Well, this is what I personally thought about Confuzzled. I am not going to just say it was amazing and "OMG!!! IT ROXXOR!!11". So, this is my report card for CF08. All pawprints(stars) are out of five.
Venue
Location - 5 Pawprints
The Manchester Youth Hostel was located almost perfectly for the con. Located in the city, it was actually it was a little out of the way. Thus, there wasn’t a ton of foot traffic going through the area. However, there was plenty of places to go that were within walking distance of venue. Also, it was within walking distance of the local train station, and was less then a 20 Pound cab ride from the airport.
Rooms - 4 Pawprints
Personally, I have never been in a hostel before. But, from what I heard, this was outstanding in comparison. Every room had there own bathroom (including a shower). It was spacious enough that with four people in the room, it didn’t feel too crowded (we were, but that is a different story). All-in-all, it was a great facility.
Food/Kitchen - 2 Pawprints
This was probably the worst part of the con. There were constant problems with the kitchen. Mostly due to the fact that they changed all of the flatware when they renovated the hostel and through away all of the old flatware, but they were constantly running out of things. Plastic flatware was laid out, but it was even running out. Trays ended up either being gone, or dirty. Mind you, eating with two knives was fun and entertaining. The food was on par with most places that serve buffet-style food. It could have been much better.
Bar - 3 Pawprints
The bar did have an interesting selection of drinks, and the juices, coffee, and pastry were all good. However, the beer selection was a bit lacking, and the liquor selection was even worse. The prices were good (mind you, still a little high, but it was England). However, they were quickly running out of items on the menu, and to make matters worse, they closed shortly after midnight. A lot of the problems with the bar were not the bars fault, but due to local restrictions.
Personnel
Con Staff - 5 Pawprints
Very friendly, and always nearby if you needed to find them. Plus, they were always willing to just sit down and have a conversation if they weren’t busy at the time. On top of that, they were very able to adapt to the changing schedule, and made changed that made the con for the better. You wouldn’t have been able to guess this was the first Confuzzled.
Hotel Staff - 4 Pawprints
The hotel staff was actually very friendly. They were very capable of dealing with the mass floods at the bar and in the kitchen. Also, they were willing to be able (at times) join in a bit during the fun, and at the end of the con seemed very interested in how were we doing. I was quite impressed.
Attendees - 4 Pawprints
Attendees can make or break a con. A lot of the times, furs will end up coming to a con and just stop using common sense or expect everyone to not care about what they feel like doing. Other then a few isolated cases (which are expected); everyone behaved in an excellent fashion. Energy was high during the events, and no one was really running around acting like a fool, or trying to cause a large amount of drama.
Programming
Scheduling - 4 Pawprints
The schedule was excellent. It wasn’t too crowded with things to make it feel like you had to go running about to get to the next event, and it wasn’t spare to make it feel like you had nothing to do. The con had a very relaxed feel to it throughout the whole thing. And, the schedule was on-time throughout most of the con. Only a couple of times did events run late (and, when doesn’t the Art Auction run late).
Registration - 5 Pawprints
Registration was quick, and very efficient. Even with over 60 furs lined up right off the bat, the registration was knocked out very quickly, and the wait to start the fun was right to the point. Good job guys!
Dances - 5 Pawprints
Four DJs, two nights… Yeah, it was great. Graafen started on Saturday night with a good rock dance. While, I haven’t danced to music like that in a long time, I still take the time to listen to it. It was a great selection, and ending with “What would Brian Botano do?” just made my day. DJ Swolf was next with a great dance, starting with a ton of cheese and just didn’t let up for a long time. I actually had to force myself to take a break, because I didn’t want to stop dancing even though I was burning up. Ending his set with a few minutes of Happy Hardcore was a perfect choice, making me burn up any remaining energy I really had left. On Sunday, BBF was the one to spin, and he jumped right into with gusto. He started the night right with some good House tracks. After a while of spinning, Kenai took over and played some great bouncy beats. After a while, BBF took back over and just leveled the floor was some amazing tracks. Even with the last track (can’t recall the name… I’m bad at that), the floor was still full of energy even though the sun was coming up (and I mean, it was quite bright out at the end).
Auction - 5 Pawprints
Alright, I will be biased if I say how the auction went because I was the auctioneer for half of the auction, but numbers will not lie. The auction raised over 2300 Pounds, with over 1550 Pounds ($3,100) going towards charity just from the auction. The first Anthrocon only raised $2,200, while the first Further Confusion raised $3,500 (pulled from WikiFur). So, for the first year, Confuzzled is off to a smashing start!
Alright, I will be biased if I say how the auction went because I was the auctioneer for half of the auction, but numbers will not lie. The auction raised over 2300 Pounds, with over 1550 Pounds ($3,100) going towards charity just from the auction. The first Anthrocon only raised $2,200, while the first Further Confusion raised $3,500 (pulled from WikiFur). So, for the first year, Confuzzled is off to a smashing start!
Overall - 4 Pawprints
Confuzzled was an absolutely amazing con, even if it was its first year. I have full intentions of returning next year, and promote others to join me as well. Later on, I will post some of the pictures I took (there aren’t that many) just so you can see for yourself.
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Comments
My first one was the EF11 and I kinda missed that you could only pick one other roomie instead of five others like at the hostel in Nuremberg where EF took place before. And yeah, sometimes it happens that the hostel messes up some food because of certain problems. It just happens.
You forgot to describe the quality of the beds and the cleanliness of the bathrooms/shower. I hope the beds weren't too hard like ours in Nuremberg were. Even the memory hurts. But the group showers were nice. ;) And no naughty thoughts now please.
I'm surprised that you gave 4 of 5 pawprints. Because I heard some rumors from people that the Chairman of CF had no idea of how to make a con and etc. But well, that's a different story. Glad to have you back here in the rest of good ol' europe.
And, Cali did an amazing job as a chairman, along with the rest of the staff. Confuzzled is going to be one of those cons that will be here for a long time.
I'll friend you on LJ if you don't mind. :)
And, I already added you as a friend. :P
*nosebeeps*
I have to say I actually liked the food, buffet catering is never gourmet, but I enjoyed every meal and the proper cooked breakfasts were a definite plus (I am a mushroom addict!)! :)
Shame I missed it!
*feels soaked but less lonely* ;)
We'll have to go there next year !
*wipes his tears and nose on your shoulder*.. whoops.. sorry :P
Did you get my email?
*Hugs*
I can't wait to go back next year too and definately recommend it. I look forward to seeing you there again, or at EF if your attending and we bump into each other.