Furry convention

These conventions provide a place for fans to meet, exchange ideas, transact business and engage in entertainment and recreation centered on this concept.

[2] Furry conventions offer a range of volunteer-led programming, usually focusing on anthropomorphic art, crafts, music and literature.

As the local community grows, these groups may put on events that attract dealer attention or significant fan activity and which become recognized as fully-fledged conventions.

Convention programming includes presentations, panels, workshops and tutorials on anthropomorphic culture, from literature, fiction and art to science, technology and spirituality.

The convention will often provide space for stand-up comedy routines by entertainers like Uncle Kage and Alkali Bismuth; filk music, many kinds of gaming, and roleplaying sessions, as well as numerous puppeteering and performing arts events.

[13] Individual transactions are relatively small (usually around US$10–$50 for sketches or badges, $10–$200 for auction pieces), but the total can approach US$100,000 at the largest events (excluding professional dealers).

Often there is a "fursuit-friendly" dance prior to the main event, with raised lighting and slower music to offset fursuiters' reduced vision and mobility.

These focus on feats of dexterity suited to multiple players in teams, such as dragging a sled filled with plush toys or other fursuiters around a marked track, or racing back and forth while tethered to one another with a hula hoop.

Sponsors often receive additional items such as T-shirts, pins or ribbons, as well as faster registration badge pick-up and on-site meals (some conventions provide a con suite with basic refreshments for all members).

[20] Reasons for this include: As a given convention expands in growth over the years, increased demand for programming often results in events scheduled late into the night.

One public misconception, popularized by the CSI episode "Fur and Loathing", is that furry conventions are places for people to dress up as animals and perform sexual acts with each other.

[25] In an article about furries, Vanity Fair described some hotel guests as "stunned", with some calling convention-goers "freaks", "blatant homosexuals", and various derogatory terms.

Some U.S. Army personnel present during the same convention described attendees as "a little unusual" and "people that have problems", while others considered the event "something nice to bring kids to.