Ohio Morphicon November Newsletter

It's seven months until Ohio Morphicon (www.morphicon.org), the new furry convention taking place in Columbus OH, June 25-27, 2004.

Our November Newsletter provides information about the programming being planned for Ohio Morphicon 2004, and covers the following topics of interest:

-- Naming the Con
-- Our Theme: In the Beginning
-- Our Programming Focus
-- The Guests of Honor
-- Mature Track, Clarifications
-- Scheduling for Programming
-- Shout Out for PanelistsIn the initial planning stages of Ohio Morphicon, there was some discussion that we might want to name it 'One More Rat'. This is a humorous reference to the experiment where rats are slowly added to a closed environment until there are finally too many rats for the available resources, and the population collapses. We rejected that name for a variety of reasons. We don't think that the furry con environment is close to saturation yet, with the increasing number of furries showing up at established conventions each year. A second reason, and perhaps the most important one, is that we're trying to avoid being 'just one more' con.

Our theme this year is 'In the Beginning'. It has a superficial meaning, in that it's our first con. It also has a deeper meaning. We want to start at the beginnings of furriness, to go back and re-examine the fundamental concepts and ideas that have existed as a part of the fandom since its genesis.

To accomplish this, Ohio Morphicon 2004 will focus much of our programming on the inner aspects of furriness. We have selected presenters who have unique life experiences and backgrounds to discuss issues that are relevant to furries. The head of our spirituality track is an ordained minister, for one example. He'll be presenting several unique panels and workshops concerning the relationship between being furry and one's spiritual beliefs. One of our Guests of Honor, Mark Merlino, was a principal founder of Confurence, the first furry convention. He's been in the fandom since its inception as a social culture. Although our space is limited as a first-year con, our goal is to have a broad and inclusive set of panels dealing with different personal takes on furry fandom.

Our programming will also include other, more traditional staples of furry conventions, such as art panels and stage events. Our other Guest of Honor is Eric Schwartz, well-known furry cartoonist and author of Sabrina Online (www.sabrina-online.com). Our sponsorship option is very affordable, and will include a special art print from each of our guests. We also have a judged costume masquerade planned, and a stage show directed by Steve Plunkett, our excellent furry puppeteer. We're having life-drawing workshops, performance workshops, a free pizza party, and much more!

There have been some exaggerated rumors of mature-theme panels and events at Ohio Morphicon 2004. It is unlikely that we will have more mature content than most other furry conventions. However, we will be segregating a few of our panels and events into a separate track for mature programming. We're doing this for four reasons. First, for the increased ease of the protection of minor attendees. Second, to ensure that we can have panels with mature theme without removing them to after-hours time slots, because of limited programming space. Third, by creating a separate track for mature material we can help ensure that people who want to attend the convention without being exposed to mature materials, will not need to be. And fourth, it allows us to provide a more inclusive degree of programming content, consistent with our convention goals. We hope this clears up any misconceptions.

You can see our preliminary schedule of events at the Ohio Morphicon website (www.morphicon.org). It updates every couple weeks, so check back often.

We're still looking for more panelists, particularly those who want to present something that's not been seen at other conventions. If you're interested, please email our Programming Director.