Dear Healthy not Nuts,
You have had your little blog post go completely viral due to the awesome power of respect, kindness, and willingness to recognize someone that has just “done things right” that exists in the best places within the Furry Fandom. I’ve read the squees of joy from your replies to comments, and I bet you’ve have had one hell of a ego rush ever since you posted it, seeing the notifications rolling in faster and faster.
By acclimation you’ve been granted the status of ‘honorary furry’ and at my last count have three other furry conventions — Texas Furry Feista (aka TFF, in the Dallas area), Furry Weekend Atlanta (aka FWA), and the largest organized furry con of them all, Anthrocon (AC, in Pittsburg) — angling to see you come and join them and more than for a boring business meeting.
The way you expressed interest in the dancing, I think that what you would experience in the dances would more than pay for the cost of a con membership. While you might discover some extra joy in creating an alternate identity and building the character of that identity, it is not required and never let anyfur (or anyone for that matter) tell you different.
I hope you have only just begun exploring the adventure ahead of you. I thank you for taking that first step and treating us with honest curious and respect. By all accounts we returned that respect to you, and perhaps helped to rekindle that little light of imagination within you.
While its true that a large portion of the con going croud falls in the 20-30 age range, the cons are for the young and young-at-heart too. Comic Cons tend to be huge commerical affairs with lots of things to do, while the average furry convention is usually a tenth of the size and thats usually about the right size between something easily done on a weekend and something you have to plan all year to do. Also, my totally unscientific poll of matters is that the average fursuiter is more apt to accept and allow interactions (hugs, tag, playing fetch, chasing laser pointers, etc al) and as you discovered photography, than the average cosplayer who spends a similar amount on their kit. In other words, I think its a more friendly environment.
With respect and best wishes, Dain Unicorn.
P.S. check out my previous post if you interested in more insights into Fursuiting and the people behind it.
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Original Post:
Accidental Guests of the Midwest Fur Fest ~ Hyatt Regency O’Hare, Rosemont, IL
As you read through this please try to put any pre-conceived notions to the side for a moment. The Midwest Fur Fest takes place in December in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare. Allan and I happened to be at the hotel on business. We watched the hotel literally transform right before our very eyes and had the opportunity to […]
Uniography 
Hello! I somehow missed your letter but saw it when I went on your site. I am not very blog/twitter/facebook savvy so please forgive me. I would like to touch base on the fact that we were very surprised at the reaction my article received, I wasn’t sure any Furries would even see it. I actually wrote the article for non-furs as my audience. So, we were very surprised when almost all of the comments coming in were from Furries themselves! I have to say that it was very exciting for us and we do so much appreciate everyone’s comments, sharing their stories, twittering our article and retweeting, etc. This is an experience that from beginning (meaning when I saw the first Furrie in a Fursuit) until forever we will always remember and have with us, it is really special. Seeing all the notifications coming in faster and faster was actually kind of scary because at first we were like, wait, what is going on and then we started taking a closer look at the stat page which I had never really looked at before and we both looked at each other, like OMG! I had just read an article from someone who was trying to tell everyone how to get 1000 views by going on twitter and facebook and I think there was a list of 57 things you had to do to go “viral”. I thought to myself, well, I didn’t do any of that, I just wrote from my heart and a great group of people responded. We are up to over 20,000 views. Absolutely, I agree the whole experience of going to an event on purpose next time will well be worth the cost of a membership. We have no problem paying or donating. Everyone has definitely inspired us to dream a little, well, a lot actually about what kind of animal we would be, names, dance routine songs, all sorts of things. Thank you so much for taking the time to write that letter and I’m sorry it took me so long to see it, I’m so glad I didn’t miss it! Since I am not sure if this will show up under where your letter is located, I am going to copy and respond to your reblog post. Thanks again, it’s good to meet you. We would love to meet you in person as well if the opportunity is there at some point. Take care and best wishes!
Funny thing about that 27 item list of things to do to ‘go viral’ its all mostly about how to force it. You did it and you didn’t have to force it.
The positive message you had was so strong (and often so absent) that the masses of furries out there that long for good press grabbed on for dear life and ran with it, making sure everyone they knew saw it.
I’m still seeing retweets of the original message that spread the word. Its like a digital ear Paul Revere, only this time its a good news.
So I’ll tip my hat to you, and give you a heart Cheers!
Dain
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate what the list was trying to do and it was good info but it’s just not my style ~ I am always telling people, don’t force it, it should happen naturally. Relationships, work, blogging whatever it is, for me, should happen naturally. With a little positive steps here and there to stay on track. I really believe that anybody will be successful if they are doing what they love. Why? Because if you love it, it will be natural. Cheers to you as well!
And that’s the difference between organic and Astro-turf!
LOL!
Reblogged this on Healthy Not Nuts and commented:
I thought was a lovely letter from Dain Unicorn.
Your too kind.
Markiplier is one of the most well known Youtube personalities right now with something like ten million subs. He didn’t do a lot of promotion or anything. He just did what he loves-play video games and entertain. He also has a huge heart and does his best to send positive. uplifting messages. It’s all about sharing happiness with others in a sincere way and I think that’s why what you posted resonated so much.
This is a fandom full of people who for the most part feel different from the rest of society. We’re all a bit weird and I think it’s because to truly be creative you have to be a bit weird. A lot of us are members of the LGBTQIA community and we’ve managed to find a lot more acceptance here than anywhere else. That’s why you’ll find a lot of us in the community. It really is an amazing group of people.