Gateway FurMeet

Gateway FurMeet is an annual furry convention in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The convention's mascot is a Clydesdale named Clyde.

2014
The first Gateway FurMeet took place at the Hampton Inn – Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, over April 18-20, 2014. PeacePaw Yote was guest of honor, and the theme was Wild Wild West (Gateway to the West). The meet had 211 registered attendees, and 62 participants in the fursuit parade. $1455 was raised for convention charity Stray Rescue of St. Louis.

2014 venue
The convention had originally been planned to take place at the Millennium Hotel.

On November 21, 2013, Keyla Otter posted on the convention website: On November 26, 2013 Keyla Otter posted "We have some excellent news on the hotel front. We have contacted several hotels to find out if they will be able to host Gateway FurMeet, and we have several options to investigate further."

On December 25, Keyla posted

2015
Gateway FurMeet 2015 took place May 8-10, 2015 at Hotel Lumiere. The theme was "Clydezilla", a cross between Godzilla and GFM's mascot Clyde. The Guest of honor was artist/animator Clawshawt.

Attendance was 223, with 50 participants in the fursuit parade. The convention charity was Five Acres Animal Shelter, for which the convention raised $2,051 ($620 in the charity auction, $431 from the donation box and raffle, and $1,000 by the convention itself).

2016
Gateway FurMeet 2016 took place over May 13-15, 2016 at the Hotel Lumiere. The theme was "'40s Swing", and the guest of honor was Rachael Bock.

Attendance was 208, with "around 50" participants in the fursuit parade. Five Acres Animal Shelter was once again the convention charity, for whom the convention raised $1083.20.

2017
Gateway FurMeet 2017 was to be moved to the fall of 2017 in order to avoid date conflicts experienced in 2016, and the difficulties in trying to plan around the Cardinals schedule. During contract negotiations, the previous hotel became unworkable after trying to place other groups within the same space while the convention was trying to expand, and at a cost nearly twice that of 2016.

Along with the announcement to push the dates to 2018, Gateway FurMeet announced that they will host the first GFM Picnic on September 16, 2017 at Greentree Park in Kirkwood.

When: September 16, 2017 from Noon to 6PM

Where: The pavilion at Greentree Park, 2202 Marshall Road, Kirkwood, MO 63122

Cost: $20 per person, pre-reg preferred

Food: Burgers, dogs, chips, snacks, cookies, sodas and water provided

Games: various classic picnic games

Bonuses for those who are registered for GFM2018:
 * Special GFM Badge
 * 1 Pie Toss (toss a pie in the face of a staff member)
 * Bonus points for Gateway Fur Quest con game
 * Spin the Wheel of Feeesh for a prize
 * Increased benefits for Sponsors and Supersponsors

2018
Gateway FurMeet 2018 was held March 9th-11th, 2018 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel St. Louis - Westport.

Attendees: There were 463 attendees, more than doubling that of previous, GFM2016.

Parade: The Fursuit Parade included 105 fursuiters.

Charity: This year the Charity was Open Door Animal Sanctuary. They were thrilled to receive $5,960.19, which included $2,000 from registration income.

GOH: Boneitis aka Bone formerly a resident of the St. Louis area and long time supporter of GFM. Bone presented a range of panels to share his knowledge on creative and business aspects of art in the fandom.

Dance: In addition to the nightly dances, this was the first year GFM has had dance competitions. A formal Dance Competition as well as an informal Floor Wars style dance event were both held.

Hotel rooms: $95 per night for rooms with a king-size bed and pull-out sofa bed, or a room with two queen-size beds.

Con Space: The entire convention ballroom space located directly off of the lobby at the DoubleTree was utilized for the con. The space is larger than previous years at the Lumiere, and offered a larger Dealers' Den / Artist's Alley, Main Events with stage, Secondary Events room with a 24' dance floor for dances and Fursuiter activities, Gaming and Casual space, and a panel room.

2019
Gateway FurMeet 2019 was held March 1-3, 2019 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel St. Louis - Westport.

Attendees: There were 484 attendees this year.

Charity: The year the charity was EFA’s Pets Are Wonderful Support (PAWS). $8011.22 was raised for the charity. In addition, the Saint Louis Effort for AIDS, the organization running PAWS, offered free HIV testing to attendees.

GOH: Karen (Talenshi), an illustrator of fantasy and children's books; in love with narrative, mythology, animals, and patterns. She hosted panels regarding the illustration process as well as a panel about making hybrid characters.

Theme: The theme this year was Furries Down Under.

2020
Gateway FurMeet 2020 was scheduled to take place on March 27-29, 2020, but was cancelled due to COVID-19

Staff
Gateway FurMeet Team on the convention website lists: {{q|
 * Kiara Shiba - Con Chair
 * Scooby Husky - Operations
 * Keyla Otter - Registration Lead / Webmaster / IT
 * Chux - Programming Lead, Promotions / Publications Lead
 * Rama - Business
 * Darkcyanblade - Security Lead
 * Enki Otter - Tabletop Gaming
 * Merla - Charity
 * Buibui - Copy Editor
 * Caleb Shepherd - Registration / Programming / Publications
 * Sycotei - Registration
 * Caffeine - Dance Lead / Dance Comp Lead
 * Nightfire - DJ Lead
 * Meekah shepherd - Medical Lead