Rex Riteski @Home 🔜 CFz, WAM, FM

He has a lot of memories with me, but he could start a brand new journey with someone else too!

Let me know if you are interested!

I was about 6 foot tall at the time I wore him and 170 to 190 lbs.

Bills are tight and the body suit, tail, paws, and feets are for sale! He is a digitigrade. I have made various repairs on him throughout a while and he is honestly still good. He was 6 years old when I last wore him in 2021. He has a lot of memories with me, but he could start a brand new journey with someone else too! Let me know if you are interested! I was about 6 foot tall at the time I wore him and 170 to 190 lbs.

Bills are tight and the body suit, tail, paws, and feets are for sale!

He is a digitigrade. I have made various repairs on him throughout a while and he is honestly still good. He was 6 years old when I last wore him in 2021.

HELLOOOOOO EVERYONE! GOT MY FIRST YCH HERE!
$10 for base still art
$15 for shaded still art
$15 for base animated
$20 for shaded animated
+$0-$15 for species complexity, aka non-canines

You let me know if you need help :P

Characters like Telephone that have changed how the convention happens with their ability to "come alive" are notable features of our community and in many ways some feel like they can do more in suit than they ever could outside of it.

Embracing and rewarding these risks is also important imo 💜

By this I mean... where is the "iron fursuit" or perhaps the "best aligned to theme fursuit" or "best acting in fursuit or character".

I need not discount that such is difficult, but as a strong fursuiting performance advocate, I feel that we are left out of the conversation too.

As a con chair I appreciate your efforts to balance the needs of attendees of all backgrounds and support to ensure we all feel included in the con experience.

THANK YOU

Though to advance us, perhaps a chat about offering recognition for the performing arts like we do for drawing and writing?

However, I also believe that there is still a great audience of suiters who have been performing in suit for 10+ years that fail to benefit from recurring and limited panels like fursuiting 101. As such there are frequently opportunities for those seeking drawing 201, 301, or writing 201, 301, etc.

I believe we have long lasting differing opinions on fursuitings' role within the community. I concur there are undeniable facts that fursuits can be perceived as a financial barrier to some... and in a world where inclusivity is important, we should strive to not let such preventive measures exist.

You needed purple, what can I say?

Furry Migration 2025 Sketch Page. Top left: Googly eyed version of Akuren looking silly with a blep. Top Right: Malvi holding a beach ball on their horns. And Akuren's hand out as he is being buried by balls. Center: Malvi in a dress holding Akuren upon the middle of a dance. Bottom Left: Akuren and Malvi cheering on some slugs racing each other. Bottom Right: Rex(Formerly Kinger) bestowing Akuren a purple item. "It is too dangerous without purple. Take this." Akuren, "Shiny!"

May as well start to make this a tradition where I do a sketch page every con about some of my favorite moments of Furry Migration.

Featuring Malvi (@mushroomroom.bsky.social) & The King of Purple.

#FurryMigration #kobold #dragon #traditionalart #sketch #purple

Afterall, to be disgruntled or upset with how your community is one thing... voicing how it could be improved is another and can bring positive modifications and ease the issues others may experience so that the eventual product or service have less holes than the last time it was pushed out.

However, I also feel that having been a long-attending member offers me a degree of credibility and responsibility in asking for the change that I desire, not that it is guaranteed to happen, but to ensure that the delivery is in a constructive way that benefits all involved.

While I may seem to be upset with FM and where it is going, I understand that change starts with people speaking up and providing their opinions and insights. Throughout my posts I aimed to not only add criticism, but also proposed solutions as I want both the org and con to grow.

Over time, I think it is invaluable to reflect on where things are at in your own community. Ask questions that are difficult to answer and grow together.

There are countless life lessons both the org and con have taught me throughout my adult years, many more to still learn too.

After all my posts today and yesterday, I feel it is fair to ensure the record is clear:

@mnfurs.org was the furry organization that found me and still hosts events that I frequent.

@furrymigration.org was the first furry con that I attended and my annual must-go.

I believe there are benefits to both "keep things smaller and more controlled for a chilled experience" versus the "grow grow grow" mindset. Of which the "grow" is often shared during closing ceremonies at FM.

Perfecting the "small con experience with big con perks" should be a discussion.

However, I think that leadership of the con consistently push the desire to grow, working against these benefits of having lower attendance numbers.

To recenter the purpose of this post, I hope to encourage a larger discussion on finding what FM wants to be longer term.

I appreciate that perspective and concur that I like smaller cons myself where I don't feel like a consumer...

I actively don't want it flooded with excess amounts of people and the fact that there is barely any wait with elevators is a blessing in disguise every year.

‎Gemini - Analyzing Furry Convention Growth Trends Created with Gemini

Links to Sources

Gemini Chat History: g.co/gemini/share...

Interactive Chart: g.co/gemini/share...

Action Items

Evaluate the strategic direction of the convention for the following:

Is the leadership team adequate?

Is the initial premise of the convention being maintained?

Is the magic attracting new visitors to the convention?

Are we listening to the right set of feedback in post-surveys?

Conclusion

​A side-by-side comparison of the actual and projected attendance numbers reveals a widening gap over time, by '19, a difference of 132 short, by '24, a difference of 770, and by '25, a difference of 775.

That means we are missing approximately 21.7% of the projected 2025 attendance.

​A line graph titled 'Furry Convention Attendance Comparison' plots attendance from 2013 through 2025 for four conventions. The line for Furry Migration (FM) shows consistent but slow growth, rising from 543 attendees in 2014 to a projected 2,801 in 2025. In contrast, the lines for Furry Fiesta, Biggest Little Fur Con, and Megaplex show much steeper growth. Furry Fiesta's attendance went from 1,492 in 2013 to over 7,300 in 2023. Biggest Little Fur Con grew from 1,412 in 2014 to over 5,300 in 2023. Megaplex grew from 1,006 in 2013 to over 5,900 in 2024. The graph clearly illustrates the significant and widening attendance gap between Furry Migration and its larger peers.

Analysis Against Other Cons

FM is extremely far behind in terms of it's longevity and fails to keep up the growth that other cons have.

Interactive Graph: g.co/gemini/share...

Analysis

I provided Gemini all of the attendance data that was posted on wikifur (the first in each January) and it identified FM as being most similar to the average annual growth rate for Furry Fiesta, Biggest Little Fur Con, and Megaplex over a five-year period (2014-2019), approximately 18.7%.

Summary of Findings

​FM has experienced consistent attendance growth since its founding, but when compared to the growth of other conventions, FM's growth is noticeably slower to other conventions of a comparable size and age.

​A line graph on a dark background visualizes the attendance for the Furry Migration convention from 2014 to 2025. There are two lines: a solid red line representing the projected attendance based on the average growth of comparable conventions. ​The graph shows that from 2014, Furry Migration's attendance began at 543 and stayed slightly above the projected line. ​Around 2018, the actual attendance fell below the projected growth. The gap between the actual attendance (the purple line) and the projected attendance (the red line) continues to widen significantly. By 2025, the graph projects a notable gap of 775 attendees between the actual and projected numbers.

Attempt at an Objective Analysis on Furry Migration (FM) from the Beak of a Purple Phoenix

​#FurryMigration's growth is behind its peers with an analysis of en.wikifur.com/w/index.php?.... This reveals that by '25, it is under projections by 775 attendees, or 21.7% of the projected 2025 attendance.

While unlikely for a theme re-visit, a cool idea for @furrymigration.org would have been panels specifically re-enacting certain clue-scenes of the "murder". This could incorporate other fursuiters to partake in the theme and give them a chance to refine their own skills to the benefit of the con.

I'd be down to try for it and help make it a reality. Emphasizing the shear beauty of it would be stellar and Duluth has it's own international airport which could help people get in.

Badges

I understand that, however I think as a convention that has been around for 11 years, the "ramp-up" should have been slow enough to ease a lot of the growing pains and maintain some degree of quality as things changed.

Here are most of my badges from all the FM's I have been to (missing 2)

I would adore seeing this explored as an option and it would give us more choices, especially with how prolific the furry population is in the Twin Cities area, I don't think it would be hard.

A bigger idea would be to have one on the north shore, emphasizing the great lakes (duluth) area.