Anthrocon 2025 - Kicking off our adventure soon!

We’re excited to have you embark with us on our s-UwU-bmarine for Anthrocon 2025: Deep Sea Adventures! As our team continues to update the website in preparation of opening, here are some of the important updates to know as we start off this new convention cycle.

Firstly, we want to thank everyone that took their time to provide feedback in our 2024 Attendee Survey Feedback. We had over 2,200 responses and took away many important themes that our attendees want prioritized, and we look forward to improving as best we can with them in mind.

Registration

Our top priority for Registration is to improve the speed and efficiency of our check-in experience. These efforts are aimed at improving the main issue that caused a cascade of other issues in 2024, which we’ve heard from attendees. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue exploring additional ways to improve the on-site experience!

• Pre-registration Opening: Online Pre-registration for all levels will open on October 21st at 12 PM Eastern Time and remain open until June 15th, 2025. After that, on-site registrations can be purchased on the first day of the convention, July 3rd. Our Refund and Rollover Policy has also been updated to reflect our 2025 dates.
• Prices: We will be updating our pricing to reflect a balance between managing the rising costs associated with growth and economic changes, but without going too high above the average convention pricing in the current environment.
• Sponsorship availability and perks: To better reflect the services and perks we can provide for our different sponsor levels, we have updated the maximum memberships for each level - once they have sold out, we will not be adding any more upgraded levels. Additionally, the language for some of our sponsorship perks has been updated to better reflect the value that attendees can expect, as we continue to find balances between the services and perks we can provide with what attendees should expect as our convention grows.
• Standards of Conduct: Our convention continues to adapt to the shifting environments and tolerance levels of our community, and we will be updating our attendee Standards of Conduct to reflect those changes for 2025. These changes will be reflected on our Standards of Conduct page by the time pre-registration opens.

Dealers and Artists

Our applications for the Dealers Room will open at the same time as online pre-registration (October 21st) and will close on November 21st, 2024. Pricing will also be updated before the Dealers applications open, and payment will not be required until your Dealership is approved. Dealers Assistants will purchase their badge separately after the Dealer application is approved. The Dealers Room Information Packet will contain the latest information and rules for 2025.

Looking to join our Artists Alley in 2025? We have made an important change this year: to better match attendee and artist expectations along with the artistic intent of Artists Alley, artists will only be allowed to sell artwork that is made on-site. This means that pre-made goods may not be sold in the Artists Alley. Examples of your artwork may be displayed, but not sold. Anyone wishing to sell pre-made merchandise or artwork will need to apply as a Dealer. We recommend looking at the Bodega (Half Table) spaces as those are most comparable to the space available in the Artist Alley. Details and specific rules for Artists Alley will be updated and published before applications open.

Hotel Accommodations

We’re taking steps to improve our partnered booking process to help keep the hotel booking smooth and straightforward. Our goal is to provide a smooth experience through our partners while keeping expectations realistic.

• Booking Dates: Hotel booking dates will be finalized closer to the new year, but attendees can expect a similar timing as previous years: advanced booking for Ultrasponsors/Supersponsors/Dealers in late January, and general hotel booking in early February.
• Booking Process: Our higher-tier memberships will have advanced booking access to a certain number of rooms at our more preferred hotels, with the remainder of hotel rooms being a part of our general booking.

In addition, we are taking steps to improve the availability and accessibility of our hotel shuttle service for 2025 and look forward to sharing further details along with updated hotels information by the end of the year.

Events, Panels, and Performances

Interested in hosting or performing at Anthrocon 2025? Our event and performance applications are currently scheduled to launch through our website on November 1st, 2024. Applications and details for interested panelists and performers can be found on our Events page.

River Cruises

We will be offering our River Cruises once more for 2025, with updated timings and themes to improve on the feedback from 2024’s cruises. Our team is continuing to finalize the details and will have updates made to the River Cruises page (under Events) before online pre-registration opens.

Staff and volunteer opportunities

It’s no secret that as we grow, so does our need for motivated and passionate people to help us with that growth. We’ve got many openings and opportunities; from those handy with computers to those handy with boxes, we want you to join our rapidly-expanding team. Our volunteers applications will be exploring a new system where you’ll be able to apply directly after registering, should you be willing to contribute your time before or at-the-con. Stay tuned for more information!