How did you become a big part of MFF? by secrethusky
After a very successful New Year’s Eve party with the local furry group (LAFF – Lake Area Furry Friends) at the end of 1998, some discussion popped up on the mailing list, including at least myself and Aureth. We were quickly shushed by a couple of other folks, though. As it turned out there were already quiet plans underway to create a new furry convention in the Chicago area. The very first planning meeting at Robert King’s house had maybe six or seven people in attendance. From that, we created the core of the Board of Directors, adding a few more shortly thereafter.
We decided to shadow our designated departments at Duckon the year before our first convention; I worked with the folks in Registration and learned a lot. I believe that shadowing was Robert’s idea, and it was an excellent one – we were able to hit the ground running that first year.
Since then, the staff ranks of Midwest FurFest have swollen to close to 150 amazing individuals who help make the convention happen every year, though there is a core group of about 15 or so that works year-round to push things along. I’ve stuck with it for ten years, and I’m very glad I have. If nothing else I have made the most amazing friends, and that makes it all worth it.
How did you discover your relation with furry? by anonymous
Waaay back in 1996 and 1997 I was becoming disenchanted with my former geek home, the Society for Creative Anachronism. I poked around and came across this group of people who were similarly geeky, and enjoyed a lot of movies and artwork that I did as well. They seemed to center around the Usenet newsgroup alt.fan.furry. I found AFF to be an OK place, but eventually gravitated over to the more civil and thoughtful discussions of alt.lifestyle.furry. In conversations there, I found a spiritual resonance that matched my own agnostic/pantheistic views and made my home there for the next three years or so. In that time I made some really excellent friends who I am pleased to say are still a part of my life.
What’s the one thing you would like to be able to cook, but haven’t yet been able to? by RobyPanther
Oddly enough, although I like it I have never really cooked much seafood (fish, shellfish, whatever). Usually those I’m cooking for aren’t fans (or are allergic). It’s something I really want to explore, though, because it’s an entirely different cooking technique and flavor palette.
Keep the questions coming! Ask me about anything.
Julia Child’s recipe for poached fish is stellar, a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (vol 1 & 2 if you can) is well worth the investment.
I modified her base recipe a bit, adding garlic and lemon juice to the poisson poche au vin.
MFF
Getting the on the job training via shadowing at Duckon must be one reason why MFF was well run from the start. It always struck me that any growing pains I saw at MFF had more to do with actual growing than any sort of pain per se – never really saw anything spastic and ill thought out at that con. Kudos to you and the rest of the staff as usual!
Re: MFF
It completely was. Somehow, I ended up running the art show, and would not have had a clue how I wanted to do it without shadowing Duckon’s show, and paying close attention to how a couple other shows ran over the following year.