[Please pardon the rampant x-posting]

I’m proud to announce the Western Pennsylvania Furry Weekend, http://www.wpafw.org, is being held the weekend of, October 2-4, 2009, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This year’s “Featured Artist” is Starrazzor who is one of the region's local talents.

Event Pre-Registration is now OPEN!!

Registration for the Furry Weekend covers the Friday night, Saturday morning and Saturday evening’s programming at the Comfort Inn, Pittsburgh North, and the Eighth Annual Fur-b-que Saturday afternoon at Fireman’s Memorial Park in Aspinwall, PA!

Early bird, pre-registration begins now and runs until midnight on June 30!
Early-Bird Pre-registration is $20. (That's a 33% savings of the Basic Registration price!)
Supporter level Pre-registration is $40. (All of the above plus a Furry Weekend badge, front line privilege for food at the Fur-b-que, five Charity Raffle tickets, color print of the program’s cover art, and other swag to be determined.)

After June 30, Pre-registration goes up to $25 for a Basic registration until pre-registration closes in early September.

Hotel Room Block is AVAILABLE!

The Comfort Inn, Pittsburgh North in Harmar Township, PA, just off PA Turnpike exit 48, has afforded the event a spacious room block at a flat rate of 79.99 a night (plus taxes.) Call today and reserve your rooms and don’t forget to tell them you’re with the “Western PA Furry Weekend!”

Some changes from last year are in the works. We gave programming a try last year and it was met with mixed feelings. Many of you asked us where we were taking this annual event and expressed concern that it would lose the easy going, unstructured feel that had made the event so popular over the years and become just another "cookie cutter" convention. We listened and we've decide to roll back a bit of the structure and let the event be looser and more free-formed.

We'll still have a few of the more popular activities scheduled so we have room for them and you, our guest, know where and when you need to be there to take part. So look for Lazer Tag, the fursuit photo shoot, the group photo at the park, Saturday's morning cartoons, The Menagerie, gaming and plenty of time to relax and socialize. Of course, the event wouldn't be complete without the picnic dinner followed by the one of the best Charity Raffles hosted by Mandarin Orange and his associates. Due to the influx of fursuiters we saw in 2007 and 2008, we'll be setting aside the Cheswick Room as a "Headless Lounge" to encourage their continued support and participation.

This short message by no means conveys all the information available on this year’s event. I encourage you to visit the Western PA Furry Weekend website at http://www.wpafw.org for pre-registration, programming and activities, and lodging just to name a few. I also invite you to sign up for the Furry Weekend Forums where you can get the latest information on the event, pose questions and suggestions, take part in polls and hook up with your friends for room and ride shares.

So mark your calendars and register now to join us in the beautiful autumn clad foothills of the Allegheny Valley and see friends old and new. The Western Pennsylvania Furry Weekend, October 2nd, 3rd, & 4th, 2009!!

Swift Fox
Director; Western PA Furry Weekend '09
http://www.wpafw.org