Morphicon 2006 Post-Con Report!

http://morphicon.org/

Wow, what a year! It's nice to end my three-year stint as con chair on such a high note. Highlights from the convention follow...
***Thank You***

First off, a big thank you to our Guests of Honor: Bill Holbrook, Ryan "Tet" Dewalt, and Candi "Trixi" Dewalt--for attending our convention, allowing us to spotlight their creativity and service, and for tirelessly providing the memorable gifts we pass on to our highest donors--you make the convention possible. When you read feedback forms that comment the best thing about the convention was "Bill, Trixi, and Tet", you know you made the right decision!

Thank you to Ferrets Unlimited Ferret Shelter of Cleveland Ohio, for providing a valuable and worthy service to the Ohio area, and for sending a representative to the convention to help educate our attendees about ferrets as pets and companions. We raised a grand total of $566 for this year's charity, and will be sending the check off to the ferret shelter early next week. Thanks so much to all those who donated art and memorabilia to our events, to the fursuiters who donated a dance at our pet sale, and to those of you who bid on art and purchased raffle tickets in our events. I'm sure the ferrets thank you too!

Special thanks to our Hypertrophes this year: Frazzle 626, Jewel, Ramseys, Tamaria, Trickster, and Woyro. The Hypertrophe donor level was a new idea for us, and it seems to have been very successful. Also, a special thanks to Bear for his generous donations of equipment and supplies--in particular, a label printer that really sped up registration this year.

Thanks to all of our staff and volunteers, without whom nothing could be done at all, much less a convention. And thanks as well to our attendees and donors, of course; what's a convention with nobody to visit it?

***Official Numbers***

We had 187 attendees this year, up from 158 the previous year. This met with our expectations for growth almost exactly, and this is the first year in which Morphicon Corporation's income has actually exceeded our costs.

This is proof that, with the selfless dedication of volunteers and generous support from donors, a convention can give back a quality experience to all who attend. Our hospitality suite was bigger than ever, and we had a steady supply of food, confectionaries, and beverages for all three days--including hot meals. We basically fed the convention. :)

***Feedback***

Most of the feedback we have received has been very positive. We are continuing to review feedback for the convention on the Morphicon mailing list, and the feedback forms themselves.

Once again, there was a lot of positive response for our incredible hospitality suite and free food events. The mature programming track was again popular, with many of the panels crowded with participants. Several people have remarked on the respectful nature of our mature panelling, as well as the fact that the popular panel discussions are often unavailable at other conventions.

This year we were able to correct three big problems from last year. First, we had a full-time headless room. Second, we had internet service all con (though slow at times). Third, there was increased signage to lead the way to registration, and message board availability (as well as daily newsletters).

One problem from last year that was not completely addressed this year was the problem of our room block being spread out over different areas rather than being contiguous. The hotel was supposed to have corrected this error, and we will discuss it with our contact during negotiations for 2007.

Issues we noted this year that will definitely be corrected in 2007:

* Coffee in the hospitality room! This was missed.
* Credit card readers at registration, for when PayPal is too slow.

Other issues are currently being discussed on the mailing list.

***The Future***

I'm happy to leave the convention in the capable hands of Craig Smith (aka Max Goof / Stargazer), the 2007 Convention Committee Chairperson. Our staffing and other critical decisions for next year will be made in about a month.

The theme for the 2007 convention has already been announced: "Technofurs"! We'll cover topics such as: furries in cyberspace, sci-fi, transhumanism, futuristic furries, and more. Tentatively we are scheduled for May 11-13, 2007 at the same hotel. Our hotel negotiations are ongoing, however, so we'll make a formal announcement soon when we know the exact date and location (along with the Guests of Honor for 2007).

To fill in more variety, our infamous prescripted Furry Variety Show will probably be changing names to "Morphicon Spectacle of Doom", and we'll be adding a new, more traditional FVS on Sunday evening--one where anyone can do a skit without previous directorial approval (as long as it's PG). This should fill in the gap in performance felt by amateur performers who want to do their own act that may not be on theme or accepted by the Spectacle of Doom, but their act is too long or otherwise not appropriate for our judged Masquerade.

Finally, the Morphicon, Morphicon Staff, and Morphicon FVS mailing lists are all changing to a new groups system. The changeover will take place sometime within the next month or so. The Morphicon staff email addresses will also be changing. The website update should cover these issues in detail when it comes, again within the next month.

Thanks for your support, everyone. Morphicon Corporation's events continue to thrive because of selfless volunteers and attendees like you.

Trickster
Just Another Furry