I'm finally settling back into post-con life and PCD has mostly been numbed by my job hunting as of late. First off, I had a spectacular time just as I have come to expect from Anthrocon. While the con has grown so large as to be more of a speed dating meet-and-greet with old friends, it's nice to see familiar faces and hit up a few panels here and there. Even though I was there Thursday morning through Monday afternoon, there was just so much to do that I still didn't see everything. I didn't even once go into the Art Show and only touched the Artist Alley for a minute on Sunday.

I just want to touch on the highlights and, unfortunately but inevitably, the falters for this year.

Why it was Amazing

■ I got to see old friends, including Strobes, Gale_Frostbane, Kaden, Atrus, Glelin, D Walker, Nyxsiern, ImaginarySkye, Atsu%20Fawx, Vince, Shiro, Sozan, Shia, TyFusky, and Mikey in no particular order. I'm sorry if I forgot anyone. I saw so so many people this weekend that it's hard to remember who all was even there!

■ Made a lot of shiny new friends, including Fumon, Ami, Crendrel, and some other random people in the street.

■ Rooming with homelesstaco, Glelin, Kaden, and Atrus was a blast. Many bottles of alcohol were demolished!

■ Kickass parties! Thank you Strobes, Gale_Frostbane, and Mikey.

■ The chance to chat with Term and FayV at the Zoo about Weasyl and it's future. It was really enlightening, and I promise I'm not just sucking up! ;)

■ Impromptu Queen and Abba piano singalong concerts in the Westin lobby. Videos may be posted later.

■ Saw pretty much all the dance panels and events and a fursuit performance panel with TyFusky.

■ Sardyuon was spectacular, and I really hope he's there again next year.

■ Found some neat gifts for people, like an elevator con shirt for homelesstaco.

■ The hotel staff was wonderful to us as always!

■ For the first time in recent history, the elevator line was actually tolerable. It was still pretty slow, but a lot faster than last year.

Where it Went Wrong

■ Didn't get to buy anything for myself :'(

■ On Monday morning, the elevator situation deteriorated to a dangerous level. Elevators were only coming every 10-ish minutes and packed. Supposedly — and this makes sense — the elevators were put into service mode for some reason. Unfortunately, it seems that the Westin's elevators are not on individual circuits and when one goes into service mode, they all do. This means that every elevator stopped at every floor. Everyone on lower floors got on going up, so no one above, say, floor 7 could get on.

As a result, guests on higher floors had to trek down the narrow stairwell with their luggage, fursuits, etc. This created a major safety hazard! Many people, including myself, were nearly tripping down the stairs and climbing past one another. Had someone fallen and been hurt, this could have become very serious.

■ The convention center parking garage had highly (probably intentionally) misleading pricing. When entering on Thursday, there was a sign with bold red lettering stating "Event Rate: $10 Daily" with no other information. The standard sign behind it had time-based charges and a charge of $20 for >15 hours, but it also has a separate line stating "Event: $10." Not "$10 for <15 hours." Just simply $10. Any normal person I believe would understand this as meaning that during events such as Anthrocon, parking for the duration of the event is $10 per day.

Leaving, I was shocked to receive a ridiculous $90 parking charge! The garage is managed by a third party, so there is nothing the Westin or convention center can do to help, and because the garage doesn't make more money from happier customers, they don't care about what you think. I couldn't reach a manager, and the woman in the cashier office seemed to have more important things to do than talk with another human being. She only explained that the event rate is just for less than 15 hours (none of this is stated on signs), so I'd have to pay $20 per full day, and yes it's misleading, but that they could do whatever they want and I have to be happy with it.

In the End

Long story short, I plan to return to Anthrocon next year, but I hope the Westin continues to improve, and I'll be traveling by train. I'd rather give my money to someone who actually cares about their customers and isn't interested in just ripping them off.