FC2003 Newsletter November 2002 Fursuiter Edition

Index
1. Fursuiter Area at the Doubletree Hotel
2. Masquerade Rules and Call for Acts
3. FVS Announcement and Call for Acts

1. Fursuiter Area at the Doubletree Hotel

We are going to try an experiment this year by allowing Fursuiters to
request to be placed with their hotel room in the fursuiting area. This is
limited to folks who actually have costumes and thus have the special
needs associated with them. Please do not request this if you do NOT need
it. If you would like to be included in the Fursuiters Area, the person in
whose name the room is reserved must send an email with the following
information in it to hotel@furtherconfusion.org. We must receive the email
NO LATER THAN Dec. 15, 2002. We cannot make any promises until we see how
large the demand is but we are willing to give it a go if you folks will
bear with us. This requires a lot of extra work on behalf of our hotel
staff so please be considerate. This can ONLY be arranged via the
convention staff themselves, not through the hotel.

RESERVATION NAME:
FAN NAME:
RESERVATION CONFIRMATION NUMBER:
ARRIVAL DATE:
DEPARTURE DATE:
NUMBER OF BEDS IN ROOM:

No requests received after Dec 15, 2003 will be considered. We apologize
for the tough deadline but this is the first time this has been tried so
we would rather err on the side of caution. Once we have received all the
requests we will make a determination if this is feasible or not and so
notify all requesters.

2. Masquerade Rules and Call for Acts

Further Confusion 2003 Masquerade

Qualifications
a. All performances and costumes must be suitable for a general audience.
Costumes must meet the guidelines established in the Public Behavior
Rules. In particular, bondage and BDSM gear is considered
unacceptable. Collars and leashes may be worn discreetly or if their
use is a necessary part of the act.
b. Group entries are allowed.
c. At least one performer on stage must be in a furry costume. Costumes
must be made with significant and substantial content to resemble an
anthropomorphic animal. Exceptions to this rule may be granted if the
costume and performance are deemed appropriate by the Director. Any
questions about the qualifications of a costume should be brought to
the attention of the Director.
d. Entrants are encouraged to present their costume on stage to the
audience and to the judges for an adequate period of time so a careful
inspection may be made.
e. Performances are requested to be limited to 90 seconds in length for
solo acts and 4 minutes for groups. No exceptions will be made! We
want to avoid any time conflicts with other scheduled events.
f. No working microphones are permitted (however you may use a
non-functioning one as a prop). All audio must be pre-recorded onto a
CD or cassette. No other audio formats will be accepted. However, you
are not required to have an audio track. You may either request to
have generic background music, or have nothing at all.
g. You may simply walk on stage for all to view your costume, or you may
have a planned act.

Awards Structure
a. We will use the categories established by the International Costumers
Guild (ICG), Novice, Journeyman, and Master.

b. The Novice division is to encourage beginners. You may not enter as a
Novice if you are a professional (any entrant who derives a significant
portion of their income from the creation of costumes), have won
"Best-in-Show", or have won in the Novice (or higher) division at a
previous Further Confusion Masquerade or masquerade at another national
or international convention.

c. The Journeyman division is an interim division to allow further
development of costuming skills. You may not enter as a Journeyman if
you are a professional, have won "Best-in-Show", or have won as a
Journeyman or Master at a previous Further Confusion Masquerade or
masquerade at another national or international convention.

d. The Master division is an open class. Anyone may enter. Professionals
and anyone who has won "Best-in-Show" must compete in this category.

e. In the past, a first place and a runner-up award were given for each
level. This year, the number of awards in each category will not be
pre-determined. The number of deserving entrants in each category will
determine the number of awards at the time of the masquerade.

f. In addition to the three categories, there will be the "Best-in-Show"
award (for the best costume presentation entry), a performance award,
and a peer award (to be chosen by all the masquerade entrants). These
three awards do not have any categories; there will be just one of
each. A win in "Best-in-Show" excludes that entrant form winning any
other award.

g. Awards for costume presentation will be given to the creator of the
costume. The performance award will be given to the creator of the
performance.

h. You may also choose to enter the Masquerade and not compete. This
option will also exclude you from the peer award.

Registration
a. Entrants may either pre-register by e-mailing the Director, or register
in person at the convention. Registration deadline is the start of the
rehearsal. A sign-up sheet will be made at the convention info desk.

b. Special requests, such as unusual staging requirements may or may not
be honored, depending on staff availability.

d. You may choose to compete in a higher category, but not a lower one
(see explanation of categories in Awards Structure), or you may be a
non-competitive entry.

d. Late entries will not be eligible to be judged.

Rehearsal
a. There is a mandatory, in-costume rehearsal for all performers to be held
prior to the Masquerade. Exceptions to this rule may be granted for
certain circumstances, but must be arranged in advance.

b. Entrants who have any audio that is to be played as part of their
performance are required to have it available at rehearsal on CD or
cassette with your name plainly visible on the medium. If you are
providing a cassette, please indicate the side to be played and have it
cued at the proper starting point.

Miscellaneous
a. Flash photography is allowed at all times during the Masquerade.

b. These rules are subject to further revision.

c. If any rule listed here contradicts a Convention rule laid down by the
Further Confusion Staff, the Convention rule will apply.

d. The enumeration of these rules does not constitute the entirety of the
Masquerade rules. Situations that are not explicitly covered here
should be brought to the attention of the Director and will be reviewed
by the Director and Further Confusion Staff.

e. All decisions made by the Masquerade Director regarding the Masquerade
are final.

Further Inquiries:
a. All inquiries may be e-mailed to masquerade@furtherconfusion.org

3. FVS Announcement and Call for Acts

Yes, Further Confusion will have an Furry Variety Show. Open to acts of
all types (PG13 rated please), this is the place to go for a ton of fun
for acts which may be too long for the formal masquerade. No judging, no
competitions, just wacky fun!

Crosscheck is running things for us this year and if you are interested
and have an act for the FVS, the contact email is
fvs@furtherconfusion.org.

--
Further Confusion
info@furtherconfusion.org
http://www.furtherconfusion.org/