Furry Weekend Atlanta 2009
From WikiFur, the furry encyclopedia.
Furry Weekend Atlanta 2009 will be the sixth installment of the Furry Weekend Atlanta convention, the fourth-largest convention in the United States. It will take place the weekend of March 19-22, 2009.
The 2009 theme is "Safari!"
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[edit] New hotel
Two major changes will affect this year's convention. First, the relocation of the convention to the larger Hilton Atlanta hotel downtown, after busting the Sheraton Gateway hotel with 1,046 attendees in 2008.
Hilton Atlanta is one of the hotels that hosts the large Dragon*Con fantasy convention, and thus has experience in fandom conventions. It has over 80,000 ft2 of convention and meeting space spread over five levels of the hotel. The Lower Level main ballroom alone is 41,404 ft2[1], nearly five times the size of the main ballroom at Sheraton Gateway. It also has a lot more guest rooms: 1,226, compared to 395 rooms for the Sheraton Gateway.[2]
The FWA website, in explaining the move to Hilton Atlanta, stated that Hilton Atlanta has already been working with FWA staff on organizing the 2009 convention, and made a "concerted effort" to win the convention's business.[3] The hotel is also convenient for air travel, being two blocks away from the Peachtree Center MARTA subway station. The room rate, however, will rise to $127 per night.
[edit] New date
The second major change is the date. The convention had to move its weekend from the traditional dates around Valentine's Day to the weekend of March 19-22. This is due to the fact that February is when Atlanta hosts the "Cheersport" cheerleading convention, booking Downtown Atlanta's hotels solid. Trying to keep a February date would have been cost-prohibitive to the convention and its attendees. The date, however, does provide the advantage of limiting the possibility of cold weather, as freezing temperatures have greeted conventioneers at FWA for the previous two years.
[edit] Programming
Soon after the annual re-launch of the site, the site was further re-formatted to a Safari theme, the final break from the Valentine's Day theming of the first five years.
The Guests of Honor, announced on June 20, 2008, will be professional musician Matthew Ebel, a.k.a. Hali of Firpine, and anthropomorphic artist Richard Foley, a.k.a. Moonstalker.[4]
Reservations for the Dealer's Den opened on June 1 for 2008 dealers, and will open on August 1 for new dealers.[5]
The Art Show and Auction is already accepting submissions. Submissions will close on March 1, 2009.[6]
[edit] Registration
Pre-registration opened on May 15, 2008. Pre-registration prices will be the same as in 2008. It will close on March 9, 2009.[7]
Attending Membership is $35 ($40 at the door). Regular attendees will receive admission to the convention for all three days, the Southern Tails convention newsletter and promotional material for one year.
Sponsorship is $90 ($100 at the door). Sponsors will receive a free convention t-shirt in addition to three-day admission.
God-level Sponsorship is $160 ($180 at the door). In addition to admission and the free t-shirt, God-level Sponsors receive additional special gifts, can attend a free dinner with the Guests of Honor, and receive access to a special lounge, "Mount Olympus".
Single-day admission will be available at the door.
[edit] References
- ↑ http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/meeting_space.jhtml?ctyhocn=ATLAHHH#top
- ↑ http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/groups.jhtml?ctyhocn=ATLAHHH
- ↑ http://www.furryweekend.com/faq/move
- ↑ http://www.furryweekend.com/goh_holder
- ↑ http://www.furryweekend.com/dealers
- ↑ http://www.furryweekend.com/artshow
- ↑ http://www.furryweekend.com/registration
[edit] External links
- Furry Weekend Atlanta Official Website
