Gateway FurMeet
Gateway FurMeet | |
---|---|
| |
Location | |
Website | |
Status | Ongoing |
First iteration | April 18-20, 2014 |
Organizer(s) | Kiara Shiba |
Charity | Ongoing |
Subject | Furry |
Resources | Photos, videos, reports: Gateway FurMeet resources |
Gateway FurMeet is an annual furry convention in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The convention's mascot is a Clydesdale named Clyde.
Contents
2014[edit]
The first Gateway FurMeet took place at the Hampton Inn – Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, USA,[1] over April 18-20, 2014.[2] PeacePaw Yote was guest of honor,[3] and the theme was Wild Wild West (Gateway to the West).[4] 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[edit]
The convention had originally been planned to take place at the Millennium Hotel[5].
On November 21, 2013, Keyla Otter posted on the convention website:
We were informed this morning that the The Millennium Hotel St. Louis will be unable to host our event in April 2014. On January 22, 2014 the hotel will be closing their doors and will cease all operations indefinitely. While this is bad news as we hoped to make that hotel our convention’s home for many years to come, it is absolutely not the end of Gateway FurMeet! Our Hotel Liaison is already working hard on getting us a new home for the convention in cooperation with the Millenium Hotel. We absolutely intend to hold our first convention on the dates that have already been planned, and for the same cost.[6] |
On December 25, Keyla posted
We have been through some tough times this year but we have managed to put together a great holiday gift for our attendees – a new hotel! We have just signed a contract with the Hampton Inn – Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis, only a few blocks away from our previous location. Our new hotel is just as close to the action in the downtown area, including the Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium.[8] |
2015[edit]
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.[9] The Guest of honor was artist/animator Clawshawt.[10]
Attendance was 223,[11] 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[edit]
Gateway FurMeet 2016 took place over May 13-15, 2016[12] at the Hotel Lumiere. The theme was "'40s Swing",[12] and the guest of honor was Rachael Bock.[13]
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.[14]
2017[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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. [15]
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. [16]
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[edit]
Gateway FurMeet 2020 was scheduled to take place on March 27-29, 2020, but was cancelled due to COVID-19[17]
2021[edit]
Gateway FurMeet 2021 was held virtually over Discord
2022[edit]
Gateway FurMeet 2022 was held March 11-13, 2022 at the Sheraton Westport Chalet. This marked the first in-person convention after the COVID pandemic with the theme being "Back to the Con."
Attendees: There were 348 attendees this year. [18]
Charity: Gateway Pet Guardians
Guest of Honor: Trevor Phillips
Theme: Back to the Con
2023[edit]
Gateway FurMeet 2023 was held March 10-12, 2023 at the Sheraton Westport Chalet. This year, the theme was "Breaking Free" as a nod towards the breaking free of COVID restrictions of previous years. This year, GFM also introduced a Burlesque Show.
Attendees: There were 744 attendees this year, marking a significant increase and new record number of attendees at the convention. [19]
Charity: Got Your Six Dogs
Guest of Honor: FeretStudios
Theme: Breaking Free
2024[edit]
Gateway FurMeet 2023 was held March 15-17, 2024 at the Sheraton Westport Chalet. This year, the theme was "Murder Mystery Party"
Attendees: There were 978 attendees this year. [20]
Charity: Saint Louis Pet Rescue
Guest of Honor: MattsyKun
Theme: Murder Mystery Party
Statistics[edit]
Year | Attendees | Charity |
2024 | 978 | $18,322 |
2023 | 744 | $12,000+ |
2022 | 348 | $5,000+ |
2021 | n/a | n/a |
2020 | n/a | n/a |
2019 | 484 | $8,011.22 |
2018 | 463 | $5,960.19 |
2017 | n/a | n/a |
2016 | 208 | $1,083.20 |
2015 | 223 | $2,051 |
2014 | 211 | $1,455 |
Staff[edit]
Gateway FurMeet Team[21] on the convention website lists: {{q|
- Scooby Husky - Con Chair
- Kiara Shiba - Operations President / Promotions / Publications Lead
- Hoobs - Webmaster / IT / Volunteer Coordinator / GOH Coordinator
- Natel - Social Media Lead
- Zero - Programming Lead
- Punky Rains - Charity Liaison Lead
- Silus - Dealers Den Lead
- Mattsykun - Publications / Artist
- Darkcyanblade - Security Lead
- Meekah shepherd - Medical Lead / Security
- Khaz - Security
- Fiddle - Security
- Caleb Shepherd - Registration / Programming / Publications
- Sycotei - Registration / Publications
- Crash - Registration
- Kinachi - Registration
- Kezl - Registration
- Caffeine - Dance Lead / Dance Comp Lead
- Nightfire - DJ Lead / Dance
Former Staff[edit]
- Keyla Otter - Registration Lead / Webmaster / IT
- Chux - Programming Lead, Promotions / Publications Lead
- Rama - Business
- Merla - Charity
- Buibui - Copy Editor
- Enki Otter - Tabletop Gaming
References[edit]
- ↑ "Hotel" on the Gateway Fur Meet website. Retrieved December 26, 2013
- ↑ "About Us" on the Gateway Fur Meet website. Retrieved May 5, 2013
- ↑ "GOH" on the Gateway Fur Meet website. Retrieved May 5, 2013
- ↑ Main page on the Gateway Fur Meet website. Retrieved May 5, 2013
- ↑ "Hotel" on the Gateway Fur Meet website. Retrieved May 5, 2013 (no longer current)
- ↑ Important Hotel Update posted November 21, 2013 on the Gateway Fur Meet website. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
- ↑ Hotel Situation Update posted November 26, 2013 on the Gateway Fur Meet website. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
- ↑ Happy Holidays! posted December 25, 2013 on the Gateway Fur Meet website. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
- ↑ GFM Update, posted November 22, 2014 to the Gateway Fur Meet Facebook group.
- ↑ Honored Guests on Gateway FurMeet website (retrieved 02/23/15)
- ↑ "GFM 2015 Summary" - posting on the Gateway FurMeet website. Dated May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Tweet on the Gateway FurMeet account on Twitter. Dated November 6, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
- ↑ Honored Guest on the Gateway FurMeet 2016 website. retrieved May 14, 2016.
- ↑ Facebook post on the Gateway Fur Meet group, dated June 14, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
- ↑ Facebook post on the Gateway Furmeet group, dated March 3, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
- ↑ [1] on the Gateway Furmeet 2019 website. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
- ↑ Message from The Convention Chair retrieved April 26, 2020
- ↑ Twitter post on the Gateway Furmeet Twitter page, dated March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ↑ Twitter post on the Gateway Furmeet Twitter page, dated March 12, 2023.
- ↑ Twitter post on the Gateway Furmeet Twitter page, dated March 17, 2024.
- ↑ http://gatewayfurmeet.org/gateway-furmeet-team/ Retrieved June 17, 2017.
External links[edit]
- Gateway FurMeet - official website
- Gateway FurMeet on Facebook
- Gateway FurMeet on Twitter
- Gateway FurMeet on SoFurry
- Gateway FurMeet on Inkbunny
- GatewayFurMeet on Fur Affinity
- GFM on Mastodon
- Gateway Fur Meet / Saint Louis Convention on Facebook