, 912 an all-time record for any convention for Felines and Canines.

MFF 2020 will take place Dec 3 – 6, 2020 and the theme will be: Intergalactic

I will be wrapping up my coverage tomorrow with little stories that didn’t quite fit in my reports.

I forgot to mention what is not only a surprise and something to look forward to was the following: Coupons. Officially they call them “Tickets” 1 is for a FREE Tee Shirt, which I will show off later and the other was for brunch.

It was in my swag bag and I will fully admit this I missed this at first. Got my Tee shirt, and Brunch OH MY!!!

Look at that an endless sea of FOOD which goes on as far as the eye can see. I could have what I wanted as many times as I wanted. Think of that.

But I instead went for a healthier option…an omelet and a few sides.

They also had a bar, where you could order mixed drinks…but those you had to pay for.

I know this feels like Instagram

I give my highest praise to the chefs at the Hyatt it was absolutely incredible.

Saturday was my day to meet up with friends and hang out as we rarely see one another. I got my commission ordered, which I hope to pick up today, and the Art Show. Which really if you love to see the work of the extremely talented artists is truly a must-see.

Later we went to for us it is a MUST see, The Charity Whose Lion Is It Anyway? featuring Draggor, Alkali, Boozy Badger (who I actually follow on Twitter), Pepper Coyote and Iggy.

But before the show, what can I say fursuiter and balloon.

The show was very very very funny.

…and yes a fursuiter from the audience was asked to be apart of the show. Great fun for all.

I forgot again to mention that some anonymous donor is matching all monies raised for Felines and Canines at MFF, dollar for dollar up to $180,000. We will see by the Closing Ceremony how close we get to that actual number.

We played video games as well as the arcade they had available.

Lastly, they wanted to see Floor Wars and I wanted to see the Furry Variety Show, so we said our goodbyes.

The Host of FVS Robert King AKA Chris Mouse

and one of the acts

The crowd was actually up over last year’s, but everyone did have a good time. One of the performers actually took home a Sponsor Badge for next year.

I did manage to see Floor Wars myself, as FVS ended surprisingly early. The dancers were great but by the time it was over. I forced myself to go home for some much-needed rest.

More tomorrow…