Anthrocon 2003, held last weekend in Philadelphia, was a wonderful event.
Some of you may recall that earlier this week I posted that it earned
over $8,000 for Support Our Shelters.  Every cent of that money will go
directly to helping homeless shelters in ferrets ... and it will be a
LOT of help!
 
In addition, it was a lot of fun!  It's so hard to describe an event like
that, not to mention its generous members and attendees, but I'll try:
 
The first I heard about Anthrocon was when Judith White (another SOS
founder) contacted me to say that a "science fiction convention" of sorts
would like to feature SOS at its annual convention in Philadelphia.  She
wanted to know if I could participate, and she said the convention would
make us their designated charity.  I agreed... after all, Philly is close
to me, and I used to watch Star Trek as a kid ....
 
A couple of months later, I got my first taste of the convention when
Judith showed me the convention books from previous years.  Wow!  No
Star Trek in sight, but the book was full of great drawings of animals
in human form.  (The conference is actually about anthromorphized
animals ..)  Picture VERY sexy foxes in tight loincloths, and bears in
thong bikinis, and you kind of get the idea ...
 
The other thing that intrigued me about the book was that it had several
pages listing the "weapons policy" for Anthrocon.  "Um", I said to
Judith, "That weapons policy is just a joke, right?" Nope, she assured
me ..  it seemed to be real.  Wow ..  this must be SOME convention ...
 
So, I was really intrigued by the time the convention rolled around!
I had to miss the first day because of work, but Judith and some
Metroferret members were kind enough to volunteer.  Judith told me at
the end of the day that it was a lot of fun, but WILD.  She said to
picture costumed foxes and bears wandering aroudn the room ..  and huge,
furry paws dropping money into our donation jar ... and erotic animal
art.  WOW!
 
I could tell it was going to be a fun day when I walked into the
convention hall (aka, the Adams Mark Hotel) on the second day of the
convention, and a 6 foot tall fox in a bikini held the door for me.
The corridor outside the hall was full of people either in costume,
Renaissance garb, or some combination of the two.  And everyone was so
friendly, so happy to see my ferrets, and so generous!
 
The two days of the convention that followed are all kind of a blur.  It
was so wonderful ..  many, many people cuddling the ferrets and asking
about them.  Judith and I were able to give a speech about our
organization and ferrets ..  and my little ferret Aqua curled right up
on the table next to me and went to sleep.  (She got a big laugh when I
commented about the high metabolism and constant high energy of ferrets,
and she heaved a huge sigh and went back to sleep).
 
Everyone was very generous ..  people dropped $10 and $20 bills into our
donation jar..  and there were even a few $50's.  The kind members of
Metroferret and Scales and Tails organizations volunteered their time
to help man our table.  The generous Anthrocon members donated charity
auction items (including autographed underwear ..) and bid on them to
help us out.  One member even paid for his item TWICE, because he wanted
to help.
 
People emptied their pockets of spare change into our donation jar on the
way out.  Anastasia Kidd was kind enough to share our table all three
days and show her ferrets to attendees.  There were so many people
wearing horns and wings and tails around the convention floor that after
awhile, you would look at someone, and it would seem WEIRD if he/she
didn't have a tail trailing on the floor behind him.
 
People walked around the convention all wearing name badges taht read
things like "Snot Nose" or "Red Raven", or other fantasy names.  A six
foot tall ferret costume character with springs on the bottoms of his
feet shared our table for awhile.  Different comic book artists who
attended gave us artwork..  including one anonymous artist who walked
up and gave us a VERY cute cartoon with the slogan "Help Suppport Our
Ferrets..  They are Darn Heavy Critters".  The convention staff offered
to make name badges for each of our ferrets.
 
It was a wonderful weekend altogether, and we made SOOO much money
for the shelters.  I also managed to buy myself two exploding penguin
figurines, Judith's daughter bought herself a set of horns to wear, and
various other people at our table bought art or other small items to
remind ourselves of the wonderful weekend.
 
Thank you again to everyone who helped .. Judith, Anastasia, the other
SOS members, Metro members, Scales & Tails members ..  and most of all,
to the wonderful Anthrocon members and staff who made this possible. :->
 
- Ela
 
   (000)___(000)        Ela Heyn
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[Posted in FML issue 4222]