A Critical Issue for Conventions: Size
- 24 min read - Text OnlyIn 2023, I radically improved FurSquared's on-site registration with process engineering and software development. This eliminated its recurring "line-con" problem, reduced stress for attendees and staff, and gave all involved more time to enjoy their time at the convention. Loyal attendees remarked on the difference they saw from prior years.
Then, in 2024, FurSquared grew by 35%. Despite the increased attendee count, the smaller room, and once more another broken printer, we performed better on Thursday and as good for the rest of the convention.
If anything, 2024's experience emphasized the importance of handling scale with a small volunteer workforce.
Successful conventions, like FurSquared, are growing exponentially each year. The technology and processes we use have to support that growth while improving the quality of life for everyone involved. We need to constantly improve our operations to support that. Should we fail, staff will burn out, the quality of life for attendees will deteriorate, and our mission in bringing people together and raising charity is at risk.
Exponential growth
After FurSquared (abbreviated as F2) 2024, I attended Furry Weekend Atlanta (FWA). FWA experienced a 45% increase in attendance year over year. Like F2, FWA's registration process scaled up to handle even more attendees than the year before. It was as smooth to check in as the year prior and they had the staff and technology to sustain it throughout the convention.
A safe rate, according to an FWA registration staffer, is to plan for 22% growth year over year. Have the supplies for more, but plan for 22%.
Then, in June, I attended Furality. The amount of technical infrastructure and skilled work that went into it surpasses about every other convention I know of.
It was a wildly different experience that required just as much planning to execute at the scale they had to operate in.
Being able to connect so many people remotely in real time is an impressive feat. One that, I dare say, Meta has yet to accomplish.
Whether online or in person, the amount of growth we have to plan for is no joke. It is a crisis that can go well or go terribly.
Why is there so much year-on-year growth?
I believe the newest generations no longer consider LGBTQ+ identity to be a social stigma. The internet and social media spread cultural acceptance and diversity like never before. As a trend, it is bleeding into older generations like my own as well.
Social acceptance of LGBTQ+ is growing and the Furry community is a vibrant beacon and home for those who seek friends and found-families without being judged for their personal identity.
FurSquared and other conventions have to plan for growth each year as the furry fandom grows. While we can be proud of our success in serving an even greater audience than the last, when we fail attendees by not preparing for their attendance, it is a shame on us for our poor execution and harms the expectations they have in returning the next year.
Convention leadership must candidly act on projected attendance, make agreements with venues, budget for licenses, and set directors and their teams up for success to pull off a convention.
And, unfortunately, also raise prices at times too.
Compensation and admission pricing
Some conventions compensate DJ attendance — some even do the hotel or flights. Very few actually pay them on top of that for their time before and during the convention. The same goes for all the other staff types, like Audio/Visual.
The most I get from all this is a discounted hotel room and free attendance. If I were to be compensated with an income for my technical work, and if all the other highly specialized staff received compensation for executing the convention, the admission price wouldn't be $65. It would probably be more towards $120 or $180 with the current attendance levels.
Prices like that would make the event unaffordable, and ultimately undermine its mission to raise charity.
It can be a difficult line to draw and any step near that line will bring up controversy, leading to responses like Alofoxx's when a board member received $39,000. See Furality Form 990 page 7.
Alofoxx
Daltyn isn't paid for his board duties. He is also not paid for his non board Furality team chairman position. He is paid as one of the contractors on the art team for his work as a creative director as are all the art staff in the creative department.
You can see full expense report by class and category on our website for download
— Alofoxx in VR Furs (archived.)Continuous improvement
I am preparing for that kind of growth within my realm of influence, within the constraints this convention has, and the time I can give. I want each and every attendee to have a wonderful time with their friends, without their experience degrading as the convention grows.
Staff have directly said that my work saved their convention career. I have reduced so much stress that staff, anticipating burn out, felt more energy than ever before and also felt the load was lighter even with more attendees to assist. That's a fantastic reputation to gain.
Back in 2017, "line-con" went on for hours for a convention still under 1,000 attendees. The same is true for the years afterwards.
That is, until 2023, and the hundred plus hours of work I put in to solve its most distressing issues.
Apart from cash payments (which I will get to in a future article), check-in time was improved further in 2024 with the addition of drivers license ID scanning.
2024's improvements gave FurSquared the margin needed to absorb the 35% growth with only four check-in stations—one of which processed cash at a much slower rate than the rest.
The need to continuously improve to meet the demands of scale cannot be understated. We cannot rest on our laurels when exponential scale is our reality.
To adequately respond to growth, we need to both retrospect on what happened and to imagine ahead the issues we face at scale.
2024's Growth and how we succeeded
As mentioned, FurSquared 2024 had 35% more attendees than in 2023. The growth showed itself each day of the convention, starting with pre-registration check in on Thursday evening. On-site registrations kept coming, even as late as the last hour of the convention.
1,441 = highest badge number + number of children / parents in tow, when it should have been1,323 = checked in attendees + number of children / parents in tow.Every incremental improvement enabled us to handle 2024's impressive growth without breaking or straining our staff. Unlike 2023 and before, the gaps in FurSquared's technology are no longer a source of imminent stress.
By separating swag from the convention store, we were able to independently scale our swag reward distribution with a heavy emphasis on Thursday and Friday, and scale down for Saturday and Sunday.
The fact that we could hand out over 1.5 shirts per minute at our peak, in addition to posters, sponsor bags, super sponsor brief cases, and dinner vouchers, while auditing the exact attendee that picked up their reward is a testament to how efficiently we can run with so few staff.
In fact, 20% percent of people got their shirt within 90 seconds of checking in. 50% within 4 minutes. Beyond that, it is clear attendees went elsewhere and returned later to pick up swag.
A few more exciting figures: 85% of on-site registered attendees received their badge within 40 seconds of it being printed. We print immediately upon purchase… Whoa! That's a lot of people doing it in line! 95% got their badge within 10 minutes of paying online or in cash.
We had 615 hours from 39 volunteers (not staff) this year. They were absolutely essential in setting up the convention, managing doors, loading out the convention, and assisting in all sorts of ways. Of the 39, 7 of them picked up rewards earned by giving time to the convention. We really ought to tell them when they're due for a reward! 22 of the 39 have earned free attendance next year too!
All this supporting data came for free with well-optimized processes, holistic technology inserted into the right places, and proper staff allocation at FurSquared.
So, what's inside 2024's success?
How was FurSquared this successful across vendors, volunteers, registration, and swag?
A retrospective set my priorities for 2024. Afterwards, I listened to the needs and issues raised since 2023 and incorporated as much feedback and proactive design I could in over three hundred hours of expert contribution.
I worked with several incredibly effective communicators, like Fishy who led the vendors department in a time of crisis. I got clear and constructive feedback which allowed me to support the payment process for Weekend Dealers and Night Market.
I worked with Gadget to design volunteers (the department) a necessary and basic online form to track volunteer time records, and with Fishy again on where rewards to volunteers would be given.
I worked with Toshu, Jase, Kit, and others in registration to make the tools needed to support them before and during the con with incredible efficiency.
I worked with Kashi, Axel, and Toshu to acquire new equipment as well as plan and setup the equipment and network at the new venue.
I put a lot into this, but so have others. Without their depth of experience, their effective communication, and their relationships with the venue, it would not have been possible to handle 35% more people and still be excited for the next year.
The 2024 staff team deserves a lot of thanks for what was a great convention.
In the next article, I'll describe the technical parts I brought to FurSquared to support it in its anticipated and real growth spurt. Again, without all that input, the technology I could have added would never have worked as well.