@realtegan I guess we've got small island syndrome or an overabundance of broken stairs. I was involved in the scene over here for a long time and even ran events for them. "Competing" groups would start vile rumours (we didn't see ourselves as competing) and in the end we all just burned out.
A lot of the folks I know/knew used to do the US/CAN cons and spoke highly of them.
Keep those friendly, helpful furs close, you'll not meet many like them!