A new convention idea

[Verve]

Hello to every fur, I am Kurellen, and whether if we have spoken personally or not, I ask for your opinion!

There is a convention concept that I would like to create and I need your opinion to see if it’s worth assembling! Every vote matters!

The concept is to hold a small con in Duluth, MN, and one part of the event will entail a dinner cruise on lake Superior! I need your opinions, suggestions, on when, what should be included in the con, after all, Duluth is a beautiful place and worth having a convention! It’s a fresh idea in the works, but I believe that with every suggestion, the idea will prosper, what say you!

[Kurst Hyperyote]

Kurellen wrote:

Hello to every fur, I am Kurellen, and whether if we have spoken personally or not, I ask for your opinion!
There is a convention concept that I would like to create and I need your opinion to see if it’s worth assembling! Every vote matters!
The concept is to hold a small con in Duluth, MN, and one part of the event will entail a dinner cruise on lake Superior! I need your opinions, suggestions, on when, what should be included in the con, after all, Duluth is a beautiful place and worth having a convention! It’s a fresh idea in the works, but I believe that with every suggestion, the idea will prosper, what say you!

The big discussion when you do a con if it should or shouldn’t happen starts usually with the three basic things.

1) Does the local community support and can provide volunteers to support a con. Without a volunteer base or support of the local community these cons have failed in the past. “Invasion cons” have a history of failing big time.
2) Transportation – transportation is huge for a con. If you don’t have a solid transportation you have to depend on your local community for the start before it gets going. Even after it gets going it becomes.
3) How many successful meet ups have happened in an area (partly 1). If there is very little meet up starting a con is starting from cold.

The idea as stated doesn’t actually make a con. This can be done as a meet up or a small event in the community. Even if in the long term it was planned to be a con a simplified meet up will start the talk and get people practicing.

There is nothing wrong doing an event in fact those are easier to do than cons. Trying to take an event and making it a con is a larger leap.

Just my opinion.

Member of Minnesota Furs a 501c3 Non Profit, former Convention Chairman for Furry Migration, volunteer, and always doings lots of other stuff.

Feel free to ask questions because I'm here for you!
Kurst "YipYap" Hyperyote

[Verve]

Well if the community doesn’t support it, we’ll just throw them in lake.

Another reason why I posted this is to set as a base for a poll and to get an idea for hire many would like to go, as far as gaining information about past events held there or not, that weekwill take some digging, etc. Etc., you’re right, it will just have to start up as a smaller event.

[Pepper]

Kurellen wrote:

Well if the community doesn’t support it, we’ll just throw them in lake. Another reason why I posted this is to set as a base for a poll and to get an idea for hire many would like to go, as far as gaining information about past events held there or not, that weekwill take some digging, etc. Etc., you’re right, it will just have to start up as a smaller event.

Not sure how many furs down here have the time or want to drive 3 hours for something like this, but we should take a poll to see how much interest there is.  I’m sure some would, but I have the feeling not too many would show up outside of the general area of/surrounding Duluth.  I know there are a few furs that live up there.  Do you live in Duluth yourself Kurellen?

[Tek]

I think this is something we definitely need. I have brought up this idea in the past as well as others. Most of the events are only friendly to those people who live in the Minneapolis area. Not those of us who live a few hours away. I live about twenty miles from Duluth. I don’t really have any ideas for what the con or get together should be. But I absolutely love the idea and look forward to hearing more about this. Hopefully this concept can become a reality.

[Vanbael]

I don’t think the demand isn’t there for a full fledged convention to be honest, even on a small level.  And the thing is that there hasn’t been that much happening there as of late to build up the community.  There are furs up there, but there hasn’t been that much of demand for regular events.  So yeah, you have to actually communicate with them, try to establish the community there, even through here, and start something small and simple to begin with.  A convention, even if the draw is expected to be small, is not simple, to be perfectly short.  So in retrospect, I would say start small.  Meetups and group activities are encouraged, the cheaper the better since you create an ease for everyone.  You will draw people out of the woodwork.  Trust me, I’ve seen what the small events can do.

And regarding events I fell that this must be stated to everyone: When an event is hosted (especially outside of the twin cities metro) it is an open invitation to everyone, but they are also a chance for the local area to gather.  Nobody is obligated to drive 3+ hours to a meet.  Even though I’m not one to speak much here I do want to see more events happen around the state, Duluth, Rochester, far and wide.  And they should NOT be discouraged by conflicts with what is happening in the Twin Cities Metro area, especially if the travel time between events is well over two.  These events are rare, let them happen.

[Drake M.]

Vanbael wrote:

I would say start small. Meetups and group activities are encouraged, the cheaper the better since you create an ease for everyone. You will draw people out of the woodwork. Trust me, I’ve seen what the small events can do. And regarding events I fell that this must be stated to everyone: When an event is hosted (especially outside of the twin cities metro) it is an open invitation to everyone, but they are also a chance for the local area to gather.

Van brings up many good points here and things to think about.

Thanks Van!

~ Drake M.

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[Mouring]

I’ll can speak a bit to the dinner on a boat idea.  I know I looked into it on the Mississippi.  And the big issues that I ran into right off the bat is the folks owning the river boat wanted me to ‘rent’ the boat then wanted charge me per-person on top of the initial fee.  Which didn’t include a meal which they would provide, but I couldn’t.  Same with a DJ.  It was theirs or nobody.

The other issues I ran across is it wasn’t clear how many people would be willing to do something like this as the owners were skittish about any real cosplay on their boat.  So that lowered the amount pool of folks willing to come.

I believe the price I determined was  ~$30 a head with a “snacks” (not a real meal) for an hour trip.  Which right there pretty much killed it. =(

I still love the idea of having a dinner on a boat.  I would love to see it work out.  I hope you have better rental places than we have in the Twin Cities. =(

 

So I guess one should scope out rough costs as that will drive a lot of this.

[Buckeye]

I’m actually looking into a cruise outing now, I found one operator that lists a 3 hour tour with lunch, soft drinks and dessert included for just under $45/person.

[Yarrick]

There’s a difference between running an event and running a Convention. It is very easy to run a small event where some friends who want to do stuff in Duluth and get dinner together, walk around the lake, etc. And for those sort of events we more then encourage and would LIKE to see more of these happen outside the community.

A Con takes a lot of manpower, money, commitment and experience to run. MNFurs exsists because we want to be more then a convention. We want to have events year round and in different areas of the state.

Most of our organizers live down in the Metro, and that is the reason why our events are “Twin Cities focused” It takes someone to start something small, say something like a Duluth and stick with it. Yes you may only have a few people at first but it will grow.

MNFurs started out as a very small group of a dozen people or so. It took us a Decade to get where we are now including a lot of “Step Up” events before we even considered a convention.

There is something I miss about having a small group of 10-20 people who regularly meet up. You get to know everyone’s name and it tends to be more intimate then a convention of close to 1,000 people.

If you can get that community of a few regular people who get together to meet for Dinner, Coffee, Movies, ETC on a regular basis it may be a lot more enjoyable then holding a once a year event. And these events don’t need to be huge, it just requires someone who’s committed to take a weekend or two a month to keep dedicating time to running Meetups.

Fur Meet is not Equal to convention. But in a lot of ways Fur Meets are just as if not more important then conventions.

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[Buckeye]

One way to start would be like what we did here when we had the Iowa Furs in town for a romp. Maybe think about organizing an early afternoon romp along the Lakewalk and Canal Park and maybe a group dinner afterwards on a non-meet Saturday. People can then decide if they want to drive up just for the romp or get a hotel room so they can stick around for the evening and hang out with people on their own.

[Aerak]

It’s a good idea. The X factor is scope. The term, “convention” can be pretty vague. If it is a typical furry convention with a room for vendors, an artist alley, and programming of some kind, then you are going to need a team to pull it off. If it’s just a room block at a hotel, and a bunch of events in the city and a cruise, that simplifies things.

So yes. Love the idea of an event in Duluth. Love the idea of a cruise. What is your scope?

[Drake M.]

So, I am going to share my thoughts on this, only I am going to approach this from a different angle from our private conversation and then shift back.  This will also play off Taffy, Van, & Buckeye’s post and am re-wording areas for this post.

Love Duluth and always will.  Me and my BF have camped up there twice, visited the bridge, did a ship tour, etc…So much fun.  My relatives have a house on Lake Superior and the view is overwhelming!

TL;DR

 

* * * * * * * * * *

Given that it’s Duluth and a distance north of the metro, first thing to do it see what interest there is in Duluth and the surrounding area.  For example, you can make another thread in the Minnesota Northeast Region sub-forum doing a check-in for all Duluth furs and furs in the surrounding area.  See what interest you get and if it’s positive, then next step…

Present your idea(s) and get feedback from them.  I am going to suggest to start with a smaller-style event as an event in an area that has not had any hosted events needs a starting point…Then from there you let the seed grow.  For example, maybe do a fursuit romp in or around the Aerial Lift Bridge , nature walk at a park around the area, trip to the Lake Superior Zoo, or something else as there are plenty of options.  This is a hangout, a gathering, an event, and the furs in and around Duluth will be excited no matter what type of event you decide to do…Even better if fursuits are in the mix.

Now that you have interest from that region (Duluth + surrounding areas), see what interest there is from furs in the metro.  Maybe some people want to have a fun weekend in Duluth.  See what interest is there and then next step…

Next decide if you want to try and span this over a weekend.  Let’s say you want to have a couple events throughout Saturday and then dinner afterwards.  If interest is there and anyone who traveled from the cities decide to stay in a hotel, then inquire about any Sunday activities.  As a side note, if furs to decide to find a hotel, maybe check around at hotels around the area to help with pricing.

Once it’s all said and done and everyone is back home, make some notes on what you think worked and did not work.  The important thing at this point is that the seed has been planted and it can grow.  🙂

Now I am going to shift back to what we spoke of in our conversations…

* * * * * * * * * *

I really do love the idea of a cruise around Lake Superior…It’s a beautiful lake and it will be very relaxing and just all around fun.  Going back above to the example of letting something grow, I am going to suggest to start small and then bring this idea up again in the future.  This will allow you more time to fine-tune your research in a cruise and look at things like are fursuits allowed, cruise rules/policies, time frames, etc.  I know Aerak is curious of your scope too!

Since you are the event runner, read this post as well as the posts from others and think it over.  I am a message or e-mail away with further questions/concerns.  🙂

In the end, I love this idea and support it.  Let me know if you need assistance getting the seed planted for growth!

~ Drake M.

 

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[Verve]

Wow, a lot of furs answered with questions that are great. I believe that, yes, a convention is unlikely, however with the whole boat thing for Superior is reachable, there are cruises accessible there for groups with 10-20 or more people with group discounts, as far as who will go is going to be the hardest part to find out, however, as a general consensus, I will be posting through different sites (not everybody is conformed to just one site). After that, we can START as a smaller meetup, brunch and a lake walk, etc., what have you, this WILL take time to get going with the cruise idea, especially considering that yes, Duluth is a great drive for some, it’s an hour and a half for myself but I go up that way regularly for work when weather permits. These are just some of the first steps, but as it is stated, the more the better. The con idea, yes in fact wouldn’t be great because of distance, what have you but a smaller meet/event is very likely as the city is very popular and send to be enjoyed by a vast majority regardless of where they live in this state. Transportation is going to be another big issue to whomever wants to attend, we will have to discuss the options as a group. This really helps a lot and I thank you all for your input, from this point I will initiate phase 1 for general consensus. One step at a time, but my feeling is that lots of individuals will want to go.

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