Galactic Fleet (Furrydelphia 2022)

Furrydelphia 2022, also known as Galactic Fleet, was a convention run by Furrydelphia. Taking place in August of 2022, it was the first iteration of Furrydelphia to be held at the convention's current modern day home, the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown, thus making Galactic Fleet the first Furrydelphia convention to take place entirely within the city of Philadelphia, the city serving as the convention's namesake. This change came after the convention outgrew it's previous venue, the Valley Forge Casino Resort, which hosted two non-consecutive Furrydelphia iterations. The convention hosted four guests of honor; voice actor Jonah Scott, canadian fursuit studio Made Fur You, popular artist and content creator Jibcodi, and musician DJ Recca, making Galactic Fleet notable for the most individual guests of honor in a single Furrydelphia convention.

Venue

Following the successful completion of Back to Con, Furrydelphia's first in-person event since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, the convention board began the process of finding a new venue. This was due in part to the continued loosening of restrictions surrounding the pandemic, as well as Furrydelphia's continued growth despite previous restrictions. The new venue was first teased via Galactic Fleet's official announcement on September 22, 2021, with the promise of an official venue announcement on October first of the same year. This announcement was delayed however, as the Sheraton was eventually revealed to be the new home of Furrydelphia via several social media posts on October 15, 2021.

Theming

Furrydelphia 2022 saw the long awaited use of a previously teased theme, Galactic Fleet, after the COVID-19 pandemic caused both the virtual 2020 convention and the in-person 2021 return to be re-themed to Virtualcon and Back to Con respectively. The theme dates back to late 2019, having previously been announced prior to the declaration of the pandemic. Galactic Fleet featured imagery and promotional materials based around the concept of space travel, with heavy nods to the genre of science fiction.

Promotional Materials

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  Initial Galactic Fleet announcement graphic
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  Galactic Fleet pre-convention schedule graphic
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  Galactic Fleet pre-registration graphic

Convention-Exclusive Merchandise

The following merchandise was available for individual purchase and/or was included in certain pre-registration packages.

Concept Photos

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  Official Galactic Fleet convention t-shirt artwork, designed by DWC Marshal Arts.

Final Product Photos

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  Official Galactic Fleet convention t-shirt, designed by DWC Marshal Arts.

Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

While Back to Con, Furrydelphia's previous return to the in-person convention format following the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, employed strict safety measure in response to state and federal guidelines, Galactic Fleet saw the relaxation of these regulations. This was largely due to a widespread relaxation of guidelines across the world, from local government to federal codes of conduct, as large scale events began to return to normal. This, however, did not mean there weren't still COVID-19-specific precautions in place for the duration of the convention. Via the convention's official website, a list of enforced guidelines was provided to attendees ahead of Galactic Fleet's kickoff. These regulations most notably included the continuation of a clause introduced in 2021, requiring attendees to present their COVID-19 vaccination card, or other approved method of vaccination verification, once to convention staff upon badge retrieval.

Attendance

Galactic Fleet was attended by 2,281 guests, marking nearly double the attendance of the previous Furrydelphia iteration and the first year the convention achieved a gross attendance exceeding 2,000.

Charity

Furrydelphia continued to support Bella Reed Pitbull Rescue, a local pit bull rescue serving Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, as the charity of choice for Galactic Fleet, following another successful year of donations during Back to Con. Attendees raised $9,063 for the charity, nearly a $2,000 increase from the previous year.

Board of Directors

The following list was adapted from the Furrydelphia website as it was published in 2022 and reflects the Board of Directors at the time of this event. A current and up-to-date list of Furrydelphia staff can be found here.

• Drayne the Wolf - Convention Chairman, Operations Director
• Higgawits - Vice Chairman
• Fray the Husky - Board Member at Large, Public Safety Director
• Yuukari Shishome - Board Secretary, Chief Technical Officer
• Hyperion - Board Member at Large, General Manager