About Us

Who we are and why it matters.

Event Planning Team

Wing is a magical fox with a flair for theatrics. She's looking to make dream parties come true!

Shichi is a smol raccoon and the brains behind our website. She is a Dungeon Master for a local D&D group and strives to make a welcoming environment for folks to be themselves.

Sniff the Raccoon

Sniff is a nonbinary, autistic artist wandering through life looking for beauty, comfort, and safety. Born in Austin but having lived in many southern towns, Sniff is passionate about maintaining an environment for people of all ages, genders, orientations, and disabilities to safely gather and make friends without having to hide their identity or mask themselves. (any pronouns)

Muttstera Deliciosa

Agender ADHD artist and maker who strives to create a fun and safe environment for those on often find themselves on the fringes to express themselves through the furry fandom. Advocate for mental health, self-expression and discovery, diversity, harm-reduction, and shelter dogs!

Lagoon

A sapphic dragon dog from Florida who is eager to help bring safe, memorable moments to the local community. Loves the beach, cartoon musicals, and the magic behind fursuiting.

Aruki

A nonbinary, queer blue dog who knows what it's like to feel like you don't belong, and wants to help change that for others. Excited to play a part in creating a safe, inclusive space to bring together the Austin furry community!

chilis

Sometimes Rax, sometimes Amber, Raxamber is the fluffiest snep/dog hybrid with a passion for building community spaces!

Our Vision

In 2021, our founders in Austin’s furry community noted that there didn’t seem to be a physical space where PoC and LGBTQA+ folks could gather–so it seemed high time to make one!

We screen our venues and attendees to create a safe, welcoming, gender-inclusive environment. We’re always on the hunt for interesting venues, and we take notes from attendee feedback to build on and improve each event.

Why do I need to sign in with Telegram?

For security and records, we ask that all guests RSVP so we know who is in attendance. We use Telegram as an authentication mechanism as Telegram is very secure and much of the Austin furry community is active there.

Requiring that you sign into the website through Telegram to view events and RSVP allows us to screen attendees once and have a record to keep track of. The Telegram API updates profile picture, username, and User ID changes. This prevents spoofed accounts, allows us to secure RSVP’s and access to events, lets us secure the site with fine grain security controls, and lets us securely automate parts of our RSVP process.

For Venues

Hi! If you’re a venue and you’re here, we’ve probably contacted you about reserving a space or otherwise visiting your venue.

We’re furryATX, a group of creative minds: artists, cosplayers, musicians, gamers and more! Some of us have hand-made costumes, and we’re looking for fun ways to express ourselves and put a smile on faces we meet! Many of us are PoC or members of the LGBTQA+ community looking to hang out at places where we feel safe.

We do our best to keep up with our mess and leave your venue tidy: We’d like to be your best guests and a positive experience to work with! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to the organizer who contacted you via phone or email.

For Parents

We aim to create family-friendly spaces. We request that parents attend with their children under 18 years of age at events. This applies to all events, including those that require an admission fee. Our events are held in public, public-accessible, and private venues. We screen venues and attendees and do our best to ensure a safe environment for all attendees. However, we cannot be solely responsible for unaccompanied minors in any capacity.

We kindly ask that our of-age attendees limit their consumption at any venues that may provide alcohol out of respect for our younger attendees.

How did GrackleMeets LLC start?

GrackleMeets LLC was an accident! Our founding member was really bored one Sunday in 2021 and asked if any of her new friends wanted to have an impromptu-meet up at Cidercade. Seven people gathered for a fun-packed day, and expressed interest in doing it again.

The second meet-up was set for Emerald Tavern the next Friday. Fifteen people expressed interest in showing up, then twenty, then thirty… Emerald Tavern ended up hosting a total of forty-two guests.

It was time to create an event planning group to help keep up with guest numbers and effectively implement a safe atmosphere. Gathering a team filled with intrepid spirit, Grackle Con was born–Then shortly renamed GrackleMeets to opt for clarity, then renamed GrackleMeets LLC in September 2023 to adhere to government naming regulations for its latest status as a Limited Liability Company. 🙂

Why "Grackle"-Meets LLC?

Our events can be compared pretty well to the habits of these iconic birds of Austin. We eye new venues that hold the promise of cheese fries, fun, and fizzy drinks. We gather in a large swarm and consume all snacks within visible radius. We mingle, jingle, squeak, and sometimes howl, and then we’re gone as quickly as we came, flapping to the next adventure.

Furs of a feather stick together. Keep Austin weird, Grackles.

Why originally Grackle-"Con"?

We are not a yearly convention, we’re simply event organizers. Many folks added the -“con” suffix themselves to our meets at the start, and it stuck!

From Grackle Con to GrackleMeets to LLC, our goal is to put on events where everyone feels comfortable and safe–Event size doesn’t matter to us as long as we are able to apply that vision. If we can swing it big one day, maybe we’ll be a real con in the future.