The Eurofurence Forum
Eurofurence Information => Feedback => Topic started by: James The Dog on 24.08.2011, 02:40:09
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With all the media coverage the con had this year and being easily accessible in the city centre, I guess it's not suprising the amount of members of the public that turned up to get a glimpse of people in animal costumes. While it's great to see us getting all this attention and appreciation, I admit I just wasn't hugely comfortable with the amount of children that were around. While suiting around the hotel I was constantly being pulled over by them for hugs and to pose for photos, I did comply but really I just wasn't hugely comfortable with it, and I know I wasn't the only one. While I think it's nice that children were getting a look at us, I just wasn't comfortable with being crowded, hugged and tugged by them from every direction.
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It was known that the lobby would be open to the public, so to some extend everbody knew that people (and kids among them) would show up there to get a look at us. While I noticed some children around, to me their number never seemed to grow to over one digit at any given time, though I am sure being in the suit makes you more aware of them.
I guess it all comes down to common sense: If they bother you as much as you state here, you should only suit in the public parts of the hotel (löbby, front & back of the building) during evening/night hours where you are unlikely to meet kids. If you desire to suit during the day, stick to private areas (SIG-rooms, C-Deck, Pianobar, private rooms etc.) and maybe have someone around to shield you a bit on your way from the fursuit lounge to those areas.
I agree that it would be nice to have the "Furbidden City" connect directly to the private areas of the hotel, but unless staff wants to swap Dealer's Den rooms with the current Fursuit Lounge, I don't see that being a viable option. Also the current position works much better for all other events on the main stage, especially the dances.
Keeping children out of the lobby seems both not possible (it is public area) and not desirable. After all, kids help much in getting their parents and grandparents to interact with us furs and form an opinion about us.
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The recommended course of action for you is to get a spotter, ie. someone not in costume who can help you. Make sure you work out some signals, and your spotter will gladly shoo off the kids and get you somewhere quiet if things are getting too rough for you.
Some suiters love the interaction with kids and their parents, some don't. The latter should take appropriate precautions to make sure they're not overwhelmed, as actively limiting the amount of external visitors is mostly impractical, and will not suit (no pun intended) everyone as well as you.