RBW 2008



RBW 2008 was a convention held over 27-30 November 2008 in London. It was hosted at the Royal National Hotel in Russel Square. Registration opened on March 8 with the theme The Masters of Alchemy.

2008 was RBW's first year as a self-contained convention. Despite attracting a record number of attendees (290), the convention ended up with a loss that had to be made up by private donations.

Location
The Royal National Hotel in Russell Square played host to the convention during the day as well as providing accommodation to con-goers. There was no preset limit on attendance for daytime activities; however, the boat (The Erasmus) scheduled for the Saturday trip on the River Thames had a maximum capacity of 310 people.

Reception
The convention as a whole reportedly had problems, many apparently due to poor communication among convention staff before and during the event. However, some events were well-received, particularly those involving fursuiting.

An event schedule was not printed in the conbook or provided until part-way through the con. Many events were canceled, leaving those without fursuits little to do but play computer games. Others found themselves without presenters. The boat party itself did go well, but getting to it proved a challenge as the pickup location was changed on the day of the event. Charity auction items were not displayed until the last day, and many failed to sell, though ultimately around £1100 was raised for the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

Venue staff were variously reported to be "stoic" and "surly", while the hotel itself "looked like an eastern bloc soviet building (and inside looked like an old peoples home)" , with those setting up the event encountering several problems. The security at the event also broke a con-goers ankle during the event.

Those watching from afar enjoyed live streaming of the RBW staged events, although the associated chat proved uncontrollable.

Guests of Honor

 * Timduru - fursuiting track
 * Zen - art track
 * Cheetah