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Good news everyone!

If you were planning on pawning your artwork, selling a story or
getting your product out there at MFX2008, the dealers den table
registration is now open.
Numbers are limited, we only have space for 12 full tables, so we
suggest getting your registrations in quick and sharing space with
friends (that way you can swap manning the table and have a wander of
the con too ;D)

Prices are for the full weekend.
$20 for a half table
$30 for a full table.

Please make sure to you read -and- understand the terms and
conditions, as you will be selling and this is very important.
If you have special lighting, power, or other requirements please
comment that in your registration too.

Thank you everyone and see you at MiDFur X

~MiDFur X Committee

Friday

Registrations open at 2:00pm

Collect your registration package from the Victoria Hotel's Convention Centre, located to the left as you enter the hotel.
Once you have registered, check in at the hotel, get comfortable, and get ready for the weekend of your life.

Eureka Tower

4 Different trips to the Eureka Skytowers 88th floor for breathtaking views of Melbourne and her surrounding suburbs, followed by a casual coffee shop stop with one of your MiDFur X committee members

First trip to Eureka Skytower is at 3:00pm, with the next 3 trips departing every half an hour

Meet and Greet/ Cocktail Dinner

•The doors to the convention centre will open at 7:00pm for this Friday night event
•Meet the Chairman, as he introduces the MiDFur X Guests of Honour, and esteemed guests
•Enjoy a beautiful cocktail Dinner whilst mingling with the entire group in the beautiful historic Victoria Hotel Swanston Room convention Centre

The Registration Table will still be open during this time. Please ensure you have registered before you proceed to the Meet and Greet event.

Saturday

City Exploration

Meet at the main foyer of the Victoria Hotel for a City Exploration at 10:00am. See the sights of Melbourne by foot, taking in the hustle and bustle of Melbourne Central, Swanston St, and the QV, as well as other places of interest including Haigs Chocolate Shop, Max Brenners, and The Teddy Bear Factory.

BBQ Lunch

Your city Exploration will end at Flagstaff Gardens at 12:00 noon, where a BBQ Lunch will be waiting for you, prepared by your MiDFur X Committee. Enjoy the scenery, mingle with friends, and bask in the summer sun in Melbournes finest CBD Parkland.

Lygon St/ Zoo Trip

At 1:00pm, you will then move off to your afternoon outings. The Zoo trip will depart by Train, from Flinders St Station, and the Lygon St Coffee Shop meet will walk through Melbourne's Little Italy precinct to one of many fine coffee and gelato shops.

You will return to the Victoria Hotel at Approx 6:00pm.

MiDFur X Inaugural Gala Ball

The doors to the MiDFur X Inaugural Gala Ball, held at one of Melbourne's premier entertainment venues, The HiFi Bar, on Swanstom St (Literally 20 paces away from the convention centre) will open at 7:30pm.

During this spectacular event, you will enjoy a full 2 course 5 star Dinner (Vegetarians need to contact the Secretary to advise of their prefered meal secretary@midfur.com.au ), The Inaugural Furry hall of Fame induction, 2 the Ranting Gryphon (Rated R), as well as the exciting announcements relating to the MiDFur Iron Author/ Artist competition. The night will end with a Disco Dance, with music mixed by MFX DJ KazCougar

The Convention Centre will be in Lock Down mode for Saturday. Any Dealers Alley and Fur Suits that need to be securely stored in the convention centre can be arranged by registering with the secretary via email

Sunday

The doors to the Convention Centre will open at 9:00am. During the day, you will have the opportunity to visit the Dealers Alley, where members of the community will be show casing their wares for you. Feel free to make an offer, and purchase items from the dealers as momentos of your time at MiDFur X.

Convention Activities include:
Meet our Guests of Honour during the signings and photograph sessions scheduled throughout the day.
A number of Panels will be conducted throughout the day. This is your opportunity to hear some of our Guests of Honour, the special Guests, and members of the community speak about what they do, why they do it, and how you can get involved.

Panels include:
Panel 1. In the Suit... A Panel Through the eyes of a Fur Suiter
Panel 2. Guests Of Honour Panel • Lunch time panel
(Grab some lunch, and head back to the Convention Centre to take part in the GOH Panel. Hear your favourite Guest of Honour speak, ask questions, and get to know our Guests in an intimate Panel session over lunch.)
Panel 3. What is Furry, to me?! A furry lifestyle Panel

shortly after the final Panel, sit back and watch as the MiDFur X Fur Suit/ Costume Parade takes place. Yell and Cheer for your favourite fur suiter. The fur suiter voted by our Guests of Honour Panel as the best fur suit/ Costume performance will receive a Free MiDFur Registration to next years MiDFur.

Show the Convention members your talent, or lack there of, at the No Talent Night

Sit back, relax, and listen to 2 the Ranting Gryphon and Uncle Kage, Unplugged. Watch as 2 and Kage unleash havoc on stage during their PG rated appearance at MiDFur X

Please note that Lunch is NOT provided for Sunday. For a list of local food outlets, and recomended coffee shops and bars, see the information desk.

Monday

This is your chance to become one of the organisers for MiDFur X! Todays activities are dedicated to the individual wishes and desires of our convention members... You!

If you wish to "Make your Own Meet", post a notice up in the appropriate thread in the MiDFur Forums, let us do the advertising, and you run the show. All "MYOM" events must be suggested and finalised 2 weeks before the Convention begins.

The traditional Art Jam has always been a popular event at any MiDFur. Here is a chance to participate in an Art Jam. Find a place in the convention centre, get comfortable, and Art-Jam it up. Have your pieces ready for the Art Show later on this evening.

We will announce the winners of all the competitions run throughout the convention, including the Iron Author/ Artist competition, the MiDFur X PLushie Pile Prize Pack and more.

Couldn't make your mind up on Sunday about that item in the Dealers Alley? Well this is your final chance to make the purchase, talk with the dealers, swap details, and browse.

The Convention is not over yet! Sit in one more panels, ask questions, make yourself heard, and voice your thoughts.

Panel 4. Life in Words
Panel 5. The art of the Pencil/Pen/Mouse/whatever
Panel 6. Tell us what you think...

Sit back, relax, and contemplate all that is Anime, in the Anime Madness Arena. Non stop, all day anime action. If you would like to suggest an Anime for the Anime Madness Arena, visit the MiDFur MYOM Forum thread and do so.

Time for a bed time story? Not exactly. Dont forget, you still have the whole night ahead. However, one of the Marquee events at MiDFur X this year, is the famed Story Time with Uncle Kage. Famed for his entertaining story tales of wonder, Uncle Kage will surely take you for a wonderful ride through his outrageous tales.

Please note that Dinner is NOT provided for Sunday. For a list of local food outlets, and recomended coffee shops and bars, see the information desk.

All good things do, unfortunately come to an end! But this end will be one to remember. The official closing ceremony, and end of MiDFur Party will take place from 7:00pm, with official proceedings to wind up at 10:30pm.

The Official MiDFur Art Gallery will be open during the closing ceremony with art pieces made during the Art-Jam for sale. See something you like? Make an offer to the artist. You never know...

Say your farewells. take your photos. Swap your msn and email addresses. Dont forget to keep in touch with your new friends and old.

But for those of you wishing to keep going... keep an eye out for a little thing we like to call the "Dead Dog Party!!!"

There have been lots of talk, rumors, suggestions and thoughts sent through to us over the last few weeks about "What MiDFur X should be..?!"

We have received some wonderful feedback and suggestions from a vast majority of furs from all over Australia, not to mention the international support we have received.

This past weekend, the MiDFur X Committee converged on Melbourne to thrash out this up coming convention, and present the greater community with some major announcements...

So here we go...

Guests

There has been much speculation about if we should have a special guest... and if so, who could we invite to Australia's first ever fur convention.

Many names have been thrown about, and suggestions made. After careful consideration, we are proud to announce the following:

2, The Ranting Gryphon

 

 

During his teens, 2 became interested in rock music and taught himself how to play guitar and sing. He played with many heavy metal bands in the 80's, gaining moderate notoriety at times. It was his first taste of being a performer, and he found himself hooked.

For several years, 2 moved around the country on his own, finding himself in places like Visalia, California, Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Dover, Delaware.
Finally, in the late 90's, 2 found work composing music for video games. He also began to develop an interest in drawing.

In 1999, 2 put his first rants on his website, which gained widespread attention in the furry fandom, much to his surprise. He performed his first stand up comedy show at Midwest Furfest in 2000.

Today, he lives just outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan. 2RG is the co-host of the well renowned Podcast radio show, 2Sense and is currently traveling on an international comedy tour.

Dr Samuel Conway

 

 

Now, the name may not be familiar to many of you. Not unless you know who "Uncle Kage" is.

Dr Samuel Conway is a scientist, first and foremost. Yes, a real one. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ursinus College and a doctorate in organic chemistry from Dartmouth.He is the author of eleven professional publications in the scientific literature and hold three patents.

Conway is most well known however, as a cockroach, a story teller, 2, The Ranting Gryphon's stand up comedy partner, as well as the Chairman/ CEO of the world's BIGGEST and most successful fur convention, Anthrocon.

With this year's AC in JUNE looking to be one of the biggest ever, and with last years attendance of over 2, 500 furs, Conway is one of the most respected, and recognizable furs in the world, and HE will be here, with us this December, to celebrate OUR first ever convention.

Other guests..?

Thats not all! We are still talking with a number of other Australian based guests, including well known artists, main stream celebrities (who just happen to be furry...) and others. So stay tuned for more announcements throughout the year.

Accommodation

You’ll all be pleased to note that accommodation for MFX is going to be better than last year. Actually a LOT better.
How does 3 star accommodation at Backpackers prices sound?

This year we’ll be staying at the Victoria Hotel in Melbourne CBD. They’re a very cool historic hotel with over 700 rooms, and are used to handling conventions like us. (having previously held numerous Sci Fi conventions in the past) On top of that the function space we’ll be using is IN the hotel, so you won’t have to travel across town for events.

Accommodation will be booked separately to your registration, allowing furs to travel in and out at different times, and seek board with friends or at other locations if they so desire.
But honestly why would you? At $49.50/night (normally $210 per night per room) in a 3 star hotel in the Melbourne CBD is better than ANY other Hotel in Melbourne CBD, with much better facilities.

Appropriately located no more than 100m from Swanston St (The main street in the city), you will find everything you will need for the duration of the convention, from very reasonably priced food options, some of the best cafe's in the city, major tourist attractions and 2 major shopping centres, as well as the primary train station in Melbourne CBD located less than 500m, The Victoria Hotel is the perfect venue, with ideal facilities, eliminating the need to endure the highly confusing Melbourne transport system.

Registration for MFX will include the following:

• Meet & Greet cocktail night
• Visit to The Eureka Sky tower observatory deck
• Saturday night fur ball with full 2 course meal & entree, the first ever Australian furry hall of fame induction, comedy show and dance. (18+)
• Sunday dealers room and panels, Sunday comedy show
• Lanyard
• Convention book/ information packs
• Con badge
• Collectable items (tbc)
• Entrance to the Monday night "End of MiDFur" party.

Bookings for accommodation at $49.50 per person per night (Twin, Double or Triple) will be available to book through the Victoria Hotel in April.
All events are selectable, so if travel or funds are a problem you can choose which events to register for.

Registration is set to open towards the end of March, and an early bird booking fee (at a discounted price) will be available.

Stay tuned to MiDFur X , join the forums, and keep in touch. We have a number of other announcements to come and the forum discussion boards are available to you if you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns.

We look forward to seeing you all at this year's convention.

Arctic|Pete
Chairman
MiDFur X