Brexit causes ConFuzzled to delay registration to November 1
Leading UK furry convention ConFuzzled has postponed registration for 2020 due to Brexit.
According to convention chairman Rizzorat, "configuration changes to our payment systems" which include switching payment providers necessitated a delay to "reliably implement and test" them. ConFuzzled registration, previously expected to open tomorrow (Friday, October 11), is now to open November 1 at 20:00 GMT/UTC+0 – British Summer Time to have ended October 27.
Organizers apologized to those who may have "made special plans to be available tomorrow evening to ensure you secure your registration", going further to justify and explain the change, which was felt to be "absolutely necessary to ensure your peace of mind" ahead of the event's 13th instance:
Why are we making this decision? As a result of uncertainty surrounding the UKs departure from the European Union, our banking & credit card handling partners have imposed additional conditions that we’re having to work through. Unfortunately, this is resulting in various operational changes, including (but not limited to), switching our payment partners to ensure we can maintain our normal operations.
We’d like to reassure you all that registration will be going ahead on the new date, and that ConFuzzled is not financially impacted by the above changes. Furthermore, we are fully confident that we can continue to welcome those of you who visit ConFuzzled from EU countries. Whilst we expect travel documentation requirements may change, as long as these are satisfied, we see no reason you should be unable to visit ConFuzzled.
Brexit had previously featured in 2017 as a joke in PawPets IX show Bats to the Future. Any fears that it might greatly disrupt the event this May were resolved by the transition's postponement to October 31 – following which ConFuzzled 2019 posted record attendance of 2116, from 36 countries.
This change also spared UK visitors to this year's Eurofurence from disruption; although for some, the delay may have come too late. Now, the spectre of the UK's departure from the EU has returned to haunt organizers, with no clear resolution in sight given the possibility of postponement till January 31.
ConFuzzled 2020 "A World Reborn" is scheduled to be held 22-26 May with – perhaps appropriately – a post-apocalyptic theme.
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GreenReaper (Laurence Parry) — read stories — contact (login required)a developer, editor and Kai Norn from London, United Kingdom, interested in wikis and computers
Small fuzzy creature who likes cheese & carrots. Founder of WikiFur, lead admin of Inkbunny, and Editor-in-Chief of Flayrah.
Comments
Interesting! The uncertainty must be affecting many other businesses too.
It is all-consuming. There's likely to be a huge march on Saturday next week, corresponding with a special session of Parliament. Still a week to go, and much can change. Nobody wants to be the first to say "we can't come to an agreement". But we can't, at least not one that the current Parliament will accept - so we'll be off to the polls again.
Ya'll who live on that side of the pond, I hope for you the best. Us in america know what its like living in an unstable government "cough, Donald, cough"
Now. EvErYBoDy ClAp YoUr HaNdS.
Sucks for attendees, but unions and borders change all the time, as history shows.
Well, I'll be...
With any luck this madness will just go away and British citizens won't have their European citizenship and rights stripped away in this insane hard-right power grab. They should be rioting in the streets, they should be burning the Queen in effigy, they should be occupying the halls of power and demanding criminal punishment for the political fraud that led Britain down this false path.
I don't think burning a 93-year-old woman would go down that well with the British public, especially when she's not necessarily anti-EU. Just because it's "Her Majesty's Government" doesn't mean she agrees with it.
At least for those wish to remain, there is a fairly clear choice when it comes to elections. Unfortunately our first-past-the-post election system makes it difficult for smaller parties to win representation - unlike, say, the European Parliament. In fact, chances are greatest when we are more divided, because the Brexit party takes votes away from both the Conservatives and Labour. And of course, we seem to be at a point where having an election will lead to leaving by default. The next fortnight may be painful.
The problem is that the EU's been a scapegoat for unpopular policies for so long now. It's far easier than facing up to the hard truths: there is a limited pot of money; few people want to add to it, but everyone wants services from it; you can't have a system of laws that satisfy everyone all the time. There is a valid debate to be had about the concept of a "federal European Union"; but that has never been a great vote-winner by itself, so politicians have attached it to other issues. And it's hard to extol many of the benefits of the EU, especially to those who do not have a need for the most obvious ones (but who still benefit, until we actually leave, when they'll wonder why certain things got so expensive all of a sudden).
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