I was told at some point in 2023 that my products would do really well at a furry convention. We have a local one in Minnesota called Furry Migration, so I opted to go ahead and try it out.
I applied January 21 for dealers as the way the artist alley works is much different than other conventions. If I understand it correctly, you can show up for a table or if you apply you have to be doing commissions or something? I don't remember.
I was accepted into the dealers den in May. Since I'm local I didn't have to do anything other than get my ST-19 ready and prepare for the event in September. This event is located at the same hotel as Convergence and Anime Detour, so I was already familiar with where I'd need to park.
I want to note that while accepted in May, I didn't pay for my table until July. They also sent out a telegram group chat at some point after we paid. I was basically warned not to get it so I never did, but it seems like that's a very popular way for furry conventions to communicate.
On August 1st, we got our dealers welcome packet. This packet had tons of information about setup and guidelines. The email itself had our table number. I really liked having this information so far in advance. I also want to note I originally intended on having both my daughter and my nephew as booth helpers, but minors need parents to sign off on everything and I couldn't get my sister in law to actually do this. I decided to have my husband take both kids to Anime Fusion instead and had no helper for this weekend in the end. I knew several people who were also vending at the event, so it wasn't a big deal. I also got lucky and was placed next to Emory. They put Brittany across the room next to the bathroom.
Before the Event & Setup
Setup was on Thursday. I parked in my usual spot and took the elevator down. I would like to note that both elevators did in fact work on Thursday. I believe my daughter had a swim meet that evening and since setup was only 4pm to 10pm, I had to cram everything into my eclipse convertible. I think I wasn't able to fit some of my plush into it, but otherwise I was surprised how much I could actually cram into this tiny vehicle. That spinning rack has become the most frustrating item I own and I look forward to getting rid of it in the future. I did manage to fit it inside, but yeah. It's such a fragile item I am shocked it has lasted as long as it has.
The dealers den and artist alley was located in the same place the convergence vendor hall was. At this point, I think only Anime Detour had the artist alley separated from the vendor area at this particular location and I am not sure if any other cons beyond those three take place here. It is extremely interesting to see how each event handles layouts though. I think this was probably the most spaced out of the bunch. We could use the garage which for some reason they didn't call the loading dock, but after Convergence and trying to even access it there is no way I will ever try and load in that way. It's a pain in the ass to get to because of where it is located.
Load in was also about 2 hours before the event started Friday. Parking is cheap if you can get there early during the week. It's higher on weekends. I don't remember the exact cost anymore but I want to say it was like $18 on the weekend?
Either way I set up my stuff, minus a box of plush which I would bring Friday morning. I failed to get a lot of pictures for this entire event.
I did a walk around Friday morning before the event started and I have some notes. I like how small the whole vendor area is. There was a whole not safe for work area surrounded by black backdrops. Before it was completely closed where you couldn't see through, we saw some dildos. My kid had a badge for this event and this was about the point I started to pay closer attention to what was at people's tables.
My kid may be a teenager, but I am definitely in the boat of I am not ready for this level of exposure yet. Maybe when she's in high school, but I quickly decided she would not be attending this event even if she wanted to. I think she was busy with swim on Friday and Saturday anyways, so it worked out that she was unable to attend regardless. There is a reason they expect parents to be with their kids the entire time and why if you're bringing someone else's kid with you, you need to have the parent fill out a form. Was it really that bad? No, but if my kid was in high school I would be a lot less concerned.
The Event Itself
I had no idea what to expect really since this was my first furry convention. I'd heard from others that furries are super sweet and love to spend. I knew this was a pretty small event, but I was really blown away by how friendly the crowd was.
Friday sales were really strong which is not normal for me. They even beat sales for Friday at Momocon! It was really fun seeing people's fursona tags since not everyone had a fursuit. Many had laminated hand drawn or printed character art with their fursona name on it. A lot of people were also passing out stickers of their fursonas to people! 
One really cool thing was that we got a lunch break! I know that I should have paid more attention to what was going on before this event, but my medical issues & my husband's arm issue had me stressed out and sort of focused on that more than my events at the time. So yeah, the lunch break threw me off and was a pleasant surprise. This only happened on Friday and Saturday as Sunday was a much shorter day.
The elevator broke on Friday and I think Sunday? I forget but normally they had two functional elevators and there were issues throughout the weekend with the ones connecting to the parking garage.
On Saturday, I beat my Friday sales. Someone told me my prices were too low about midway into the event. My corgi plush were selling super well, but so were my panic puffs. I guess there were several fish vendors at the event which was also a surprise but it should have clued me in that they would also maybe like my puffer fish plush.
Sunday I brought a basket of junk pins which was really just chicken pins I don't feel like dealing with. I set them at $5 and let people sift through them to see if it helped move any or not. It did and I was glad to get rid of some pins. Someone asked what was wrong and I said I didn't like the manufacturer that made them so I eventually changed the name from junk to sale pins or something. Either way, junk implied something negative. It didn't impact my sales but did make people question the issues.
Load out I managed to get in one load and was so happy. I sold enough products to compact everything which is always a great feeling. It was great seeing Tomo Creations, Cool Art Corner, Scout Bennett, Wolf Dynasty Studios and E. Greywood Art!
What Worked & What Did Not
Tables were nicely spaced and I felt I had a ton of room behind me as well. I never felt cramped. They were very specific about the setup because it was approved by the fire marshall and people were not allowed to adjust.
This is still the only event I've attended that closes down so we can have a lunch break. I loved this.
Conclusion
It was a really chill event with great people and the sales were very good for me. I don't know that I recommend anyone that may have high expenses to attend, but it was totally worth vending at for locals. I hope to get in again next year!
The Details (TLDR)
Event: Furry Migration 2024
Dates: Sept 6-8, 2024
Location: Hyatt Regency Minneapolis, 1300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55403
Hours: Friday 12pm-6:30pm, Saturday 10am-6pm & Sunday 10am-3pm CST
Total Vendors: 48 vendors (4 were NSFW) & 32 artist alley
Attendance: 2,243
Travelworthy: Really good for locals. I wouldn't recommend for anyone outside the midwest.
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Booth Cost: $195
Total Sales: $2,840.90 (this is before all costs are taken out)
Transaction Fees: $65.03
Taxes: $266.05
Total Profit: $2,354.87