This review was adapted into an episode of my video series Cheetah Chat, which can be viewed here.

Furpocalypse is a Halloween-themed furry convention located in Cromwell, CT, a spiritual successor to the now-defunct FurFright con of a similar nature. I had not planned to attend Furpocalypse at all, but was presented with the opportunity to go for free after winning a contest. Since this was a bit of a last-minute thing, I did not attend for the full duration of the convention, and I did not stay at the con hotel.

Even though I did not pay, I still had to pre-register for Furpoc on their website. This didn't go smoothly at all. The registration page was extremely slow and hung for minutes at a time, even when I tried using different browsers. Other attendees on Twitter reported having the same issue. Some people were so frustrated they gave up and said they'd just pay the extra few bucks to register once they got to the con. Furpoc staff did mention they intend to get a new payment processor next year, so hopefully that will be cleared up by then.
Picking up my badge at the convention was quick and easy. I arrived on Saturday morning and there was no line at all. They even let me in earlier than the time printed on the schedule! Oh, and they gave out free pronoun ribbons for badges, which was much appreciated.

The Dealer's Den was well laid-out with plenty of space between rows. There was lots of room for shoppers to navigate, even folks in costume or using mobility aids, and I never felt crowded. A great variety of vendors were represented - plush, apparel, fursuits, premade art, commissions, accessories, novelties - a little something for everyone.
Sadly, the Artist's Alley was practically nonexistent. I think there were less than 10 sellers present! With that small of a turnout, I feel this could have just been rolled in as part of the Dealer's Den. The Artist's Alley was also in a bad location next to the con store row. I noticed there was often a long line of people waiting to cash out at the con store, which blocked the Artist tables and prevented people from browsing their wares.
The con store was not labeled and I had a hard time finding it. Once I got there, my initial reaction was Oh... That's it? The only items on offer were a 2018 shirt (sold out by the time I arrived), a glass cup, a plastic cup, and old stuff from previous years of Furpoc. There was no sign listing what they had for sale or how much they cost. I ended up not buying anything from the con store.
For a Halloween themed furry convention, I was expecting more vendors to have Halloween themed items for sale. A lot of people were giving out candy and Halloween party favors at their tables, but the actual merchandise on offer was just standard furry con fare.

The fursuit games were great! I had wanted to participate, but I totally zonked out the night before and didn't wake up with enough time to get into suit. The activities were unique and really fun for both fursuiters and the audience.
I loved the Furpoc dances, and attended on both Friday and Saturday nights. The DJs played good music, the room was spacious and not too dark. There was no water in the rooms, but there was a fan by the door that helped fursuiters cool off without needing to leave for the headless lounge as much.

The fursuit parade was a bit of a debacle. I believe it was supposed to go outside, but was restricted indoors due to inclement weather. The parade did not go through the dealer's den at all, which I found an interesting choice considering that the fursuit parade was originally started as a way to let dealers, who are forced to miss most daytime events at furry cons due to being stuck behind a table for 6 hours, experience at least a little bit of the fun.
I was most dismayed by the fact that they didn't wait for all the fursuiters to finish filing into the room before taking the fursuit group photo. I happened to be in the rear of the parade line, and there were quite a few folks still behind me. I could hear people shouting to look at the camera as I was just coming up the zoo ramp, and I ran into the room as quick as I could, but by then all the photographers up top were already turning and leaving. Because of this, I'm not in any of the group photos - not that you'd be able to tell, as Furpoc still hasn't posted their group photo on their website or social media. There was a full hour of time allotted for the fursuit parade, so I don't understand why everyone was in such a rush. At least I was able to get a fursuiter tag.

Furpoc boasted some fun events I hadn't seen at other cons before, like Friday night trick-or-treating and late-night karaoke. I'm not sure if karaoke was actually a Furpoc thing or a thing the hotel did, but regardless, it was fun getting to see fursuiters and cosplayers do karaoke.
I just wish the trick-or-treating was held on Saturday night of the convention too! I arrived late Friday night, and by the time I got situated in my room, suited up, and traveled over to the main hotel, most of the rooms had stopped giving out candy. I only got to trick-or-treat at one room, and since I was the last fursuiter of the night they just dumped all their candy into my bag. Hey, that worked for me! But still, maybe Furpoc will look into extending Trick-or-Treating for more than just one night.

Furpoc had most of the regular con offerings - tabletop gaming room, video gaming room, the zoo - all were pretty good.
One thing missing from Furpoc that I've gotten used to seeing at furry conventions was a photo booth room for fursuiters, and non-suited attendees, to take photos. I understand if the convention wasn't able to find a photographer to work with them, but a space could have provided a space for attendees to take their own photos in. I feel like they really missed the opportunity to set up spooky backgrounds or give people fun Halloween props to pose with.

Furpoc did have a wide variety of panels lined up. However, the panels were not printed in the conbook, nor even included as a paper insert added after the fact. The panels were shown on TV screens throughout the con space, as well as on their webpage at sched.com, but if someone didn't look in either of those two places, they wouldn't have known what was going on at any given time. That online schedule was only ever shared on Twitter, not even linked on Furpocalypse's main webpage. I found this rather disappointing - you can't expect everyone to have a Twitter account, and if people don't know about events, they're not gonna show up for them!
One of my biggest gripes was very lackluster scheduling, especially on Sunday. There was a period of almost 2 hours on Sunday afternoon where the only event occurring at the entirety of Furpocalypse was a car show... outside... in the parking lot. I understand that things can be out of the con's hands if panelists bail last-minute or if not a lot of people sign up to run panels, but guys, c'mon. You have to give your attendees something to do. There are only so many times you can walk from one end of the hotel to the other before you've seen everything. People shouldn't be bored at a convention! I feel bad for the folks who were only able to attend on Sunday!

One thing I must is that there was no shortage of accommodations. There were many hotels located in the vicinity of the convention, including one right across the street where I stayed, and they were all rather affordable. The Furpoc hotel is located right off a major highway, which is convenient for traveling there, but a big downside is that there are no walkable food places or points of interest around the convention. As I mentioned, I found myself bored and looking for something to do for a good bit of my Furpoc time. At a con like Anthrocon or Anthro New England, this is normally the part where I would go sightseeing, take some fursuit pictures in a cool photo op spot, or find a local restaurant to grab a bite. All there was to do outside Furpoc was play IRL Frogger across a 4-lane highway. If you attend Furpoc without a car, you will probably struggle when it comes to finding places to eat and things to do.

The hotel itself was quite humid and damp, which I highly suspect has to do with the fact that there is a fully uncovered indoor pool right smack dab in the middle of the hotel. A couple times, I came in from the outside and my glasses fogged up from all the moisture in the air. I'm not gonna lie, there were moments where I had a hard time breathing, especially when I walked past the pool and the stench of chlorine hit my nose. Blegh.

I took notice of the fact that Panel Area 3 was not wheelchair accessible. This wasn't even a room, more like an awkward landing area with tables and chairs, but it held some big events like the Fursuiting 101 panel and the sketchbook swap. This panel area could only be accessed by one of two flights of stairs, and attendees with wheelchairs or other kinds of mobility aids could not and were not able to go to those events. Disability advocacy is something I take very seriously, and in today's day and age there isn't an excuse for these things to be overlooked by con management. Have folks with disabilities on staff, contact contact a member of your local Barrier Free Committee, do whatever it takes to make sure your convention is accessible to all.

It just wouldn't be a Furpocalypse review if I didn't bring up the (big, moldy, leaky, ramshackle) elephant in the room. I had heard tales of the fabled "Furpoc mushrooms" in the past, and while I didn't see any actual fungi while I was there, I was surprised at the substandard condition of the hotel. Around Friday night or Saturday morning, the ceiling in the main entryway started leaking, which put one of the automatic doors out of order for the whole rest of the weekend. They put some buckets under it, but you could see the dark wet spot on the carpet getting bigger and bigger as the days went on, and I got some really nice photos of "Lake Negligence," as I affectionately started calling it. Ah yes, filthy rainwater dripping from the ceiling to make a puddle in the doorway. That's a great thing to have at a gathering of people wearing delicate outfits worth several thousand dollars.
I went by the pool only once, to take some fursuit photos. We were in the middle of shooting when one of the people I was with said "Hey, something just dripped on me!" I looked up and sure enough, there was a ceiling tile missing right over my head. If I was standing just a little bit to the left, my fursuit would've gotten hit with that nasty water. I noped outta there right quick!
Thankfully, I did not have to spend the night at the hotel. If I hadn't been able to secure lodging offsite, free attendance be damned, I would not have attended. During and after the con weekend, social media was abuzz with images and reports of the stellar accommodations experienced by people rooming at the con hotel, including leaky ceilings, crumbling walls, and lots and lots of mold.

In an attempt to end on a positive note: I went to this convention on my own, without my partner or any of my usual friends with me, and I was worried I'd be lonely. I was blown away by how many people actually came up to me to say hi and to tell me they enjoyed my videos. It's very meaningful to know that people recognize and appreciate my work. Every picture, every hug, and every dance made my Furpocalypse experience as bright as it could be under the circumstances.