Press Release:
ConFurence Zero Aftermath Report
January 21st & 22nd, 1989 — Costa Mesa
Despite an unwelcome visit from The Flu, ConFurence Zero turned out to be a rousing success. A bit more than one-hundred people enjoyed two days of discussions, artwork, and films dedicated to anthropomorphic cartoons, comics and stories. A specific list of the fun could go on into the boring, so here we’ll condense just a bit.
The “panels” and round-robin discussions worked well for their unusual format. Several topics examining Furry Fandom’s various aspects were popular, such as “My First Furry”, “Furries and Gender” and “Real Genetic Research”, as well as discussions of art technique, layout and storytelling. Especially liked were the “Species Panels”, where fans of specific furry/funny animal types could meet and talk with like minds to exchange stories, findings and anecdotes. Cat fans, fox fans, weasel fans and even bird & reptile fans found plenty of their kin here.
Many other popular events were less structured, and some were outright spontaneous. A late-night video screening of student animated films from CalArts proved to be a big crowd pleaser, and Saturday night the artists’ jam room was packed to capacity with pen and paper flying. Among the other well-attended con events were the wide-screen presentation of “Animalympics” and the Furry Filk Contest, which drew seven entries.
For a small convention, the ConFurence Zero art show was amazing. More than ten artist showed nearly two hundred drawings and paintings for sale, and the final cash tally after sale and auction exceeded several larger conventions’! One piece by Susan Van Camp, “Reclining Tigeress”, sold for a whopping $450. Other artists made quite a showing as well, including several who had never been in an art show before. Among the art presented were works by Van Camp (“Aniverse”), Jim Groat (“‘Morphs”), Deal Whitley (“High Orbit”) and Mel. White (“Duncan & Mallory”), as well as fan artists like Steve Martin, Mary Hanson-Roberts, Ken Sample and others.
Mention must be made of the excellent service provided by the Holiday Inn Bristol Plaza, our host. Service was fast, cooperative and efficient; materials needed were handled in a flash, and several rooms were added to the package for our usage at little or no extra cost. It is for this reason and several others that we are staking a claim for future ConFurences at this hotel.
It’s on that note that we’ll officially announce
CONFURENCE ONE, 1990.
Dates: January 19, 20 & 21 (Fri. – Sun.).
Location: Holiday Inn Bristol Plaza, Costa Mesa (of course!).
Membership: $20 by mail, $25 at-the-door.
For art show and dealer table info, or suggestions, write to: ConFurence, P.O. Box 1958, Garden Grove, CA 92644-1958, or call (714) 530-1312.
Special Thanks go out to the volunteers and other helping hands without whom we would never have pulled this off!