CHAPTER TWELVE
Anthrocon: The Convention
that Conquered Pittsburgh
A PRIDE OF LIONS, a school of fish, a congregation of alligators . . . As people who have adopted animal identities, furs deserve a group name as well.
I nominate “a convention of furs.” That is, after all, where we gather. Those sixty-five furs who attended ConFurence Zero in 1989? The tiniest of blips compared to the 45,000 furs who attended conventions worldwide in 2015.
The lion’s share of those fans—about 35,000—gathered at the forty-plus furcons held in North America, from Reno, Nevada (“The Biggest Little Furcon”) to Edmonton, Canada (“Fur-Eh!”); eleven of those conventions attracted over a thousand furs; several, multiple thousands. Furry conventions have been held across Europe,149 in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines—the list goes on…
* * *
CONTINUED IN –
FURRY NATION:
The True Story of America’s Most Misunderstood Subculture
NOW ON SALE FROM CLEIS PRESS