Confurence is dead
On alt.fan.furry this morning, Doodles announced Confurence is dead...read on...
4-27 update--Yup, it's official. Evidently the Man Show was also taping.
From: "Doodles"
Newsgroups: alt.fan.furry
Subject: Confurence the Last
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 09:30:21 -0700
Organization: Fox's Underground Revolution - http://www.fur.com/
Lines: 16
Message-ID:
Yep, after 15 years and two regimes, Confurence, the first furry fandom
convention, is no more. Economics, coupled with the usual fannish political
BS, have taken it down. This weekend is the last, so those who are
available and wish to come to the wake are welcome to do so. Hell, flood
the place with folks and don't pay a dime. What's Darrell gonna do, ban us
from coming back? =};-3
It's too bad things had to end, but ultimately, CF did what it was
originally intended to do. Get the fandom together. Now we have a half
dozen cons all over the US, plus one in Europe.
Cons come and go, fandoms last far longer.
Comments
It's in the program guide. Tomorrow is the last day of Confurence - ever.
That Confurence is dead is not particularly surprising, though it's quite unfortunate. What is very surprising is the report that Comedy Central's Man Show was present at the convention, apparently with the knowledge and permission of the convention. This is quite a surprise from a con that in the past has had some of the most draconian media policies.
I was pretty surprised about the Man Show Taping. The fact that the Con is also ending was a whammy of a surprise! For years now everyone has been saying that CF is dying... but to have it confirmed is pretty amazing.
From that wonderful draconian media policy referenced before...
"Any members of the press or media who are likely to produce a story that reflects poorly on this fandom, or who fails to notify The ConFurence Group that they will be attending will not be welcome, and may be escorted from the premises. "
Me smells something rotten in Denmark... or was that California? Well... in 5 years we can all look back at this... and reminisce over the smell of burned fur. "Hey do you remember when ConFurence's staff sold out the con attendee's in order to pay off a huge hotel bill because of fiscal mis-management?"
Oh well... it's not like confurence hasn't had bad press before, right?
http://fursuit.timduru.org/dirlist/InTheNews/sidecar.html
And yet... no one had a clue something like this was going to happen... and the staff there... uhm... well, what exactly did they do again?
the man show was there
jesus christ!
lol! if anyone thought there was bad press before ...
i guarantee furrys gonna get reamed - hardcore style - when that episode airs....and a lot of people watch the man show , im sure just as many as the MTV special
Not only was The Man Show there, but so was the Jimmy Kimmel show (on ABC). The Man Show was probably the worst though. They stayed late taping everything, telling furs what to say without telling them why and then staging skits. They even had a human-size sandwhich costume there. They asked questions like, "Have you ever been sexually attracted to a sandwhich?" They even staged a scene in which one of their people dressed in a rental rabbit costume attacked the sandwhich viciously.
I stayed to listen to the offical reason why it was allowed in the first place and didn't get a clear answer. What IS clear is that both crews were allowed to tape at Confurence because they got contracts from them, and they each paid over 20K$ to do the shoot (a lot went to the hotel too).
The Man Show clip is not supposed to air for a while (a few weeks most probably) but the Jimmey Kimmel show is supposed to have their version on-air in a few days.
I'm so peeved right now I can't stand it.
I may never attend _any_ Furcon again. How incredibly stupid can people get? =:(
Okay, now, this is the part that I'm worried about. I don't want people to get scared away from other cons just because of what happened at ConFurence. Remember, each con is run by a different set of people. This incident is largely the doing of one guy: Darrel Exline. He doesn't run Anthrocon, or Further Confusion, or Midwest FurFest, or Conifur, or Mephit Furmeet, and I feel safe in saying the people who run those cons are not going to allow this sort of crap.
I'm planning to go to Rocket City Furmeet myself next month, and I doubt I have any reason to expect to see Jimmy Kimmel there. :}
I know personally many of the organizers of MFF, and have a very high regard for them. I also know some Mephit folks, and ditto for them.
The issue is that I cannot afford to be publically linked to "Furry" unless the fandom maintains a certain level of at least minimal respectability. I can't go into detail here, but I have ambitions that could be ruined. I've already put in many years of hard work towards the acheivement of these ambitions. Darrel Exline may well be the one solitary guy responsible; I have no trouble beleiveing that. However, it only _takes_ one to ruin it for everybody.
I'll always be furry, but I may no longer be able to attend gatherings if this is how Furrydom is going to allow itself to be portrayed. I don't know how to fix this situation- wish I did.
Just a thought.. if you post on here, how do you expect to really not be connected to Furry? My old employers found out about my Furriness during a background check. Do you think other employers who are doing important things won't notice it too?
You're already linked publically to furry. Give it up.
Actually, it's a matter of degree. My employer I don't care about. I won't be subject to a background check of any kind. The people I need not to know have no idea furry even exists, and are unlikely to even imagine such a thing is out there unless, as Kage put it once, a bunch of furs persist in "waving their dicks at the camera". Once sexual deviancy becomes involved, THEN it's big news.
The people involved even know that I write "furry" novels; the key is that I cannot afford to be portrayed as part of a group of "perverts". So long as there is a reasonable level of decorum in the fandom, I'm fine. When this TV garbage starts happening, I've gotta vamoose.
I bet I'm speaking for lotsa others, too. I'm no burned fur, not by any stretch. But there _is_ such a thing as not sticking your head down a dispose-all.
I wonder how Confurence is filed. Is it a charity? How about a not for profit? I doubt it's registered to make money, as that doesn't give you tax breaks. If it isn't, I'd love to see Darrel Exline get in a load of trouble for making money by exploiting his position on the con staff.
What makes me more angry, and I didn't even attend CF, is the fact that the rest of the staffers let him do this.
If anyone knows more about the filing of the convention, and the possibility of legal action, I say go for it.
Jewel
CF was, as far as I know, a Sole Proprietorship business soley in Darrell's name.
In convention running terms, this is a Very Bad Thing.
That GOOOSHing sound you hear is Mike Hirtes creaming his pants with glee all over a.f.f...
Say, just what did the Man Show do? I've heard so many horror stories floating around I don't know what to believe.
Gads, but I hope Kage keeps these imbeciles out of AC. That's my only local con, and I sure don't need to see that go down the drain...
Ardashir
Just did some checking on the net -- Usenet, LiveJournal, some other sites.
The Conspiracy Theory explanation has already started: "THE BURNED FURS DID IT! THE BURNED FURS ARE TO BLAME!"
The Conspiracy Theory explanation has already started: "THE BURNED FURS DID IT! THE BURNED FURS ARE TO BLAME!"
Oh sure... I can see the X-files episode now.
Scully: But Mulder.. your first name is "Fox"
Mulder: Yeah, and I like to put on a fursuit. So?
Scully: But don't you think that's just a bit weird?
Mulder: Scully, weird is expecting others to believe that I'm normal... but if I can get to the truth... I'll do whatever it takes.
Scully: You mean you'll do whatever it takes so we'll be on syndicated re-runs for another 25 years, because none of the writers can come up with a better idea for a TV show that can even be marketed against re-runs of "Gulligan's Island?"
Mulder: That's why you've got the Ph.D and the episode with the alien baby, Scully... it was either that, or we start saying that you were Ginger's and the Professor's illegitamate love child.
Scully: *GASP* Noooo... you knew?
...it was only last year I mentioned Burned Fur's attitude of making furry fans feel unwelcome might have been a factor behind CF's declining attendance.
The real shocker came when M. Mitch Marmel suggested fewer people attending CF was a Good Thing, apparently oblivious to the fact it was costing Darrel thousands as a result.
Still seems a pretty high price to pay to me.
Xydexx Unicorn
Furry Fandom Infocenter
But does anyone agree with me that from now on furry cons should be much more careful about who they allow to stroll in the front door?
Does anyone know if these clowns or their kind intend to show at, say AC?
And with the accusations simed at Darrel -- does anyone actually *KNOW* if he knew of this or not? Is there any hard evidence? If not, it seems to me you're metaphorically lynching the guy based on some very slim evidence.
Ardashir
HI all,
Just had this brought to my attention --
http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/16/slush/php
Rick Castro displays furry porn and sells 'used' plushies for $80 each. He says he wants to get us 'out of the closet' and admit we're all here for the bestiality.
Oh well, at least some members of the fandom can console themselves with 'any exposure is good exposure!' while the rest of us start looking up the number for a good cheap hitman.
Ardashir
the link to that article is
http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/16/slush.php
Oops, sorry about that. Thanks for the correction.
I'm kind of surprised this is the first time anyone even mentioned this here, though. After all, Rick Castro is a man with more mainstream appeal than the fandom, and he was showing the stuff off in an art gallery for a rather upscale crowd. I'm not sorry to see some artists get their furry art treated like 'real' art, but I wish it had been someone other than Castro -- a guy who sold 'used and soiled' plushies for $80.
Ardashir
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