What The Fur 2014

[Feli]

Well, it seems we missed the Weasyl forums for our news and information, and seeing as I'm not allowed to post anything with URLs until I give an intro-type post, here's the basic info on What The Fur.

When is it? May 23-25 2014
Where is it? Montreal, Quebec, Canada
What is it? Possibly the best small convention out there.

More info in the follow up post

[Feli]

Seeing as we missed here for news, here's our April newsletter.
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The lights are being lit, the fires are being stoked, and the grandiloquent statement is ready for release. So pay attention, and pay that chap who let you borrow his datascope to read this missive.

What The Fur: A Steam-Powered Celebration

May 23-25 2014 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
www.whatthefur.ca

Lodgings (Hotel News)

As from our previous messages, the hotel has sold out of rooms with two double beds. But there are still rooms with King beds available! And even suites where you have a kind and a double-sofa bed! So if you’re still looking to book a room, there are options available.
Also, the Sheraton has graciously extended the room reservation dates to May 6th. That gives you two weeks from today to reserve your rooms in the hotel at our rate. After that date, we can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to get the WTFur room rates.


Room and Ride Shares

If you missed our small messages over the last few weeks, we have added a page to our website for room and ride shares. It is a place where people can post their info if they are looking to share a room with someone, looking to carpool to the convention, or have spaces in their rooms or cars to share. People are coming from all over, so if you want to offer space, or want to barter for a space, that’s the place to do it!

Registration

With the extension of the hotel dates, we’ve decided to also extend the pre-registration deadline. That means you have two more weeks to register for the convention and save yourself a little bit of money in the process! And though our Regular and Sponsor levels will be available at the door, the Patron level will not be.
2014 T-shirts will also not be available after pre-registration ends! They are available as an add-on to your registration, or with a Sponsor or Patron membership.


Charitable actions (and auctions)

Every year, What The Fur raises charity donations and provides them to the Ecomuseum Zoo. The Ecomuseum zoo’s operations are not subsidized. They are covered by admissions and other revenues, whereas the renewal and development of its infrastructures depends primarily on donations and fundraising activities. What The Fur has been a proud sponsor since 2010, raising over $9000 to date. If you have a little spare change (those Twoonies weigh a lot in your pockets and purses), toss it into the charity bucket!
Also, What The Fur holds an auction, where proceeds also are donated to the Ecomuseum. If you are an artist or one of our dealers, please consider putting something into our art show for our charity auction. Even if you’re just attending the convention, and you think you have something you’d like to put in our auction, we’ll gladly add it to the list! Just bring it with you to the convention! (Americans: Pepsi and Mountain Dew Throwback are like money around here!)


Programming

What The Fur strives to provide everyone with one of the best convention experiences available, offering a cozy, friendly atmosphere. But we like giving people something to do and something to learn as well! And we could never do that without help from you! We’re still accepting offers to run workshops and panels, to sit on group discussions, or even to participate in some of our events! If you have something you’d love to share, teach or show, let us know!

Dance your heart out

Saturday won’t just be the day we all wait for the dance to start. We’ll be hosting our first ever Dance Competition! And we’d like to hear from you if you want to enter! This goes for fursuiters and non-suiters alike.. We want to know if you’ll be participating, and if so, and you have a particular piece of music in mind, let us know so we can get things ready! Shoot us an email to dance@whatthefur.ca to let us know.
And then, later in the evening, we will start out our dance with a Chronographic Reception, our Steampunk-Themed Masquerade ball, so break out the Bowlers and braces (but please, leave your bigger clockwork guns at the door). Then it will move on to the dance everyone craves.
Are you looking to perhaps entertain your fellow con-goers with musical magic? Then you're in luck! We're still taking applications for DJs for our dance! If you're thinking of being a DJ, we just need a little bit of information from you. To make sure we can select DJs that fit, not only with the con but witheach other, we'd like to know what kind of music you would like to play. To that end, please fill in theform on ourDance page, and we'll get to making our selections!


Help make it better for everyone

Like mentioned above, we couldn’t do this without you. We do this to put smiles on faces, and sometimes we work tirelessly to make that happen, but the end result is always worth it. If you have some time to give, let us know. We’ll happily welcome you to our volunteer team. Just send us an email to volunteers@whatthefur.ca, or fill in the form on the website to let us know you’d like to help. We need wranglers and referees, gophers and guides, help with setup and teardown. There’s no lack of opportunity. As well, we’ll be trying to toss a few rewarding things your way, like early exclusive access to the Dealers Den and some nice, front-row seats at the events.