Can it really be true? Midwest FurFest is a mere eight weeks away? We hope you're getting ready, because we're moving fast to have a heck of a party ready for you as we celebrate...
Ten Years of Midwest FurFest!
We are pleased to welcome twenty-three Guests of Honor back this year, all past members of the Midwest FurFest family: Robert & Margaret Carspecken, Rapid T. Rabbit, Derrick Dasenbrock, Jessica Willard, Ysengrin Blackpaw, D.C. Simpson, Thomas K. Dye, M.C.A. Hogarth, D. Bruin, Ursula Vernon, Scribblefox, Gene Breshears, Tincrash, Kenket, Jen Seng, WhiteyFawks, Erika "Chilly" Rosengarten, Jill "jill0r" C., Will Sanborn, Foxfeather R. Zenkova, Lucky the Evil Dog, and Matt & Darcy Sowers! (You can read all about these fine folks on our website,
http://www.furfest.org) Our Guests of Honor will be helping with programming panels, many will be in our Dealers Room, and Anniversary Sponsors will be able to meet them at the Cocktail Mixer as well.
We have a lot of great things to tell you about for this year's convention, so here we go!
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Cheap pre-registration for Midwest FurFest closes September 30! Membership is $30 before September 30, and $40 thereafter and at the door. That $10 you save can go toward as lovely badge in our Artists Alley, or toward our always-enjoyable Charity Auction, or to enrich our amazing artists at the Art Auction! Register today and save that money!
Sponsorship has its privileges, of course. Sponsors receive a membership, a 2009 Midwest FurFest T-shirt, a limited-edition collectible pin, a sponsor print, a tasty Sponsor Brunch, and a special surprise gift that we know you're going to love! Sponsors also get preferred seating at most special events. Sponsorships are $120 now and at the door (though preregistered sponsors can be assured that we'll have a shirt in their size at the convention!).
This year we are introducing Anniversary Sponsorships. As much as we love welcoming back twenty-three Guests of Honor, it is unfortunately not inexpensive! Anniversary Sponsorships are your way to help us defray the costs, and to show your additional support for Midwest FurFest. Anniversary Sponsors receive all of the benefits of sponsorship, as well as an invitation to a special Cocktail Hour to meet and greet the Guests of Honor, as well as an additional token of our gratitude. Anniversary Sponsorships are $250 now and at the door, with the same caveat about preregistration.
We look forward to seeing you in November!
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The Westin Chicago North Shore is sold out, and the Hampton Inn & Suites Lincolnshire is almost out of rooms. Good news, though! We have set up a second overflow for this year. We are excited that the Courtyard by Marriott Lincolnshire will be our second overflow. Room rates have been set at $99/night and include:
- Shuttle Service Thursday-Sunday of Convention from 8am-2am every half hour
- Complimentary Breakfast for 4 people
(NOTE: The Courtyard occasionally offers sales for rooms at a rate less than the convention rate. Please note that the cheaper rate does not include breakfast or access to the shuttle to the Westin!)
The hotel is located at 505 Milwaukee Ave, Lincolnshire, IL 60069; Reservation phone 847-634-9555
You can also reserve online:
1 King Bed
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chils?groupCode=furfura&app=resvlink&fromDate=11/18/09&toDate=11/22/092 Queen Beds
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chils?groupCode=furfurb&app=resvlink&fromDate=11/18/09&toDate=11/22/09As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact Takaza, our Hotel Liaison, at
hotel.2009@furfest.org--------------------------------------------------------------
The Dealers Den will be opening earlier than usual this year in order to give the membership more time to peruse (and purchase) the excellent merchandise provided by our dealers. As always, there will be a mix of returning favorites and new dealers, all eager to relieve you of your hard-earned money.
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The Art Show is rapidly filling up. If you want to ensure that you have space in one of furry fandom's largest art shows, go to our handy web form and reserve your panels, now. As a reminder, you can have up to six total panels in the show this year, and there is no charge for reserving space. The web form is new for us this year, and it looks to be working well. We are slightly behind in sending out confirmation e-mails, however we will be caught up very soon. We are finalizing the control sheets, and will be sending out confirmation emails with artist numbers by the end of September. We may also be experimenting with Google Docs based control sheets--look for more information in your confirmation email.
http://furfest.org/2009/mff2009-artshow.html--------------------------------------------------------------
The deadline for art and stories for this year's MFF Convention Book is fast approaching! Fire up the Prismacolors or the keypad and get those submissions in before September 30! We're printing a full-color con book this year, so make the art as colorful as you wish. Also -- if you wish to advertise in the con book, the September 30 deadline applies there too. For specifications and prices, go to
http://www.furfest.org--------------------------------------------------------------
We'd like to invite everyone to participate in the Furry Variety Show.
What do we do?
The FVS is a non-competitive variety show. It's a bit of Vaudeville, sort of like being on the Muppet Show. We all cooperate as a team and we mix and match performers to acts as needed. If you have a "ready to go" act, we'll give you a spot. If you want to be in the show but don't have an act, join us and we'll help you put something together or we'll add you to an existing act. We strongly prefer to have all our actors be either fursuits or puppets, or at the very least have some furry content.
If you want to be in the show and are not on our mailing list, send email to
rcking@speakeasy.net to join up - it is our primary mode of internal communication.
Announcements
Our show is Saturday evening at 7pm. We also will be holding TWO rehearsals (6pm Friday and 10am Saturday). You only need to attend one. If you have a choice, try to attend the Friday rehearsal.
Since our show is now during prime-time, we will be a bit stricter about adult content. Keep it PG folks!
In rehearsal we lay down multiple "masking tape" stages on the ballroom floor so that multiple acts can work out their marks and their timing in parallel. Then each act can get one final pass at the real stage when they are ready. Each tape stage will have a "boom box" sound system that can play CD-Rs.
The MFF Furry Variety Show welcomes video content in the show!
1. Please submit video creations which are relevant to furry, which are your own work, and which have not been sold or shown extensively (not available on a YouTube-like public video site before the con and less than a year since first availability OR any public display). Retro video is also welcome if it has not been seen in 10 years or more.
2. Time limit: about 3 minutes - just like an act.
3. Media and Format: Standard DVD or CD is preferred over email/net download. Content format should be native DVD, mp4, avi, or anything that a player like VLC can play on a windows laptop.
4. Deadline: one month before the con. Your video will be reviewed and may be selected for inclusion in the show. Please send physical media to Robert King at 550 Wilshire Ave.; Glen Ellyn, IL 60137. Also, bring a copy with you to the con for good measure.
5. Rating: PG-13 (if in doubt, ask)
6. Content: If you have any question about the appropriateness of your content, direct questions to Robert King (
rcking@speakeasy.net) for feedback. We reserve the right to reject submissions we deem unsuitable for the show. We would hate to have you waste energy on something which is a "non-starter." This would include inflammatory content, personal attacks, way-too-adult content, and total content rip-offs.
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For a special treat for those of you who like attending the puppet shows at MFF, this year we will have a LIVE edition of Rapid T. Rabbit and Friends as Rapid T. Rabbit himself will be there to entertain you this year! Be sure to check it out along with the rest of the crazy antics the puppet track has to offer this year!
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That's all for now! Still have questions? Drop us a line at
info.2009@furfest.orgThis newsletter and its contents are (c) 2009 Midwest Furfest, all rights reserved
Midwest FurFest is a service mark of Midwest Furry Fandom, Inc.
