Morphicon Miscellanea - December 2010 newsletter

After much waiting, the December 2010 edition of Morphicon Miscellanea is out! Inside we have an interview with Convention Chair Jewel regarding this year's theme Furries in Wonderland, tips on winter travel, an update on February Fursuit Bowling, and a request for your input.

Editor's note: Jewel also mentioned that The Frozen Oasis is to replace Friday night's dance as an official event, as announced at FOXmas 2010.

That Time of the Year

Yep, Winter is here again in Columbus. The snow's blowing, folks are travelling, and everything's just plain cold. For you thinner furred among us, there is no better time to use the weather as an excuse to cuddle up next to your other half. For those with thicker coats, see you on the snowball field!

This Year's Theme - An Interview

Just because we're huddled in our homes trying to keep warm doesn't mean your dedicated staff isn't diligently working on Morphicon 2011. This month, your publicity fox cornered, *ahem*, sat down with our Con Chair Jewel and asked a few questions about this year's theme.

Why Furries in Wonderland?
The movie coming out was definitely a consideration, it adds a bit of timeliness to the choice. Another factor was that Alice In Wonderland is an excellent source to mine for inspiration. I think it's important for a convention theme to be visible to the con attendees. The theme should manifest itself in many ways throughout the convention. It should add a noticeable flair to aspects of the convention, things like decorations, content of performance events, t-shirts, etc. Alice in Wonderland is a great source for inspiration. There's so many iconic characters, places, and things from it. Everyone recognizes the phrase "Off with their heads" and understands the context that it comes from. In that sense Alice in Wonderland adds a lot of symbols that we can draw from to communicate the theme to the attendees.

Hasn't it been done before at other cons?
It has, but that shouldn't stop us from revisiting a good theme. Besides, we at Morphicon are going to do the theme in our own special way. Hopefully even better than when it was done in the past! There's also the issue of the sheer number of conventions now, it's practically impossible to avoid repeats. I believe the year before we did Inner City Critters that another nearby convention did Urban Furs.

Any ideas on what special events (outside the norm) we may have?
Well Morphicon always has the Atomic Battle of Doom, which is a nerf and foam boffer melee like none other. It's really kind of crazy to watch, and every year it gets bigger. There's also the free food which is always popular, and we might do something with an 'unbirthday' event, but there's nothing set in stone for that yet. We are still quite a ways out from the convention proper.

Is there anything else you'd like to add while I have you here?
I would definitely recommend the Spectacle of Doom to anyone who likes adult humor. It's a bit raunchy, but always a ton of laughs. Trickster does the writing every year, and I honestly think it only gets better each time. I'd also like to point out the charity quiz show that Trickster hosted last year. We'll be doing that again, and it was a big smash, so I'd encourage everyone to attend. Even if you don't get selected to play the audience can participate in the game. Besides, there's nothing more funny than seeing some poor confused fur try to remember what species Zig-Zag is.

As a last bit, and we haven't 100% finalized this yet, we should be having Frozen Oasis as an official convention event in place of the Friday dance. There's still some scheduling considerations that we need to figure out, but chances are they'll have the entire Adam's room (yes the far one near the lobby that nobody can find) for the party.

Tips for Travel

Seeing as more than a few of us will be on the move this season, and don't have a pack of sled dogs living next to us, we would like to offer a few tips for travelling. Please don't use this as a comprehensive list, this should just be used as a heads-up. To see a complete list of recommendations, please see www.TSA.gov if you plan to fly or www.Ohio.gov for trips by auto.

If travelling by plane, please arrive at the ticket counter at least 90 minutes early. The closer we get to Christmas, the longer the wait to pass through security. Also, you will need to remove your shoes and empty your pockets before passing through to the boarding area. If you plan on bringing a laptop it will need to be separate from other carry-on baggage. Lastly, you will not be able to bring your own beverages past the screening area. Bottled water and other refreshments should be available on the other side.

If travelling by car or truck is more your thing, keep in mind any, and every, thing can happen. In addition to your usual gear (jack, properly inflated spare tire, etc), you'll also want to add a nice, warm blanket to the list. A warm set of sock and waterproof boots aren't a bad idea if you have the room. A small amount of food and water is recommended in the event you're in less travelled areas. Lastly, if you have one, make sure your cell phone is properly charged.

Hopefully these recommendations will all be unnecessary. In the event they are not, however, we hope they will help to ensure you and yours have a safe and happy holiday season.

Panels, Here! Get Your Hot Panels!

With Morphicon only being a three day event, and with the large number of panels to choose from, we, your staff, would love to have your opinion on what you would like to see or attend at this year's con. We want to make Morphicon 2011 the best we can and, for that, we require your input. Art and gaming panels will again be present, as will writing and crafting panels. Spirituality and SIG's are both good bets, also.

The question is, what would you like to see? Give us your raves and rants for panels past and tell us what you would like to include if we don't have it already. Until the new website is up and running, feel free to send your comments and ideas to programming @ morphicon.org and we'll make sure they get to the correct Track Head.

Frozen Fur Balls Con't

We are still working on having a fursuit bowling event. Though we would like to have it in January, it appears we will be shooting for sometime in February. A poll will be posted online soon so a date can be decided and registration will be necessary so we can get an accurate number for a group rate. Unlike the picnic, this will not be a free event. That's not to say something special might not be done, however. Stay tuned for more information or contact publicity @ morphicon.org? if you have any questions or ideas.

Still Searching for Artists - Now With Incentives!

Woohoo! We're getting art! But a few pictures doth not a conbook make. As always, we are looking for art for the various publications we put out and would love to see what you can come up with. Any donated art will have that artist's name put into a random drawing for a Morphicon t-shirt from years past! Your contribution will be appreciated and mentioned, but now you could also get some cool swag! Send any and all submissions to publicity @ morphicon.org!

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