First time con-goer, and scared!

Hey there, Wise Guy!

You may have already heard from others about the different variety of activities and interests at a Furry Convention, and have perhaps already been told that having a fur suit is not a prerequisite to coming to the convention...

...But I gather that this is a major Focus for you, so I would suggest going into our General forums; there is a "Building Fursuits" forum there, and I'd recommend introducing yourself there, and after reading a few of the threads, jump in with all 4 paws, and ask questions.

Among the special people who make up Furry Fandom, the subset known as The Fursuiters is particularly...oh, what's the word that I want?..."Close" will do; "Insular" doesn't convey the right tone. However, these folks all share the common bond of having worn a fursuit, in public, usually on a stage in front of a mob of enthusiastic fans. Making the effort to build a suit - any suit - is an accomplishment and a milestone, and earns a degree of respect. But once you have actually worn one on-stage - once you have become the critter or character that the suit is meant to be - well, from that point, you are One Of Them (or "One Of Us", from their viewpoint), and if you are even halfway decent and honorable and upstanding, they welcome you and defend you as one of their own.

Have jitters about appearing in a crowd, in a suit? They have all been there, and understand, and will do what they can to help you cross that threshold; there is no reason for you to have to come down for the first time Alone, you will have comrades in Fur to come down with you. You will learn about the importance of a "handler" to assist and - if necessary - rescue you.

Contact these folks! They will point you to other resources on the web and elsewhere, to help educate you on the technical side of suit design, construction and maintenance, and help you develop a suit personna that you can adopt, perform - become - when you don the suit.

If suiting is your ONLY interest in the convention, you will find more than enough things going on and people to talk to and share with, for the duration of the convention, just regarding fursuiting. But please don't let this blind you to the other events and facets of the convention, as well.

One General Tip - As with any group, while there is a cohesive "core" purpose and understanding that unites all of you, there are also variations of interpretation and meaning that people ascribe to their suiting activities. Be Open Minded, and let people with opinions that seem at variance with yours, give you their version of the meaning of Fursuit Life. You don't have to adopt it, of course - for a few, they can take this WAY TOO Seriously - but they are comfortable with it, and there is really no reason to disabuse them of their notions. On the other paw, you might hear or see something which helps unlock a portion of your perception, and illuminates and gives meaning to something which had before felt dark or empty or void. Fursuiting sometimes does that for people. Do you become the suit? Or does the suit become you?
Can you pick up and adopt something, without abandoning something else? And if you abandon something - does something else arise to take its place? Perhaps these questions won't occur to you; that's perfectly fine...but if they do, some part of the Fursuit community has dealt with it, already.

Anyway, that's it - learn as much as you can about all aspects of Anthropomorphic (Furry) Fandom, including the history, art and literature, and then learn as much as you can, and correspond as much as you can, with the general Fursuit Community (which is international in scope). Fandom embraces so much more than just what is represented in any ONE regional group of Fur Fans, whether Las Vegas, SoCal, Bay Area, Midwest, Northwest, Southeast, or Northeast Corridor groups. Consider travel to AnthroCon (or FURther CONfusion, in January) with a small group of friends or roommates). And wear light, comfortable walking shoes, easy to slip on and off at airport security, instead of those steel-toed boots! Travel light, if possible.

100 dollars in food costs? Only if you plan on going out to the Fish Market every night Stick with places like Fernandos Sub shop and the divine Steel City Diner--you can gt a huge meal there for 8 bucks or so Assuming you're there a 3-5 days and follow the 2 meals a day rule, that'd run you somewhere around 50-80 dollars. But having that extra 20 bucks for fancy food isn't a bad idea.

Also, I spent about 100 bucks in the dealer's den/artist's alley. Be prepared for LOTS of cool stuff to buy

Also, if you preregister for the con it's cheaper. And, as an added bonus, you don't have to spend 3 hours sitting in a mile-long registration line. I pre-registered last year, took me about 5 minutes (Most of it figuring out where to stand ).

And yes, if you're flying, pack light. I drove in a packed car and only had one duffel bag and a messenger bag. I only brought 2 pairs of pants and enough shirts/socks/underwear for the time we were there. I would also recommend, if you fly, to pack a change of clothes and toiletries into your carryon bag, in case your luggage gets lost. Trust me.

And on that note--flying is horribly expensive. I see you're in Nevada. See if you can get a bus ride out here. It might take longer, but I know if you reserve far enough ahead (a few weeks or so), Greyhound prices are pretty cheap. That might help knock some of the money off your bill. And living in a place like LV, you are certian to have a bus stop around there somewhere.

I'd also recommend getting there the day before the con starts. That way you can have an afternoon/evening to relax and get over the "jet lag", and start to find your way around. The Zoo will be open, so you can even meet a few new folks before the insanity begins

Also--if you want to--try to volunteer! 10 hours of service gets you a convention teeshirt, and 15 (I belive) gets you next year's admission paid for. And trust me, if you work during the double hours before and after the con, it's a fast job I got most of mine collating and stuffing material in con bags the first afternoon XD

Hotel costs?
Just off the top of my head (not an accurate number), there will be something like
$140/night for a room in the convention block, after taxes are added. Naturally, if
you split a room with even one person, you can split the costs.

$100 for food is actually a good figure, for 6 days. I usually average around
$20 a day, including sodas or snacks (if any), and one meal that's more expensive-
like at Buca di Beppo. Generally, there's a diner (Steel City) for breakfasts, and
lunch can be there, Fernando's, or other nearby locations for relatively cheap
amounts-pizza, Chinese buffet, etc.

The miscellaneous, for me, is less expensive. I try to pack everything I'll need
except food, and I don't attack the dealer's room for $200, no matter HOW much
stuff I buy. (Your tastes will be different than mine, so you will have to budget
accordingly. Me, I buy a stack of shirts.)

As a city dweller, you probably WON'T be overwhelmed. If you don't wear a fursuit,
you're more likely to be left alone, except by people who know you. If you wear a
fursuit, you are anonymous under the mask. Your decision how to play that one.
But a fursuit is an additional expense.

If you show up in a fursuit, you will be one of hundreds of fursuiters there.
If you do not show up in a fursuit, you will be one of thousands of non-fursuiters
there. Either way, you won't draw huge amounts of attention unless you try to.