FC2009 August Newsletter

1.      Registration Increase
2.      Hotel News
3.      Art Show Panel Sales
4.      FC 2009 Con Book Art and Story Contest
5.      The Program Book Needs You!
6.      Furry Marketplace News
7.      Call for Events
8.      Supporting / Non attending Membership
9.      We need iMacs
10.     Con Badge Art Needed
11.     Traveling from overseas?
12.     Next Staff meeting

1. Registration Increase
 
Effective September 1st, the price to register for Further Confusion will
increase by $5 to $45. Save the price of board wax and register before
that date!
 

2. Hotel News
 
The Doubletree continues to be sold out and we have not had sufficient
cancellations to reopen the block there as yet. If we do get enough
cancellations, we will announce the reopening of the block there ahead of
time.
 
The overflow Holiday Inn is almost sold out of rooms on Sunday night. We
have obtained a small block increase but expect Sunday night rooms to sell
out in the near future. Thursday through Saturday Rooms at the Holiday Inn
should still be available after that first night sells out.
 
On the same front, if you have a reservation at either of our host hotels
and know you are not going to be able to join us in January or have ended
up sharing a room with another attendee, please cancel your reservations
as soon as possible so that we can offer those rooms to others.
 

3. Art Show Panel Sales
 
Art Show Panel Space will go on sale effective September 1. We sell out
every year and with our annual average sales of over $50,000, you will not
want to be left out. Please see the following page for details of how to
order your panels and for new rule changes effective this year. If you
have any questions, you can reach the artshow staff at
artshow@furtherconfusion.org
 
<http://www.furtherconfusion.org/fc2009/artshow>

 
4. FC2009 Con Book Art and Story Contest

FC2009 is proud to present a Con Book Art and Story contest. We will
randomly select two art winners and one story winner from all of the
entries, and each one of those winners will receive a Patron Level
membership to FC2009. The Con Book editor will then decide who gets
published in our Con Book form among all the entries, winners or not.

Patrons membership to FC2009 includes:
- A Free FC2009 t-shirt
- Admittance to our Catered Patron lunch with our Guests of Honor
- Cool Goodies such as our limited edition convention lapel pin and other
        gifts
- The ever so cool Patron badge.
   
The Rules
- Each artist and author is limited to one entry per person.
- Art , Stories and Poems have to be PG rated. No exceptions.
- Art should fit the theme of FC2009, which is "Surf Safari". Which our
        website states as "Catch a wave and hang-ten off the shores of a
        Polynesian isle, or hit the beach and grab a mojito under the palm
        trees, listening to the call of tropical birds." So think of surfing
        films, hanging out at the beach and having a cool drink.
- Poems, or Essays should also fit the theme as well.
- Art can be either black and white or color. We can print both. For
        specifications and templates for the Con Book, please see the website
        here: <http://www.furtherconfusion.org/fc2009/policies/conbook>
- Stories and Poems are limited to three pages of text.
- The Deadline will be October 1st, 2008
- To submit art, stories and poems, simply send an email with your art,
        stories and poems to: conbook@furtherconfusion.org with the subject line
        of Conbook Contest and please include your real name, your fan name, an
        email address and a website (if you have one), so we can get a hold of
        you as well as publish the information in the con book.

5. The Program Book Needs You!

With the initial deadline for the con book less than a month and a half
away, things are already coming down to the wire -- but as yet there's
very little content in hand: no artwork, no fiction or poetry, no
advertisements, and almost no editorial. For outside submissions,
particularly illustrations and writing, staffers are encouraged to remind
artist and writer friends that their works would be most welcome!
Editorial, of course, is generated internally, and any staffer who wants
to know what material is still outstanding is encouraged to e-mail
conbook@furtherconfusion.org for a list of needed items and a PDF file
containing the con-book specs.

6. Furry Market Place

Furry Market Place space sales opened on August 1st and already half the
spaces have been sold. But that doesn't mean you've missed your chance.
Just head on over to the Furry Market Place page on the Further Confusion
website at:

<http://www.furtherconfusion.org/fc2009/dealers/market-place>

And download your application form. Print it out, fill it out, and send it
along with a check for US$65.00 made out to FURTHER CONFUSION, and YOU can
sell your wares (with certain restrictions, see the website for details)
at the convention. And yes, that $65 includes a full membership to the
convention at no additional charge.

Get yours NOW while the surf is still up!

7. Events

FC2009 Events has now kicked off its panel drive. If you have any panel
suggestions, want to volunteer for panels, or would like to volunteer to
be panelists for our various tracks, please email us at
events@furtherconfusion.org with your questions and comments.

If you would like to work for Events, we do still have some track lead
positions open for FC2009. We are looking to hire an Art Track Lead, a
Science/Technology Track Lead and a Fursuit Track lead as well as gaming
staff and creator's lounge staff. Should you be interested in any of these
positions, please contact hr@furtherconfusion.org.

Let's make FC2009 something really special!

8. Supporting/Non Attending Membership

Further Confusion is introducing a new membership type for 2009, called
the Supporting/Non-attending Membership. This membership type is for those
who want to support Further Confusion, but who are unable to make it to
the convention. This type does qualify as a Further Confusion membership
(and allows participation in the FC 2009 Art Show, which requires a
membership), but does not allow attending the convention itself. You will
receive a convention packet (including con book) by mail after the
convention.

9. We need iMacs

If you have an old (300MHz or faster) iMac sitting around that you do not
need, let us know. Drop an email to con-it@furtherconfusion.org. We need
them for various things around the convention, mostly in registration and
artshow.

10. Badge Art Wanted

Further Confusion is currently seeking artwork submissions for the 2009
membership badge inserts. Both color and black & white artwork will be
accepted, and all artwork will be considered on overall 'look and feel',
plus these additional points:

- Size: Art must scale to be printed at 4" x 2".
- Theme: Art must accurately reflect the theme of the con.
- Age appropriateness: The art must be suitable for viewing by children.

Artists submitting images should be aware that there is no payment for
badge art chosen, and the artist gives Further Confusion the right to
reproduce the image as badge art for FC2009. The artist will be credited
on the insert and in the con program book. The artist retains all other
copyrights and reproduction rights beyond the above.

Submission deadline is November 1st, 2008. All qualifying submissions will
be seriously considered and we will choose 6 designs. All artists will be
notified by December 1st as to whether or not their submissions have been
chosen.

Submission technical specs: We prefer JPG format at best possible quality
compression, at 300 DPI. An 8" by 4" original scanned at 300DPI gives us a
good file to work with. Badge art Submissions should be sent to
badgeartsubmissions@furtherconfusion.org. In the email specify how you
wish to be credited should your art be chosen.

11. Traveling from overseas?

Are you coming to Further Confusion from Australia, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, or any other country
that are part of the US Visa Waiver program? This is the program where you
fill in one of those little green cards that you have to keep in your
passport and then return to US Immigration when leaving.

The US Department of Homeland Security has introduce a new wrinkle for
people from those countries. You now must apply for a "Pre-Travel
Authorization" no less than 72 hours before departing for the US. While
this system is currently voluntary, it will be mandatory starting on
January 12, 2009. Because this will directly affect our members from
overseas, we are doing our best to spread the word about this now so that
no-one is caught out.

You can apply for this travel authorization online at
<https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/>

A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page is also available at
<http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/esta/esta_faq.xml>

If it makes you feel any better, even your chairman for FC2009 has to do
this!

12. Next Staff Meeting

Our next staff meeting will be on September 20th, starting at 1pm in the
San Jose DoubleTree hotel. Parking is free - we will be providing stickers
at the meeting which will allow the parking staff to know you were with
Further Confusion, and let you out without needing to pay.

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