# Completely inexperienced furry going to Califur.



## Fyra (May 24, 2013)

Okay so I am 70% sure I'm going to Califur. I didn't pre-reg but I know that you can buy tickets at the door...

My one friend who likes furries/is okay with the furry fandom can't go. So it's just going to be me, alone, confused, surrounded by furries. How do I make friends at a furry convention? What things does one do at a furry convention? 

I've read up on it a bit, but any advice you can give would be helpful.


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## patchdawg (May 24, 2013)

First time conventioneer over here! I wish I could answer your questions... xD


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## Taralack (May 25, 2013)

If the con has a forum, maybe you could check it out, talk to the people there and make friends, arrange to meet up.


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## Saga (May 25, 2013)

Get drunk and run around like an idiot

You'll fit right in


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## OggyWolf (May 25, 2013)

Fyra said:


> Okay so I am 70% sure I'm going to Califur. I didn't pre-reg but I know that you can buy tickets at the door...
> 
> My one friend who likes furries/is okay with the furry fandom can't go. So it's just going to be me, alone, confused, surrounded by furries. How do I make friends at a furry convention? What things does one do at a furry convention?
> 
> I've read up on it a bit, but any advice you can give would be helpful.



Heya Fyra and Patch!!

I'm one of Califur's staffers, and I just so happen to be running the " My first furry convention" panel on Friday! We go over convention basics in this panel and help you try to establish friendships with other new furs.   Stop on in if you can, I'm sure you'll have a blast.


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## Fyra (May 25, 2013)

OggyWolf said:


> Heya Fyra and Patch!!
> 
> I'm one of Califur's staffers, and I just so happen to be running the " My first furry convention" panel on Friday! We go over convention basics in this panel and help you try to establish friendships with other new furs.   Stop on in if you can, I'm sure you'll have a blast.



This sounds like it would help a bunch! Thanks for letting me know.


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## Ialdabaoth (May 26, 2013)

I'm pretty much in the same boat with you: first con, don't know anyone, hope to make friends but not quite sure how. If you get to the "first con" panel (1PM, Friday, Newport Beach Room), I'll definitely be there with you.  I'm really glad that Califur is doing one of these panels this year; I think seeing it mentioned sealed the deal for me when I was debating whether I'd go.  Watching the forums here, it sounds like there'll be a lot of first-time attendees at this con, so we'll all be in good company.

If studying up in advance would help put your mind at ease, Kage and 2 do a "first con" panel at various conventions, and several of them are up on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=first+furry+con+panel
They're worth watching--you will lol while you learn.

Beyond that, there are various resources available.  The wikipedia article is helpful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furry_convention#Activities
And Anthrocon has a very well-developed site with a lot of useful general information:
http://www.anthrocon.org/new-to-anthrocon

EDIT:  Also, if you're feeling trepidation about entering the community, this article on [a] is reassuring and definitely worth a read:
http://adjectivespecies.com/2013/04/12/furry-impressions/


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## Dokid (May 29, 2013)

Fyra said:


> Okay so I am 70% sure I'm going to Califur. I didn't pre-reg but I know that you can buy tickets at the door...
> 
> My one friend who likes furries/is okay with the furry fandom can't go. So it's just going to be me, alone, confused, surrounded by furries. How do I make friends at a furry convention? What things does one do at a furry convention?
> 
> I've read up on it a bit, but any advice you can give would be helpful.



1. Take a shower, several if your suiting. No one likes to be next to people with bad BO and who looks like they haven't washed all weekend.

2. Meet people! Say hi, go to panels, participate. After all that's why you're there

3. Don't be creepy. Don't hover over artists or just go up and talk to someone about personal things.

4. Be nice to suiters. They can't see very well and if they're in a hurry get out of their way. Don't glomp or pull on them either since they can be expensive.

5. And of course have fun. Conventions can be the best weekend of the month or it can be a complete disaster. It's all up to how you make it.


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