What Happens At CatCon Stays At CatCon

The third annual cat-centric convention CatCon took place August 12-13 and the purrs of 15K cat lovers could be heard across the globe. This year the venue was the massive Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California. A number of our Black Cats Tell All book contributors were vendors, special guests or hanging out and acted as my eyes and ears.

Let’s just say the crazy cat person identity transcends gender, race, religion or politics. Yeah, we’re crazy. Crazy for love and peace. Crazy for laughs and compassion. Crazy for making a difference in the lives of animals and the planet. It’s liberating to have events where we can fly our feline freak flag proudly because what happens at CatCon stays at CatCon.

Wearing cat ears or more is purrfectly fine.

 

A picture tells a thousand words and a pic from legendary photographer Rich Hardcastle is double. Consider this fab portrait of Julie Newmar, the original cat woman as a sneak peek treat from tomorrow’s post.

Of all the celebricats making appearances: Nala, White Coffee Cat, Luna Rose, Oskar the Blind Cat and Pudge, Lil BUB is in a constellation of her own. There were meet and greets and her dad, Mike who participated in a Men and Cats panel and is eternally patient and kind to fans.

 

Conventions of any kind are exhausting no matter how much fun. My friend Connie snapped the money shot of the day. The four top cat men enjoying well-earned brews at the CatCon After Dark after party sponsored by NatGeoWild. These four cat men have combined total of over 3 million Instagram followers alone. I feel lucky to know three of them. And cheers, to Chris! It’s his birthday today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The vendors worked hard. It’s not easy loading up merchandise, setting up booth space, standing all day talking and staying cheerful only to repeat the next day and then break down their booth before heading home. Every vendor deserves a shoutout. In future posts we’ll shine the spotlight on a few you need to know about. CatCon visitors flocked from shopping, interactive games, meet and greets, panels, speakers, a cat film fest and the awards. If all the feline -focused fun proved too much, a gorgeously designed adoption center offered kitty playtime and chance to adopt a cat.

You could shop ’til you drop or…

If all the feline -focused fun proved too much, a gorgeously designed adoption center offered real kitty playtime and chance to adopt a cat courtesy of official CatCon 2017 adoption partner is The Pasadena Humane Society & ASPCA

It’s rewarding to see the next generation ready to embrace cat love.

Of course we were rooting for non-profit charitable partner of ours @Milos_sanctuary to win an award and the amazing @sirthomastrueheart won for Best Newcomer. Connie, @socalconnie s a tireless volunteer there. The shelter is the oldest in California to focus exclusively on special needs pets and they do an amazing job.

We’re grateful for our friends and contributors for connecting on our behalf at CatCon. Purrs to @wingnutcook and Chase Holiday @furballfables and Cynthia @marcyverymuch

Big purrs of thanks to Mick @Oskar_the_blind_cat for his awesome last minute testimonial for our book which is on the back cover. See it at our media kit (tab at top) Watch for stage 1 of our book launch for Black Cat Appreciation Day.Cynthia @Marcyverymuch is a contributor and Catcon vendor. It was so kind of her to pick-up and share our book marks. You will not want to miss part 2 of our CatCon coverage tomorrow. For added info on our book, click on to view our Media Kit