I think it's time for Hollywood to really see the potential in the furry fandom and offer a more branded con experience for us. Every studio out there have a franchise with anthropomorphic animals, so I don't see a problem here making room for that.
And having Hollywood on your side means that more money will be spent on making sure the con experience is top notch. No more tiresome con conflicts that was the result of an under-whelming con experience.
And with Hollywood on your side, you'll have to conform to the values that Hollywood have at the moment, because otherwise, you'll be the subject to a level of exposition that'll definitely ruin you.
If you are suggesting a comic con style experience...no. For all their problems fur cons are about fun and creativity, a commercialized con would just make them souless events designed to sell merch.
I was thinking of mixed. Think of Summer of Sonic and BronyCon. Those are mixed. I would love if there was some official eyes there for talent-scouting, for example. Having official merch tables is fine. More than fine, since it would kind of be an act of love towards the fandom. Having official directors, producers, animators and voice-actors doing panels TOGETHER with us would be such a relief. Would build many bridges.
Just think about that. What do we have to loose here?
Directors, producers, animators and voice-actors DO show up at furry conventions.
As far as more presence of big companies in dealers dens, NO. The thing that differentiates Furry Conventions from something like Star Trek is that we are home grown. While furries have always been fans of Disney, Warmer Bros. and the like the main focus has always been internal. What we create for our own niche market as opposed to things you can find in a mall.
What do we have to loose? Our place as furry creators as opposed to consumers of other people's products. Just look what has happened to independent producers and artist at San Diego Comic Con. 20 years ago you could find many of the same people selling at furry cons dealing there. But with a single table going for $500 - $1000 most if not all have been priced out of the market. The convention now caters to Hollywood and big name producers rather than small publishers and comic fans.
If directors, producers, animators and voice-actors do show up, why aren't that the pull of the event? Is bad marketing skills mandatory for furries? Seems very hipster-ish.
I can't help but thinking of the "Throw It On The Ground" song when I read your reply. If the Furry Fandom is based upon a rejection of the mainstream, then no wonder what happened to Rocky Mountain FurCon actually happened. If we want Disney, Warner Bros, etc. to be held accountable for inspiring us, then we should invite them, helping us out and in return taking them down a notch. The line between consumer and creator is slowly eroding anyway.
That would definitely end the downward spiral of fursecution by the press if we got our backs covered by our inspirations, you know, that media that the press uses against us to make us look like the deviation from the norm and thus worthy of endless smear campaigns.
We don't go to events to see celebrities, that's not the primary draw of furry cons, it never has been. We go for fun and games and making friends, for the art and the suiting. I don't think you understand what these cons are really about.
So furry celebs and popufurs doesn't exist in that context? This isn't like the situation that we have with Youtube vs. MSM, where Youtube celebs are slowly being accepted into the mainstream. Youtube celebs are on magazine covers now. Fine Bros have proved that Youtube can be a place for wholesome content with broad appeal. That's the kind of stuff I want to see happening with the Furry Fandom, but we ain't there yet.
This is a FAR more tense situation, where our work up to this point have never EVER been compared to what Disney, Warner Bros, etc. does, because, if this discussion proves anything, we're frankly scared of collaborating with them. Some studio crew staff members do have FA accounts, but it's extremely downplayed, which is sad at this point.
There's nothing wrong being sponsored. If anything, that will build bridges.
Why do we need bridges in the first place? Aside from a few missteps the fandom has been doing fine on it's own. Yes we do have celebrities, but they are fan celebrities. Furthermore we will never accepted mainstream, nor do we want to be. Rivercoon already covered why we don't, I'll explain why we can't. We're just too weird, we encompass so many different things and people, some members of the fandom are even into things that border on if aren't out right illegal. We're diverse to such an extreme the we could never be accepted by the mainstream. To do so that we would have to contort and twist the fandom until it's virtually unrecognizable for better or worse and the end result mostly likely be its destruction.
Completely agree--especially considering the "celebrities" at other types of conventions are usually content-creators, typically professionals, who are somewhat detached or considered "above" the fans, which is not something I've seen from furry "celebrity" content creators. It's been said before, "we're fans of each other".
Furry fandom isn't necessarily a rejection of the mainstream. Rather the reverse; it exists to cover topics which the mainstream has rejected… including graphic sex and more extreme themes; but also more complex topics, typically touched-on only rarely in association with animal characters by the mass media.
Furry fandom will always be a deviation from the norm, because we're interested in that which isn't provided. Despite promising new commercial projects - Zootopia et. al. - there's still many places companies such as Disney and Warner Bros. won't go; and original stories which'll never be funded, persisting on pure passion.
If you want a vision of the future, consider science fiction fandom. Science fiction got big, but fandom didn't go away. Instead, it fed into new, interesting and often controversial areas on the border of social and commercial acceptance; topic areas such as furry, fantasy, and goth – each providing a loose social net around a core of creators and their fans. And there are still people writing pure science fiction fan works, too, pulling mainstream sci-fi in new and interesting directions on occasion.
We've only scratched the surface of furry influencing the mainstream. Just wait until The Book of Lapism is optioned by Fox, or Keepers of the Light gets its chance to shine on Broadway. But works like Babysitting Cream will never be part of that system.
While the idea of whether Furry Fandom and The Professional Entertainment World "need" each other or not is worthy of debate, I will say that I wish the two of them would not make it a policy to hold each other at arm's length. We are fans of furry content when it comes around, and Hollywood (or where-ever the entertainment comes from these days) is always happy for some free word-of-mouth promotion. On the other paw, Furry Fandom emerged from the scattered fan groups of various classic animation, comic books, comic strips, and even science fiction novels... and it's not as if we want that content to disappear any time soon. So I happen to think that building bridges between the two is a perfectly valid thing to do. It's been a project of mine for decades.
The only furry convention I go to is my local furry convention.
I'm assuming most furries usually only go to their local convention, and so if a province, state or country has enough of a local furry population, then they have that specific raison d'être.
That would be a good topic for a poll. In fact, so good that we haveseveral already.
A significant number of Flayrah attendees visit three or more conventions, and not necessarily the closest.
Certainly there is a regional aspect, but it's also about finances, friends, and how you spend your free time.
I've attended eight in one year - which in retrospect was about two too many. You need a break to decompress.
WikiFur often documents people attending three or four conventions (of course, sometimes as dealers).
Comments
Inspired in part by the cancellation of Cologne Furdance 2017.
For comparison: Furry Convention Map - upcoming furry events - timeline of furry conventions - furry conventions by attendance.
I think it's time for Hollywood to really see the potential in the furry fandom and offer a more branded con experience for us. Every studio out there have a franchise with anthropomorphic animals, so I don't see a problem here making room for that.
And having Hollywood on your side means that more money will be spent on making sure the con experience is top notch. No more tiresome con conflicts that was the result of an under-whelming con experience.
And with Hollywood on your side, you'll have to conform to the values that Hollywood have at the moment, because otherwise, you'll be the subject to a level of exposition that'll definitely ruin you.
We need structure and values, period.
If you are suggesting a comic con style experience...no. For all their problems fur cons are about fun and creativity, a commercialized con would just make them souless events designed to sell merch.
I was thinking of mixed. Think of Summer of Sonic and BronyCon. Those are mixed. I would love if there was some official eyes there for talent-scouting, for example. Having official merch tables is fine. More than fine, since it would kind of be an act of love towards the fandom. Having official directors, producers, animators and voice-actors doing panels TOGETHER with us would be such a relief. Would build many bridges.
Just think about that. What do we have to loose here?
Directors, producers, animators and voice-actors DO show up at furry conventions.
As far as more presence of big companies in dealers dens, NO. The thing that differentiates Furry Conventions from something like Star Trek is that we are home grown. While furries have always been fans of Disney, Warmer Bros. and the like the main focus has always been internal. What we create for our own niche market as opposed to things you can find in a mall.
What do we have to loose? Our place as furry creators as opposed to consumers of other people's products. Just look what has happened to independent producers and artist at San Diego Comic Con. 20 years ago you could find many of the same people selling at furry cons dealing there. But with a single table going for $500 - $1000 most if not all have been priced out of the market. The convention now caters to Hollywood and big name producers rather than small publishers and comic fans.
If directors, producers, animators and voice-actors do show up, why aren't that the pull of the event? Is bad marketing skills mandatory for furries? Seems very hipster-ish.
I can't help but thinking of the "Throw It On The Ground" song when I read your reply. If the Furry Fandom is based upon a rejection of the mainstream, then no wonder what happened to Rocky Mountain FurCon actually happened. If we want Disney, Warner Bros, etc. to be held accountable for inspiring us, then we should invite them, helping us out and in return taking them down a notch. The line between consumer and creator is slowly eroding anyway.
That would definitely end the downward spiral of fursecution by the press if we got our backs covered by our inspirations, you know, that media that the press uses against us to make us look like the deviation from the norm and thus worthy of endless smear campaigns.
We don't go to events to see celebrities, that's not the primary draw of furry cons, it never has been. We go for fun and games and making friends, for the art and the suiting. I don't think you understand what these cons are really about.
So furry celebs and popufurs doesn't exist in that context? This isn't like the situation that we have with Youtube vs. MSM, where Youtube celebs are slowly being accepted into the mainstream. Youtube celebs are on magazine covers now. Fine Bros have proved that Youtube can be a place for wholesome content with broad appeal. That's the kind of stuff I want to see happening with the Furry Fandom, but we ain't there yet.
This is a FAR more tense situation, where our work up to this point have never EVER been compared to what Disney, Warner Bros, etc. does, because, if this discussion proves anything, we're frankly scared of collaborating with them. Some studio crew staff members do have FA accounts, but it's extremely downplayed, which is sad at this point.
There's nothing wrong being sponsored. If anything, that will build bridges.
Why do we need bridges in the first place? Aside from a few missteps the fandom has been doing fine on it's own. Yes we do have celebrities, but they are fan celebrities. Furthermore we will never accepted mainstream, nor do we want to be. Rivercoon already covered why we don't, I'll explain why we can't. We're just too weird, we encompass so many different things and people, some members of the fandom are even into things that border on if aren't out right illegal. We're diverse to such an extreme the we could never be accepted by the mainstream. To do so that we would have to contort and twist the fandom until it's virtually unrecognizable for better or worse and the end result mostly likely be its destruction.
Completely agree--especially considering the "celebrities" at other types of conventions are usually content-creators, typically professionals, who are somewhat detached or considered "above" the fans, which is not something I've seen from furry "celebrity" content creators. It's been said before, "we're fans of each other".
Furry fandom isn't necessarily a rejection of the mainstream. Rather the reverse; it exists to cover topics which the mainstream has rejected… including graphic sex and more extreme themes; but also more complex topics, typically touched-on only rarely in association with animal characters by the mass media.
Furry fandom will always be a deviation from the norm, because we're interested in that which isn't provided. Despite promising new commercial projects - Zootopia et. al. - there's still many places companies such as Disney and Warner Bros. won't go; and original stories which'll never be funded, persisting on pure passion.
If you want a vision of the future, consider science fiction fandom. Science fiction got big, but fandom didn't go away. Instead, it fed into new, interesting and often controversial areas on the border of social and commercial acceptance; topic areas such as furry, fantasy, and goth – each providing a loose social net around a core of creators and their fans. And there are still people writing pure science fiction fan works, too, pulling mainstream sci-fi in new and interesting directions on occasion.
We've only scratched the surface of furry influencing the mainstream. Just wait until The Book of Lapism is optioned by Fox, or Keepers of the Light gets its chance to shine on Broadway. But works like Babysitting Cream will never be part of that system.
While the idea of whether Furry Fandom and The Professional Entertainment World "need" each other or not is worthy of debate, I will say that I wish the two of them would not make it a policy to hold each other at arm's length. We are fans of furry content when it comes around, and Hollywood (or where-ever the entertainment comes from these days) is always happy for some free word-of-mouth promotion. On the other paw, Furry Fandom emerged from the scattered fan groups of various classic animation, comic books, comic strips, and even science fiction novels... and it's not as if we want that content to disappear any time soon. So I happen to think that building bridges between the two is a perfectly valid thing to do. It's been a project of mine for decades.
The only furry convention I go to is my local furry convention.
I'm assuming most furries usually only go to their local convention, and so if a province, state or country has enough of a local furry population, then they have that specific raison d'être.
That would be a good topic for a poll. In fact, so good that we have several already.
A significant number of Flayrah attendees visit three or more conventions, and not necessarily the closest.
Certainly there is a regional aspect, but it's also about finances, friends, and how you spend your free time.
I've attended eight in one year - which in retrospect was about two too many. You need a break to decompress.
WikiFur often documents people attending three or four conventions (of course, sometimes as dealers).
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