Megaplex

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Megaplex is a furry convention first held in March 2002 as Pawpet Megaplex. Megaplex 7 took place 28-30 March 2008 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Megaplex's stated goal is to provide "a celebration of interactive arts and performance, with a primary focus on anthropomorphics and fantasy".^[1] Programming has focused on fursuiting, puppetry, improvisation, and other types of performance, including musical performances by Toxic Audio in 2003 and 2004, 4:2:Five in 2006, and Matthew Ebel in 2008. In 2005, the convention hosted the Potpourri of Puppets, a puppetry event held in the Orlando area.

Attendance peaked at 387 in 2005, but declined to 185 by 2007. Reasons for this include unpopular track scheduling in 2005, a disappointing hotel experience in 2006, and a forced move to Jacksonville compounded by a schedule conflict with Furry Weekend Atlanta in 2007.^[2]^[3] The convention rebounded in 2008 with an attendance of 255.

1 History
2 Rating
3 Staff and organization
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

**Megaplex**
Pawpet Megaplex 1 (2002)
Pawpet Megaplex 2 (2003)
Megaplex 3 (2004)
Megaplex 4 (2005)
Megaplex 5 (2006)
Megaplex 6 (2007)
Megaplex 7 (2008)
Megaplex 8 (2009)

Megaplex staff
Megaplex guests of honor

Pawpet Megaplex (8-10 March 2002, 126 attending) came into being as a replacement for Furry Spring Break, which was held in 2001. FSB was unable to secure hotel space for a second convention in 2002, and folded. In its stead, Pawpet Live Experiences, Inc. was formed and held the first Pawpet Megaplex at the Ramada Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, FL.

Pawpet Megaplex 2 (21-23 March 2003, 197 attending) moved to the movie-themed Sheraton Studio City Resort, closer to Universal Studios Florida. The convention had its first guest of honour, Susan Rankin. This was also the first year Toxic Audio appeared.

Megaplex 3 (19-21 March 2004, 357 attending) returned to the Sheraton Studio City, with guest of honour Trace Beaulieu, of MST3K fame (Dr. Clayton Forrester, Crow T. Robot). The convention's theme played heavily on the fact the name of the con could be abbreviated to "MP3"; this was seen in promotional materials, as well as on-site artwork and the con book. The convention officially dropped the "Pawpet" from the name this year; however, the official web site remained ppmp.info.

Megaplex 4 (11-16 March 2005, 387 attending) moved into larger quarters at the Sheraton World Resort, right next door to the SeaWorld Orlando theme park. The guest of honour was professional puppeteer John Kennedy. As part of the convention, Orlando's Potpourri of Puppets was hosted on Sunday night. The convention's theme, taking into account the move and the fact Interstate 4 goes through Orlando, was a "road trip".

Megaplex 5 (17-19 March 2006, 257 attending) was held at the Sheraton World Resort. The fifth anniversary con's theme saluted the B-movies of days gone by, lending MP5 the subtitle of "...The Horror!". Unfortunately, part of the horror was the hotel, which staff and attendees alike had troubles with. Brian Reynolds attended as a guest of honour with his wife, Tracy.

Megaplex 6 (2-4 March 2007, 185 attending) was held at the Wyndham Jacksonville Riverfront. The primary reason for the move to Jacksonville was cost - hotels in Orlando and Tampa wanted two to three times what Megaplex had paid for space in the past, whereas the Wyndham's offer was more in line with past costs. The convention had a game show theme, and its guest of honour was Mike Kazaleh.

Megaplex 7 (28-30 March 2008, 255 attending) returned to the Wyndham Jacksonville Riverfront. The theme (announced at Megaplex 6's closing ceremonies) was comics, with heroes and villains battling it out in the form of convention mascot MegaPanther, and his arch foe, Baron Von Redtail. Adam Wan was the guest of honour, and the special musical guest was Matthew Ebel, who also participated in the live Rocky Horror event performing as Frank N Furter.

The date and location of Megaplex 8 were not available as of the end of Megaplex 7; it is known that the convention is looking at returning to Orlando, possibly at a different time of year, and that the convention will have a Toy Land theme.^[4]^[5] The convention is also changing its web site address to www.megaplexcon.org, dropping another vestige of their "Pawpet Megaplex" origins.

[edit] Rating

From its origin as a "funny animal convention" promising "good clean fun"^[6] -- which has been acknowledged as a PR blunder by the convention^[2] -- Megaplex has had a somewhat prudish reputation. This has been reinforced by its PG-13 rating, which historically extended to both sales and events (with the exception of the Rocky Horror Picture Show since 2006).

In 2007, con chair Carl Fox noted that, at the time, the convention staff felt that Megaplex's event rating was appropriate to the convention's location and audience, and was equivalent to Anthrocon's in most areas.^[2]

However, for Megaplex 7 (2008), the convention adopted similar dealer's room rules as FWA's, allowing mature work as long as it is not displayed openly.^[7] Also, some of the performances late on Friday and Saturday nights contained more mature language and material (Rocky Horror amongst them), marking a shift away from the strict rating on events.

[edit] Staff and organization

Pawpet Live Experiences, Inc. (PLEx) is a class C for-profit corporation operating out of the State of Florida.^[8]. PLEx, Inc. was incorporated in January 2002, a mere two months before putting on Pawpet Megaplex 1, and went the faster route of incorporating under the less stringent for-profit statutes. The Board of Directors runs the convention on a not-for-profit basis, and intends to eventually update their incorporation to officially reflect this.

Megaplex's Board of Directors is currently chaired by Randy "Yappy" Fox, who also acts as Hotel Liaison and Registration and Communications lead. The convention's original Chairman, Karl F. "Carl Fox" Meyers, stepped down after Megaplex 7, but remains a member of the Board.

Other Board members are: