For the record, keeping me out of trouble isn’t nearly the chore that some make it out to be; but, it is at least a part-time job. Anyway…

As always we try to tweak the photo room just a bit better each time we set it up, usually that means adding new gear, careful because we want to be able to fit the entire studio behind the seat of my little pickup to protect it from the weather. Everything is compact, but we get a lit of mileage out of it all.

Kim is actually a Tomodachi veteran; but, this was my first year going, usually a weekend hibernation is my post-Thanksgiving plan of action, but not this year! This is actually ironic as this year Tomodachi Fest 6 will be held at the beginning of October, so my first year will be the last in November and my second year (yes, we’re already confirmed) will be the first October con.

So, what is my verdict of Tomodachi Fest, you ask? Two big happy thumbs up from both of us…so yeah…four thumbs up. It’s a small convention with a lot of great people and it was a lot of fun capturing their efforts in the photo room, the smaller size also gave me the luxury of spending a bit more time with each model, which is always a plus.

You can find the pictures from Tomodachi Fest 5: HERE at Red Zone Fan Photography, or HERE, HERE and HERE on facebook.

© 2012 – 2013, Tim Boothby. All rights reserved.

We live in the area where a little university made college sports take the term “mid major” seriously, and while I was rambling for a minute or two during the closing ceremonies of Tomodachi Fest 5, I described Tomo as “too good to be little and too small to be called big.” That really describes the local convention scene well I thought, and its time that people knew about the “mid majors” of the fan convention scene. Cons don’t have to be big to be good. Does anyone remember when ComicCon was for comic fans? Me either, its been that long. ComicCon became a showcase for TV shows and Movies and Gen Con and Origins have become trade shows for game companies and its the fans that have been lost in the shuffle as the corporate mentality of these conventions started seeing dollar signs rather than fans.

I’ve been to big cons, and I don’t see me going back. Give me a smaller con where I can recognize the “powers that be” that run the event because we know these people and talk to them. It’s not a corporate face, its Borneo, Jamie, James, Kasandra and Robert and too many others to name that we all know and BS with before, during and after the cons. These are the Little Rascals and Andy Hardy-types of our age that aren’t afraid to say “Hey, lets put on a show,” and they not only say it, but they go out and find others that want to “put on a show” too, and they do just that.

So, we have the shows and the “mid major” vibe they have is a wonderful thing, and its a thing we should share. So, in this upcoming year of 2013 lets all make an effort to bring a friend to a local con. Share what you’ve enjoyed and what they’ve missed. I don’t want to see our local cons make the jump from “mid major” to a “big program” and lose what makes them special; but, I’d like to see some more people at the local cons, adding to the fan base even a bit means adding more guests that you’d really like to meet; and, it means adding more to the infrastructure needed to put on these conventions. A few more people means a few more ideas, a few more fan events and even an extra buck here or there to update the tech.

We don’t need a huge show or even a middlin’ show with pretensions of greatness, we need to hold on to our hard-working and performing out of their league “mid majors” and help them thrive and continue to evolve. So, bring a friend to con this year and save them from that couch and rousing game of pocket pool and bring a friend to con.

© 2012 – 2013, Tim Boothby. All rights reserved.

I love the vibe of day one at Fandemonium, there’s nothing quite like that feeling as we roll in the door to start setting up.  We usually arrive a few hours before the doors officially open, and it’s a busy time as the staff is doing their last minute preparations, you can feel the charge in the air and it says “its gonna be awesome!”  Over the years I’ve been to quite a few cons, some of the largest back in the day, but I’ve never felt that first day buzz anywhere else.

Part of the reason is that Fandemonium is “For the Fans, by the Fans,” people that go to cons themselves as attendees as well host a con every year, a lot of con organizers forget what its like to be on the attending side and it reflects in how they treat people as well as the overall feeling of the event.

Our own philosophy for Fandemonium for this year, “The same and different” sort of a theme: Kasandra will be bouncing around all over, Kim is sewing away as always, Shae Dravenmore is planning her annual pilgrimage all the way down from the Emerald City with chain mail and new costuming as well, I’ll probably be wearing something red.  But, for all that stays the same, we’re looking at changes this year.

• Our table this year will be in the Dealer’s room, rather than artist’s alley, with Kim and Matt as usual ready to show you all sorts of cool stuff.  The sewing machine is working full time now on a few classics and some new ideas as well.
• This year Shae and I will be in the photo room, and not roaming the halls as in previous years.  We’ve upgraded the setup many of you saw at Fur Idaho back in March, so bring all of your cosplays, I’m looking to break all of my event records for pictures taken!

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© 2012 – 2013, Tim Boothby. All rights reserved.

Here’s where it gets even more interesting! Everyone has a skill that they can share with the class!  If you go to Fandemonium’s Event Registration page you can add your own talents and insights to the fan community.  Click the link to find out more!

© 2012 – 2013, Tim Boothby. All rights reserved.

Artists Alley

Dealers Room

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© 2012 – 2013, Tim Boothby. All rights reserved.

The city was kind enough to give us access to the Caboose a month before it formally opened to the public and it made an excellent steam backdrop, if you check the photos either here in the Red Zone Gallery or on Facebook you’ll see that there were cosplayers inside, outside, on top and underneath the caboose.

There was a quick stop by Carl Miller Park for a few shots in the stones and trees, there’s a few shots I plan to tweak because they look so much like a Celtic warrior storming the walls of a keep, it should prove interesting anyway.

Then it was on to the Mountain Home Museum.  Some call the Elmore County Museum; but, I’m going with what the sign outside says.  Here there are displays going back to the late 19th Century, which made for an excellent backdrop with a Museum volunteer loaded with good information to help bring life to the place.

Then is was off to relax at Red Zone headquarters, well, my house anyway where we fired up the grill to feast and relax with a lot of talking and relaxing.  Roughly 2/3ds of the pics are up at press time, more will be tweaked to tame the sunlight, and to tweak and play with the shots taken in front of the screen back at RZ HQ, so stay tuned for more.

© 2012 – 2013, Tim Boothby. All rights reserved.

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© 2012 – 2013, Tim Boothby. All rights reserved.

Cosplayers run into problems unique in fandom.   “Can I duplicate that armor and still be able to move?” or “You mean I can make a plastic out of milk that will let me duplicate those pieces?” or the even more daunting, “I can transform a female with waist-length blonde hair into a guy with black hair and a 5 o’clock shadow?”

The answer to all of these questions is yes, and Tanglwyst de Holloway, Eric Smart, Caitlyn Bridges, and Borneo Armstrong answered these and many other questions that could arise to vex novice and veteran cosplayers alike.  Cosplay College was held at the Community Center with two classrooms running at all times to discuss makeup, costuming techniques and cosplay science and still had time for socializing.

This is an even that needs to happen again!  We’re looking at an age shift as younger fans are becoming more active and this is the perfect way for them to learn from those who have gone before; but, there was still things for the experienced to discover as well.

Simply put, Cosplay College was fans sharing, teaching and leaning from each other.

© 2012 – 2013, Tim Boothby. All rights reserved.

You can fine the rest of the pics in the Red Zone Forum or on our FaceBook page

There is no doubt; Idaho has its own fur convention!  In its debut the fur fandom from across the country converged on the Boise Hotel and Convention Center to be part of FurIdaho’s first year.  Attendees from Idaho were joined by enthusiasts from such far-flung places as Washington, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma; and, with 249 attendees FurIdaho becomes the second largest first year fan convention in Idaho history!

Yes,  249 is actual people attending, if they bought 3 1-day passes they still count as one person.  It’s not based on badges issued; but, people they were issued to.  Yes, the distinction is important, lots of cons will go to outrageous lengths to inflate their numbers.  I went to a gaming mini-con in Dallas years ago that claimed 100 attendees for a 2-day event…they must have been counting everyone including the janitors to get a number that high.

But, I digress.  We’ll never get anywhere if you let me wander like this.

First of all, its time to mention some of the names that made the con happen!

• Robert Wright, FurIdaho 2012 Chairman
• Kasandra Bessey, Vicechair (also of Red Zone fame)
• Borneo Armstrong, Personnel Manager/Guest Liason
• Justin “Inangus” Ash, Margeting Manager
• Katherine Hughes, Registration Director
• Sara Hunt, Staging Director
• Alex Wright, A/V Director
• Bryan Currid, Security Manager
• Wendy Nelson, Day Con Ops Coordinator
• Ben Lockhart, Night Con Ops Coordinator
• Cary Billingsley, Fur Suit Lounge Coordinator
• Michael Green, Dealers and Artists Den Liason.

There are a lot more names that worked behind the scenes, they worked their butts off to bring a great convention to all!  I realize its more traditional to recognize the guests of honor before the staff; but, seriously, the amount of work that does into planning a first year convention is a backbreaker and they really deserve the props!

But the Guests of Honor do as well, these are people with experience in the fan genres that are willing to actually share their experiences with others.  This is a rare thing these days, as many choose to hoard their knowledge; so, lets see who this year’s guest of honor were:

• A.J. O’Connel, author of Awakenings
• DJ Pwn_3, DJ
• Fine Yound Deviants, comedy/improv acting troupe.
• Fur What It’s Worth, Furry podcasters.
• Hosehead, DJ
• Kadath, anthropomorphic and furry artist.
• Mokusei “Moku” Kaze, anthropomorphic and furry artist.
• Suzette Snyder, in-house artist for Fantastic Journey’s Publishing
• Tanglwyst de Holloway, costumer

FurIdaho made an interesting move and combined the Artists Alley and Dealer’s room, it was a good move that allowed attendees to see everything in one shot and made it much easier for artists and dealers to compare notes as well.  You can learn more about the artists by checking out the Red Zone’s photo coverage of the events.  The artists and dealers are a key element of the convention experience, and we certainly didn’t ignore them.

FurIdaho was unique in that it was a 24-hour operation, with furry-themed movies playing all night.  So, what else was there to do, you ask?  Well, continue on gentle reader.

Obviously, there was no lack of things to do!

Of course no event would be possible without the venue, and the Boise Hotel and Convention Center really stepped up to the plate.  We look forward to enjoying this venue again at Tomodachi Fest 2012 in November.

This also marked the first occasion for the Red Zone to bring the full photo room to an event, we featured a choice of 4 backdrops (but everyone seemed to want red) and attendees could see their pictures as they were taken on the secondary monitor.  We look forward to bringing the setup to FurIdaho 2013 as well!

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You can find full image galleries in FaceBook or Google+

© 2012 – 2013, Tim Boothby. All rights reserved.

Fur fandom may be one of the more recent of the many genres, but its roots actually predate all others with sightings in early Egyptian and even upper Paleolithic cultures.  So the contemporary Furs may be a recent addition to culture, but the roots of the fandom are among the most ancient of human cultures.

Anubis from the Wikipedia Commons

Murph and Garion have canine partial suits

One of the more modern innovations is the fursuit (don’t worry PETA, they’re faux fur!).  These suits, whether full or partial, are an anthropomorphic form of cosplay where human and animal features are blended to create a distinct character or ‘fursonna.’

A person’s fursonna is the furry persona they have chosen to represent themselves in the culture.  It can be anything from a cat or dog, to even mythical creatures like dragons or fox/wolf hybrids.

Kami, a female Ocelot drawn by Kawauso

Many artists make quite a bit of money making fursuits of people’s characters, or drawing people’s fursonnas for use online or as badges to identify them at conventions.

Some furs even make money off of their own characters by drawing them into comics, like Dan and Mab’s Furry Adventures drawn by Amber Williams, Furthia High by QuetzaDrake, or Lackadaisy Cats by Tracy J. Butler who is in fact, not a furry at all (though her anthropomorphic characters are beautiful).

For as much drawn and painted media the fandom has put out, there is also a glut of written word, poetry, music, video games, and so much more out there waiting to be discovered.

At FurIdaho you can learn more about drawing Furs, attend panels on both making and wearing fursuits, and pit your character against other people’s in a grand RPG style battle royale.  There will even be panels about self publishing, growing the local community, and local Idaho fauna!  Check out http://furidaho.com/programming/event-schedule for the updated schedule and we hope to see you there wagging your tail with us on 23, 24, and 25 March!

© 2012 – 2013, Tim Boothby. All rights reserved.