The REAL COSTS of FURRY CONVENTIONS

Рет қаралды 7,381

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 78

@CatamaraSnep Жыл бұрын

For anyone in the comments looking for tips to cut down on spending, volunteering at a convention can sometimes halve the costs. I have volunteered with cons a couple of times and I got heavily discounted rooms, waived badge cost, free swag and even some meals. Plus meeting new people working with you! It varies from organization to organization though so check what the perks are. Typically they are most likely to accept you and there aren't a lot of requirements to joining.

@Beansquishy Жыл бұрын

Whats volunteering like? I wanna do it and contribute but I'm afraid of not being qualified and making a mistake that ruins the experience for others :/

@iamontda Жыл бұрын

I second this! Volunteers can get some good perks, and it can segue into becoming staff, which can have even more perks! Some conventions will help to comp your ticket for the next year depending on how many hours you work (ex. Megaplex did something like 'do volunteer work for at least 8 hours and your base level registration next year is free'). Meeting people through volunteering is one of the biggest reasons why I recommend it.

@iamontda Жыл бұрын

@@Beansquishy The experience depends on the convention, but volunteering doesn't require you to have any crazy high-level skills (though if you have a high-level skill, let staff know and they can try putting it to use). You can be doing things as simple as crowd control (registration lines mostly), helping with registration, assisting in panels, pushing stuff around (some rooms have to have things changed between panels, and A/V always appreciates an extra pair of hands when loading equipment in/ out for a con), and more. If you're nervous, just know that at any convention, you're going to be surrounded by likeminded people, and most of the staff started as volunteers themselves :) If there's a specific aspect of con work you want to learn more about/ help out with, let staff know and they can see what they're able to do!

@notafurry3813 Жыл бұрын

Keep up the good work, you're really contributing and giving important knowledge to the fandom!

@FinnThePanther Жыл бұрын

That's the plan!

@solarsaber Жыл бұрын

I'm a simple woman. I see a big cat, I click (nice vid)

@FinnThePanther Жыл бұрын

Just trying to do my part; the number of big cats on this platform is way too low

@SoulTheProtogen Жыл бұрын

How do i like a video more than once? This deserves way more visibility than it has.

@JJNuttyButter Жыл бұрын

Ok, I’m not a Furry by any means, nor do I plan on becoming one but I am curious on how it this fandom works and what it is all about, but anyways the last two videos are really good, even for a non-furry, hope your channel goes far.

@FinnThePanther Жыл бұрын

I appreciate that! My goal is to just to talk about furries and their fandom to a general audience, not to convince others to join. Hopefully that idea continues to be true as the channel progress.

@wolfganghusky8936 Жыл бұрын

these are awesome videos!!! im super new to the fandom and this is great to know!!!

@FinnThePanther Жыл бұрын

Glad they're able to help!

@CampionBun Жыл бұрын

Excellent video, but there's another category for budgeting that I like to call "hidden costs." These are costs in preparation for a convention, things like haircut, buying toiletries, possibly bringing in your own drinks or snacks, etc. If you don't mind eating fast food, one tip I recommend is packing restaurant coupons, this helped me a lot with Subway at Anthrocon for example. Some hotels include breakfast and dinner options with your room, so it might be worth paying a little extra for that. Always find someone to room with, at least one other person. Just a question, how do you have your audio recording set up in suit?

@FinnThePanther Жыл бұрын

Very good points! For my audio, I use a Rode VideoMic NTG positioned just off camera above my head. That and a few software audio tricks brightens up the normally muffled sound coming from my suit!

@RaijuTheTiger Жыл бұрын

Furry from Canada here! Friends and I recently just drove across the country as a group, 13 hours there and 13 hours back, Gas cost us about 160$ (I think) (We had a very fuel efficient vehicle), Hotel for 5 nights at the con hotel cost each of us (Party of 4) 130$ (520$ Total before deposit), food per day was between 30$ - 40$ per day for 2 meals each day, And then the cost of registration, I went with the base of 60$ but this can go up to I think 300$! During the convention weekend I actually had to go to a walk in for a small emergency, thankfully I have some solid coverage, and only had to pay for my prescription out of pocket, which added about 55$ to the trip base costs. We had a blast! But you really wanna make sure you can afford attending a convention before making that commitment.

@AwtaLOL Жыл бұрын

your channel is so underrated! im 100% sure you'll blow up any video now^^

@FinnThePanther Жыл бұрын

Aww thank you! I'm a big believer in "build it and they will come" and we're still building right now. Hopefully the views will follow!

@ChakatSandwalker 4 ай бұрын

Here in New Zealand, we've had 'conventions' since 2009, though our first major gathering was in someone's apartment in 2002, with twelve furries. We've used campsites with cabins and facilities for our cons, and it's only this year that our first hotel con is happening; I'm not going because I'm too financially strained, but I'll be going to the next camp con. Compared to staying in a hotel, I'd say it's very cheap - NZD250 for three nights, plus additional for room upgrades and certain events, and travel costs, obviously. My parents very conveniently live very close to the camp we've used for the past few years, so I can combine the con and a personal vacation.

@savagebear4374 Жыл бұрын

My best bet in attending might be to go one within driving distance to ease transportation cost. My best guess was around $2k, I'll have to adjust for inflation though. Got around $200 now, going for a convention sometime possibly next year. Thanks for the tips.

@termitesc.aardwolf3644 Жыл бұрын

I've only been to 3 cons. The 2nd con I've been to was Furlandia up in Portland and I was able to stay at my stepdad's place downtown which completely eliminated hotel expenses.

@RichieBre Жыл бұрын

Wow, such a cute fursuit, here from a shoutout from Awta ❤

@sunnyirissohlei7266 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for entertaining and pleasantly informative furry fandom videos! 🧡

@southernpennsyrailfan8579 Жыл бұрын

As someone from the Philadelphia area, I would recommend going to the Reading terminal market for food

@SparkyStarLPS Жыл бұрын

Absolutely great video! Everyone attending a con should see this!

@moritz1628 Жыл бұрын

Awesome video!

@FinnThePanther Жыл бұрын

Thanks you! 💜

@Emma_952 11 ай бұрын

Very very helpful!! I was really hope my husband and I would be able to attend our first convention in 2024, but we now have to move three states away from where we’re currently living for work!! 🤦‍♀️ Maybe we’ll catch you in 2025!!

@Gooseknox Жыл бұрын

Your videos are so professional-feeling and informative. You're doing great!

@sweets_Cat88 Жыл бұрын

When it comes to dealers and spending money on con merch/fan art I would divide up my spending money by 3 envelopes. Each envelope would have the amount I want to spend divided by 3 Say $600 is your set budget for merchandise money. And in each envelope you place $200 each. Label each envelope Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That way your settings your self a mini limit to spend each day. What you don’t spend/ left over you can add it to the next day envelope. I do this at anime cons like Anime Boston

@crovvebar Жыл бұрын

I definitely recommend going to your nearest convention for your first one! I went to FWA this year, carpooled and spent around $350 for my share of the room (main hotel) and I believe the badge was $80!

@HowlsHut Жыл бұрын

Hello! Great video! Im currently living in philly and I’ll be attending furrydelphia, i hope the fact that you used furrydelphia as an example in the video means you’ll be attending. Id love to take a picture with you!

@Thrill_fctr-live Жыл бұрын

I love your podcast and I love the new videos keep it up :)

@husvidfloden Жыл бұрын

my new fave channel on youtube, and i'm also realising that my weakness for big cats absolutely includes panthers :)

@autumnfox841 Жыл бұрын

Awesome video! Very informative

@momomo5023 Жыл бұрын

Wow, i'm so glad i found your channel! Never thought i be getting budgeting advice from a panther lolol😅🥰

@Techno-Universal Жыл бұрын

The budgeting also depends on if the convention is non profit or not as some conventions are non profit events so in that scenario their costs would be a lot lower with all of their staff other than their security and head organisers being unpaid volunteers! While all of the revenue that would otherwise be profit is then donated at the end of the convention to whatever charity organisation the organisers choose to sponsor that year! :)

@danielobrien1571 Жыл бұрын

Cool suit and nice colors, speaking of cons have you ever been to or heard of Anthro New England? It takes place in Boston, Massachusetts where I'm from. I'm not a suiter, but I've been to the last 3 cons there taking public transportation and usually just attending for a single day during the whole event. I know about registration and I get lunch in the hotel and buy things at the dealers den which is just about all I can afford. If you ever need another convention to attend then try ANE up here it's a great one to be at.

@FinnThePanther Жыл бұрын

ANE has been on my list of cons to attend for awhile now, hopefully I can get around to checking it out soon!

@danielobrien1571 Жыл бұрын

@@FinnThePanther That's Anthro New England here in Boston, Massachusetts, but you live on the west coast right? It's a bit further than Philadelphia where Anthrocon and Furry Delphia take place so it might break you taking the trek over here. Another thing is this con is fairly big but not like Anthrocon but close enough with the number of suiters that attend it, in fact it's in a bigger hotel now than it had been in before and a much nicer hotel too.

@lukelear_bomb Жыл бұрын

Love the video! Kinda random question but do your arms get tired gesturing so much?

@FinnThePanther Жыл бұрын

Not really! Because of how wide the camera lens is, I don't have to move my arms that wide to cover the entire frame, so it's not that bad!

@termitesc.aardwolf3644 Жыл бұрын

I'm considering going to Furry Weekend Atlanta next year. I'll see if I can get a cheaper hotel away from the city center and just take the bus there.

@ShiitaKitsune64 Жыл бұрын

I would also highly suggest taking your expected fun spending budget and rounding it up by a good amount, especially if you know you'll start to let loose when at the con. For exaple, if you expect to spend $150, it would be good to round up to $200, maybe even $300, and actually have that money set aside specifically for con (like in cash or a visa gift card or something). It is much better to set aside too much money and have extra after con than it is to go over budget.

@vWallv Жыл бұрын

Nice work i think this can help anyone to budget for a lot of things

@FinnThePanther Жыл бұрын

This can definitely be applied to any type of travel, not just furry conventions!

@lexicon_c Жыл бұрын

how do you have less than 1k subs???? this is high quality content

@yukii_artzz Жыл бұрын

This is so helpful!! I’m definitely gonna need this for my first convention

@SashaWont Жыл бұрын

Thank you for this video! This is very helpful.

@fyreball43 Жыл бұрын

This is so useful! thank you for making this vid. As someone who's going to start going to cons, I thank you :3

@ZikQ621 Жыл бұрын

nice video, continue 👍

@FinnThePanther Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@klimas-kdawg3407 Жыл бұрын

Here's my formula Once I decide on a con that I want to go to, I will Preregister as soon as possible. Cost done. Then I will work on my room share and try my best to set aside as much money for the room share as possible. Travel is my next item that I will budget for and save for. Last but not least, is my variable/spending money. I pay as much as possible over a period of time. Each item paid is a bite . How do I eat the proverbial elephant, I eat it one small bite at a time. I will split the big picture into manageable parts therefore eliminating the stress. Achieve smaller goals and it feels easier to accomplish the goal of going to the con.

@Natacrafts12 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for all the advice!

@Purple_hat1 Жыл бұрын

I got a lot of lucky breaks on stuff, me and my mom work for different companies that can provide free travel, then if you room with a few it shouldnt be more than $250 each for hotel, that and food would be more for me cause I like to eat. But I calculated my expenses and it would be $700 or so using your graph. This helped me understand the costs and what it takes to go to a convention. Granted mines a bit more of a budget than yours.

@Flare-us7wy Жыл бұрын

This is a really good video

@MandoMonge Жыл бұрын

I’ll be the first to admit I’m quite lucky sometimes. As a flight attendant, I have requested for flights to cities where cons are going on, so my flights and hotel stays (although, only 1 night) are basically free so I just go and hang out with friends. Pro tip on how to get paid to go to a con xP

@Beansquishy Жыл бұрын

I got so lucky that my first con was in my city and it was the first year it was running so the badges were super inexpensive

@bluegold1026 Жыл бұрын

Love your fursuit. I was at AC ‘23 and I don’t remember ever seeing you around. Then again, so many fwuffs and so much con space to cover…

@DeputatKaktus Жыл бұрын

Obligatory „not a furry, but“… Honestly this is all rock solid advice that applies to music festivals as well. Going the comfiest and easiest route at all times is always gonna cost you big. Last music festival I went to, I ran the numbers. A rental car would have cost me 400 bucks (rental prices are batshit rn even for a small car) plus another approx. 130 bucks for gas. So just getting there and back would already have been north of 500 bucks. Train tickets were 150 total. Sure I had to lug around all my camping stuff and put up with delays and whatnot, but well worth the savings. Going out to eat would have been like 30-50 bucks a day for 4 days. Cooking on the camp ground comes out to 10 bucks per day, if that. Sure, I set aside some cash for beers, booze and spontaneous outings so I do not have to worry too much. The merch area used to be my nemesis. Because brain goes into mindless shopping mode quickly. Realistically though, a lot of stuff that you can get there is gonna be cheaper online, even from the same vendor. So restraining yourself will go far. It is hard, I know. Maybe this is something that comes with age though (I am 42). The death of many a bank account from my experience is the sentence „Oh, we also do PayPal!“. That said: All the best for your channel! ❤

@donutshark2013_og 11 ай бұрын

I have alot of questions about cons bc ive never been to one- If you are driving to the con should you book a hotel room if you could sleep in the car instead? Also if you do sleep in your car can you keep your badge so you can get back in without having to register, or should you just re-register is there a price difference? Im so confused 😭😭

@Tiptoetherat Жыл бұрын

Nice video. Good content

@Techno-Universal Жыл бұрын

Quite a lot of furries have never attended a convention as they might live in a country where there’s no furry conventions while they would have to pay thousands of dollars just to fly to and from the convention if they have to travel half way across the globe to attend a big convention in the US.