One of the most humbling things at Midwest FurFest happened to me on Sunday afternoon after Closing Ceremonies. I was trying to walk from Ravinia Ballroom to the Westin lobby, and the trip took me 15 minutes. Not because of traffic, but because of so many people stopping me to hug me, shake my hand, and thank me for a great convention. And while it was tremendous gratifying and appreciated, I still don’t think I did half as much hard work as all of the staff did. During Closing Ceremonies, I said that there was no way I could thank everyone. But dammit, that doesn’t mean I can’t try!

• Puma and justincheetah – Operations was in a strange place this year with the Info Desk and Volunteers being moved elsewhere, nevertheless you and your staff proved that Ops is still relevant and carved out a good niche for yourselves. I think we can work next year to give you a greater role, or at least maybe codify things a bit more in a way that will make everyone happy. Cheetah also was a huge help in setting up the repeaters for the staff radios.
• woodychitwn handled Logistics this year and completely blew me away. Between some excellent preplanning, great at-con execution, and grace under pressure at the end of the convention, Woody and his crew impressed me tremendously by swooping in a getting a thankless job taken care of in a flash.
• berin, you amazed me. Volunteers is a tough department that pulls you every which way, but you and yips_for_fun did a fantastic job even when a crazy curve ball was thrown at you in the middle of the convention. Every staff member who needed gophers that I have spoken to has raved about the great job you two did – that’s high praise indeed! I don’t know where your plans might take you next year, Berin, but I do know that I will do everything I can to keep you as part of staff because you’re too valuable a guy to lose!
• tozier_wah and fordshepherd, you and your staff took a brand new function – Info Desk – and made it a valuable resource for convention staff and attendees that has earned kudos all around. As Info Desk and Volunteers Desk continues to evolve, I am pleased to know that you both will be involved in making it even better.
• linnaeus and ramalion – Linnaeus, you put up with my meddling as I fretted from the sidelines, watching my old department. I thank you for your patience, and continuing to make Registration one of the least notable experiences for MFF attendees (and that’s a good thing!). Rama, you stepped in as Registration Second this year and your input and organizational skills were very much appreciated! I often think that Registration stagnated a bit under my watch, and I look forward to seeing where you two can take it in the future. I was glad to see that you were able to recruit new staff and that they all worked so well together. Great work!
• aureth, you and moryssa came into a bit of a disaster in the Art Show. The fact that you were able to work hard to not only make it functional but make it appear to be a smoothly-running machine to our attendees is a testament to you and your staff’s hard work. This was a transitional year, and a time to see what’s broken and what can be fixed. I hope that next year you all get lots of rest and it’s not nearly as stressful – you know you’ll get whatever support from me is necessary to help make that happen.
• hartree, as always, you ran a kickass A/V setup. We have a lot of bizarre demands and sometimes we need to cobble together things at the last minute, but you, xylen, and aeto made it all work. Thanks, guys!
• mirkowuff and dexcat, you guys did a great job on Publications. We clearly need to work on communications a bit in some areas, but you worked around difficulties and last-minute deadlines to put out several books and signs that you can be proud of. Dex, thanks to you and jet_der_hund for your photography work as well – it seems to be very much appreciated by our attendees!
• Brendan Lonehawk and wyldekyttin, as always, you were great. Dealers Room is one of those departments that I know Just Works and that I don’t have to worry about. You have no idea how much that means to me! You assembled a great staff this year including rukario71 and rissani who were a fabulous help. Thank you so much!
• Tigerwolf, you headed up another area that I didn’t have to worry about at all. The Internet Room magically appears and runs trouble-free, something that I am so happy about. Your staff, Panzier, Amaroq, and Darkclaw, is incredibly competent and they are all real assets to the convention.
• Artists Alley had a lot of issues to deal with going into the convention, but genet, shadowstalkerw and the rest of the AA staff took charge and made it work. I know that space was extremely limited and you had to deal with a huge waiting list, but you handled it flawlessly. The fact that the only complaints about Artists Alley is the lack of space speaks volumes – you all rocked (and Genet gets bonus points for even showing up at the convention and soldiering through while sick as a dog).
• perro, oh my god, where to begin. You knocked yourself out before the convention and the programming, about which I have heard nothing but rave reviews, was the product of that. More important to me is the fact that you were my vice-chairman, and in that role I knew that I had someone that, if I was unavailable, was incredibly competent and level-headed. Programming-wise, daveqat provided great back-up and assistance at the convention. All of the track heads did a fantastic job as well and helped us put together panels, dances, and shows that all of our attendees enjoyed.
• And then there’s Security. unclevlad and datahawk, I busted your chops after last year’s convention and I know that I had high expectations going into this year. I am so pleased to say that you and all of our Security crew met and far exceeded those expectations. You took an incredibly difficult situation and handled it with competence and with courtesy. Your leadership in organizing “Stairwell Appreciation Duty” was phenomenal, and your response even when your resources were stretched to the limit was nothing short of inspirational. You guys are the unsung heroes of Midwest FurFest 2008.
• Speaking of being stretched to the limit, let’s talk about Con Suite. sabotlours and carol_kitty, you worked miracles while keeping the Con Suite going on the 1st and 16th floors. Yours is one of the most thankless positions at the convention, and you once again kept the masses fed and maintained good humor the whole weekend. Your staff was amazing – quasiskunk, you are a champion grocery-schlepper; chanur2000, the Con Suite iron man who spent almost the entire convention in the Club Lounge; alexanderkatz and Felina, you two seemed to be in The Den working hard every time I went by. And to the rest of the Con Suite staff who I didn’t get a chance to meet – great job one and all!
• darkwolph, our money man. You did a great job before the convention, and at the convention you were indispensible. On top of your convention duties, I know you did a great job of keeping Perro sane, which is no small feat 🙂
• roho, you were tasked with not only tending to our Charity and making sure they had everything they needed, but also doing last-minute code fixes on the Art Show software while getting calls hourly from your employer for tech support. I have no idea how you kept it all together, but I am in awe of how well you did it. Our charity left deliriously happy, Art Show got everyone their art and all the artists paid, and your employer…well, I’m afraid you’re stuck with them. But you definitely rocked!
• chillymouse, you designed a fabulous website and put up with my poking and nagging emails all year. Thanks for your patience, and I look forward to working with you next year!
• tango, you had split duty as Asst. Guest of Honor Liaison and Asst. Hotel Liaison. Whenever a problem cropped up, you were there to deal with it quickly. Your help with elevator wrangling was much appreciated, and really helped save our bacon this year. You are a major asset to Midwest FurFest and I am pleased that you will be taking on the Guest of Honor Liaison position next year – I know that’s something I’m not going to have to worry about because it will be in excellent hands.
• We created a new position this year, Sponsor Liaison. r_bear stepped into that role, and did a fine job initially. When our resource requirements suddenly changed after Friday night, he quickly stepped in to fill some urgent vacancies, including wrangling elevators well past the verge of sanity (2:30 AM, anyone?). RB, you were amazing and for as much as I nagged you to take a break, I was incredibly impressed with your drive to work and even more impressed that you maintained good humor throughout. Simply amazing.
• We had another new position this year, Staff Liaison, that was filled by Ma (aka Jackie Hauschild, Takaza’s mother). Her job was to bring drinks and convention survival kits (bread, PB&J) to staff, keep the towels in the cooler in the Fursuit Lounge stocked, and generally do whatever was necessary to help keep the staff going. And in this, you succeeded beyond all expectations. I can’t begin to say how pleased I was that you genuinely enjoyed yourself, and I hope that you will join us in a similar capacity again next year.
• I would also like to extend special thanks to uberhill who stepped in to serve as emcee for Opening Ceremonies as well as help out as an auctioneer and provide support with the hotel. Thank you so much Charles – your assistance was very much appreciated! Thanks also goes out to kellicjtiger who started out on Con Suite staff and wound up jumping in wherever assistance was needed.

Finally, I want to thank takaza. Yeah, yeah, you’re thinking – he’s his husband, of course he gets thanks. This goes far beyond that though. It’s a little-known fact that for a convention the Hotel Liaison is as important if not more important than the Chairman. He handles all of the negotiations with the hotel, keeps everyone using the hotel facilities happy, and handles countless details. Dan not only handled these duties with incredible diligence and patience, he was an invaluable resource to me in my first year as convention chairman. On top of all that, he was my rock when I was unsure and my sounding board when I needed advice. The fact that the convention went as well as it did is due to his hard work as much as anything that I did.

So there you have it. These are the people who really made Midwest FurFest 2008 happen, and each and every one of them is deserving of your thanks. If I missed anyone, I am deeply sorry and please know that it was not intentional.

And now, I’m going to hide under my bed for a few days and rest…