GREETINGS, FURRY FOLK!
Here, as promised, is the long-awaited (sorry about that Chief…) ConFurEnce Zero Progress Report. Yes, it’s actually happening, the fan gathering and planning session for the first Anthropomorphic Fandom convention series on the West Coast (or, anywhere for that matter). After successfully advertising our convention at several SF con Furry Parties, memberships are starting to pour in. Understand, what we want here for the first session is a small, intimate gathering where Furry people young and old can get to know each other and talk about what we’d all like to see in a Furry Convention (or any convention, for that matter). But that certainly doesn’t mean we can’t handle at least a small crowd, so TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT US! Bring along new Furry converts and get them into the middle of things. If people don’t understand, stick a copy of Albedo under their nose and they’ll catch on. Or, take them out to see “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”. I understand a few people liked that film. As for us, here we’ll let you in a few details and planned events of our convention, as they unfold. . .
GUESTS
As we’ve stated, YOU are both a guest of ConFurEnce and a member of the planning committee, simply by paying your membership and attending. Furries are still a rare enough species that we can all get to know each other on an even level, and we want each and every attendee to feel like something special. But, for those of you who watch such things as “Which FAMOUS people are showing up”, we’ll tell you about who’s coming now and who we’re working on swaying our way.
The first step in our organizing this get-together was to send out the word to the people who do this for a living. Steve Gallacci of Albedo. Reed Waller and Kate Worley of Omaha. Dave Garcia of Panda Kahn. Lex Nakashima of durn near everything. We’ve even written to several children’s book illustrators such as Wallace Tripp, Doris Susan Smith and Robin James. Almost everyone we’ve spoken has expressed an interest in attending, based upon (what else?) professional commitments.
For now, some of the well-knowns and semi-well-knowns who are definitely attending are:
Ruben Avila: Whose beautiful anthropomorphic and science fiction sculptures have graced so many recent west coast conventions.
Bill Fitts: Underground cartoonist, grafitti expert and long time archivist of the Vaughn Bode collection.
Steven Martin: Long-time C/FO and comic illustrator, and frequent cover artist for the Fandom Directory.
Numerous fan artist and publishers showing their wares, and of course the publishing team of Furversion magazine.
We’ll be sure to keep you posted as more folks-you-oughtta-know-about confirm their attendance in our next progress report in mid-December.
PROGRAMMING
We want to extend our deep thanks to those of you who have sent suggestions to us and filled out the interest poll with your membership form. Bring your ideas along to this con! We are of, by and for the fans, and we will have free space in our programming rooms for discussions of spontaneous subjects as they come up. Some of the programming round-tables we’re already sure of having include: A Furry Starter Kit — How would you introduce someone to this stuff? * Your personal character — How and Why? * Your Favorite Species (panels on dogs, cats, weasels, horses, birds, lizards — whadya got?) * ‘Morphics Around the World * Costuming Advice * and many more ideas as they come up. * In addition we will have twenty-four hours of video programming in at least one room, in addition to video in our hospitality suite. * We will have a special preview of the new Albedo Role-Playing Game, as well as games like Other Suns & TMNT. * We’re even trying to get a hold of some ‘morphic video games like Rampage and Altered Beasts! It’s going to be different from any convention you’ve seen!
FURRY MUSIC??
One area of fandom that furries haven’t really tried out yet is filk music. We plan to do something about that with the first ever Furry Filksong Composition Contest, to be held at ConFurEnce 0. Just bring your idea along to the con, sign it up and we’ll judge the entries at a special round-table panel on Sunday. No need to perform it yourself — you can hire a friend or just recite the words. Original music or write to a known tune — maybe we’ll even sing along if you’re unlucky!
RATES
We’ve finally worked out some important pricing information:
Memberships remain at $10.00 for attending membership and $5.00 for supporting membership and the mailing list. We will be accepting mail-in memberships until early January, after which at-the-door memberships will be $8.00 for one day and $14.00 for both days.
Hotel Rates at the Red Lion Inn are $65.00 for single rooms and $75.00 for doubles. Suites are available for $175.00 for special programming; contact the hotel directly for more info. We will try to mail out reservation cards in the near future; otherwise, contact the Red Lion Inn Costa Mesa at (714)-540-7000.
Dealers Tables are currently available at $40.00 for a full 6’X 3′ table with two memberships, or $20.00 for a half-table and one membership. (Extra tables available at a nominal rate as needed.) Space is limited, so please sign up quickly!
Art Show Space is available at $8.00 for a 4’X 4′ space (vertical or horizontal) and $4.00 for a 4’X 2’ space. The ConFurEnce commission is 05% of final sale for handling costs. The art show will run through Saturday until mid-Sunday, with a voice auction late Sunday afternoon. In addition we will be offering FREE table space for artists to sit and demonstrate their technique, and sell their work directly. A sketch table will also be available at a 5%-of-sale rate. Inquire for de-tails.
That’s all for now —
Hotel Rates at the Holiday Inn are $60.00 for single and double rooms. Suites are available for special programming; contact the hotel directly for more info. We will try to mail out reservation cards in the near future; otherwise, contact the Holiday Inn Costa Mesa at (714)-557-3000.
Facilities Change
Due to problems of high finance (someone had more) we have had to move our convention location. We are now across the street at the Holiday Inn Costa Mesa. Same part of town, same neat stuff.
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