WHEW!
Well, we did it once more!
Half again as many fans attended our first full-fledged anthropomorphic convention as attended our trial-run the year before, and we already have more inquiries for the next ConFurence than we had this time last year. We are on to something here.
No mysterious flues to knock people over this time. The lounge singer this year could actually sing! A con-suite well stocked with food, fans, and games galore. Several complete furry costumes wandering the hallway and freaking the mundanes. And an impressive roster of well-known artistic types, if we do say so. Something for everyone in the furry flock to enjoy. What you hold here is a little encapsulation of ConFurence One for those of you who could not join us. Or, a little verbal picture album to keep as a reminder for those who could. And for both: A Preview of Things to Come!
ATTENDERS
One-hundred thirty people attended ConFurence One (counting members, guests, and con-com), and fifteen additional people signed as supporting members. Of these, some two-thirds purchased their memberships prior to the convention. Though there was a fair number of local folks, the largest portion of ATTENDERS stayed overnight in our host hotel — and most even bought rooms! The largest amount of people showed up on Saturday (no shock), but a fair crowd was present by the end of Friday as well. The afternoons were most populous, with the evenings largely spent with people headed off to dinner at restaurants all over town (sushi appeared to be quite popular). Among the well-known types who were present were our guests Bill Fitts (“Miami Mice”), Jim Groat (Graph-X-Press), Monika Livingston (“Rufus the Red”) and Martin Wagner (Hepcats), as well as Stan Sakai (“Usagi Yojimbo”), Joshua Quagmire (“Cutey Bunny”), Deal Whitley (“High Orbit”), Lex Nakashima (“Fusion” & “Xanadu”), Fred Patten (“Rowrbrazzle” fanzine), Jeff Ferris (“Yarf” fanzine), Kyim Granger (“Furversion” fanzine); and artists Jerry Collins, Ken Sample, and Steve Martin. As I said, Whew!
SOME EVENTS OF NOTE:
*VIDEO PROGRAMMING
Both the Friday night “Miyazaki Night at the Movies” and the Saturday Furry Marathon were quite impressive, being shown on a kingbed-sized video projection screen provided by John Stanley. Attendance to both events was rather small, apparently due to people preferring to sleep it off after a night of heavy eating! Speaking of which. . .
*SATURDAY NIGHT FEED
The Spaghetti Feed on Saturday night was well-stocked with food for sixty people. Unfortunately, what they got was a group of sixty hungry FANS! So, the whole four helpings disappeared in a matter of minutes! Still, a good time was had by all. Voting took place here for the Best Hall Costume. We’ll be sure to have something like this at ConFurence Two, and maybe some additional eating-meetings. (Seems like a lot of people would like sushi. . .)
*AWARDS
The art show “Best of Show” Award went to Ken Sample.
The “Best Furry Filk Award” went to Kay Shapiro for “Furry”. (This year’s only entry, but well worth the award!)
The “Best Hall Costume” Award went to John Cawley for “Zorro the Fox”.
All award winners were chosen by those ATTENDERS present at the time of voting. ConFurence would like to congratulate all of the winners for a job well done!
*AND OTHER THINGS. . .
The Art Auction on Sunday once again did big business, and the artists present did quite well. Monika Livingston set up a huge display of sketches for sale in her room, and the people there turned it into a sort of “second con suite”. Silly String wars were waged through the hallways at night. Another game of Laser Tag was held once again on the double-decker parking lot. Charlie and Jo Kellner, with Brian O’Connell, produced a marvelous computer-animation short which ran continuously in the foyer. The watchword of the convention was “Cool!!”
AND A BIG THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS —
Without whom many of our guests would probably not have made it to the convention. Sponsors were people who gave ConFurence a contribution of $20 or more to be used toward transportation and/or lodging for our guests. Our sponsors
were:
Dave Bryant
Kevin P. Carrol
Steve Corbett
David Ewell
Mark & Lisa Iennaco
John Alan Stanley
AND, AN EXTRA BIG THANKS —
To all of the volunteers who helped out with organization, registration, art show set-up and take-down, and security. Believe us, this is a fan-run convention, and our appreciation goes out to every one of them!
And so, without further adieu, we proudly present:
CON-FUR-ENCE TWO — INTO THE NINETIES!
Here again are the pertanents:
ConFurence 2: Friday, Saturday, Sunday; January 25-27, 1991
Venue: Holiday Inn, Anaheim, Across From Disneyland
Rooms: $69.00 per night single/double
Reservations: (800) 624-6855
Memberships: $20.00 attending, $10.00 supporting
$25.00 after 1/1/91 and at-the-door
$17.00 attending for previous members
Art Show space: 1 free 4 X 4 ft. space included with
attending or supporting membership
Additional spaces $5.00 each
Dealer’s Tables: $50.00 for one 8 X 3 ft. table with two memberships
$30 for one 4 X 3 ft. table with one membership