It's a gorgeous paw-beg poom, a handsome little tawny-or-grey longtail scootler! 2Pawpproves, I do. <3 Also, I hope Edmonton was ossum during your visit, Jenora.

-2Paw.

Edmonton was good. Edmonton was also rather warm (as in highs of 32C). One of the towers in the convention centre had wonky air conditioning and part of the skylight above the central lounge was damaged, which was unfortunate; fortunately, despite numerous near-misses there weren't actually any thunderstorms while the con was running. The convention itself went pretty well; it's a smaller and cozier con than Furnal Equinox. Not always as much to do, but more time to just sit and chat with people.

The fact that the hotel staff love the convention and the chef decided to go with a cajun theme for the quick meals in the hotel bar to work with the 'Mardi Paws' convention theme certainly helped.

Oh, when a host enjoys their guests and the guests love their host, sharing their home and food-fare right back, that is a match of chef's-kiss perfection, I think.

The difference in tone and company between Fur-Eh! and Furnal Equinox by analogue makes me think of my breadth of attendance each year at Ad Astra and Toronto Trek, by specifics; Ad Astra was much more laid back and for most of the years I went, a smaller attendance base but many who attended every year, and thus friendships and acquaintances were sustained comfortably and casually, not loudly but again, comfortably.

Not that I've anything unkind to say about Furnal Equinox from the report of many friends who've attended over the last many years of its operation; but from the feedback that's been shared with me, it's a reasonable position and comparison on my part.

I'm glad you lost neither an intact skylight or windows, nor wholly power to the hotel during the convention. <3

-2Paw.

Well, yes. Conventions live and die by their hotel relations. Because, unsurprisingly, hotel staff talk to each other, so a convention that causes problems at one hotel will often find themselves having difficulty finding another hotel willing to accept them. Big business conventions can rely on the fact that their attendees will be spending lots of money at the hotel bar and restaurant to get them out of trouble; fan-run conventions have to rely more on being good guests.

(At CanFurence, the Subway restaurant just a couple of blocks from the hotel closed early on Sunday because they ran out of bread. And yes, that was probably the convention's fault.)

And yes, it's an unfortunate situation that the larger a convention gets, often the less 'family' it can feel, because you need more staff to manage it, and it can get more overwhelming for the attendees. Furnal Equinox had over 2200 attendees, Fur-Eh set a record this year at about 1200, and CanFurence is about 800. It's not just attendance levels, of course. More corporate-run cons certainly can feel that way even at low attendance. A lot of it comes down to how the con staff act and the tone they set at events.

If you can't have the TTC in Ottawa, you can at least have a Subway; more or less in the case of CanFUREnce. <3 We've a Subway here in Riverdale, right on my way past in either direction to my Saturday grocery errand at Shoppers Drug Mart at Ellerbeck- which I'll be going in about half an hour, come to mention- and their running out of a particular variety of sub bread has gotten me in the butt before.

Not because of any lack of care on their part, mind you, but I can't eat any of their breads but one, the plain Italian White loaf, because of my sensory-processing troubles. I usually get a Footlong Assorted Cold Cut Sub, with lettuce, mozzerella cheese and a nice bit of plain mayonnaise there; we got our monthly sheet of coupons in the mail a couple of days ago, including at least two coupons for a $7.79 Footlong, which I plan on making use of.

https://soundcloud.com/christilton/.....t-starfighters (There is also an MP3 download link under 'More' in the Soundcloud taskbar.)

Ad Astra definitely had that family feel; I can't remember anytime in the 13 years I attended yearly when it didn't. I remember how much it hit me in the heart when I learned that Lloyd McNerny died, I think in 2005 or 2006, if my memory serves. He was high up the totem pole at AA going back to my first Ad Astra in April 1994 but he was the guy who took the time to show me around the main floor to the ballrooms, Dealer's Room and registration, told me how the basics of con etiquette worked and what to expect, even things like the ConSuite upfloors in the hotel.

And the funny thing is, I didn't approach him. I was clearly confused and really didn't know what I was doing or what I should do, and he came up to me and gave me the grand tour, out of his time heading the ConCom, getting the Registration table on track that Friday and his duties running the convention, somebody new he didn't know but that his purpose was important enough to do what he did for a total stranger...that's the kind of thing you would do for me, and did for me when we first met on the Trap Line, I know well enough.

And because of you and of Lloyd, I learned the importance of doing that for others in turn, paying it forward. The best way I know how to pay back that kindness is exactly that, paying that kindness forward to those I meet in similar need of help or of good cheer, a good morning or afternoon.

-2Paw.

Very cute and fur looks very soft. Thanks for sharing!