A convention can be made or broken on one simple principle: communication. It can seem so simple to do, but when the number of people you’re trying to do it with goes up, it becomes a complex issue.

In the modern (mis)information era, public relations has changed from a hassle typically tossed to the side 'til bad news arises, to a demanding necessity where your job is to prevent strife before it occurs. Slacking can cause a brushfire that one has but a single extinguisher to put out.

Which brings us to an example of such unfortunate episodes: Furlandia, the third new furry convention to spawn in the past two months. This one was held in Portland, Oregon. 270 showed up and over $1,000 was donated to PAW Team, which provides veterinary care for the pets of impoverished locals. The donation comes with an asterisk, though, as it came from MTV; fans threw in $6. [Update: Comments suggest this only reflects Sunday's count.]

I was not at the convention; however, I know some who were, and I’ve looked into all sides with an open mind and am giving my best assessment. Most importantly: I’m evaluating why this incident blew up as it did, so that future convention leaders can avoid undue stress.

Ohio furs Brown Leopard (Ronald R. Packer II, 33), his wife, Wolfie Stonespirit (Jennifer Packer, 30) and Keba (Joseph O. Luna, 21) were arrested July 14 after exiting a barn around 3AM. The trio were charged with breaking and entering and receiving stolen property.

Marion County police recovered a large amount of stolen property from their home and estimate they have committed over sixty thefts in the area. Brown Leopard is also wanted in West Virginia for failure to appear on a weapons offense.

A day later, Sibe (Ross Herbert Reddick, 31) was booked into Clackamas County Jail, charged with third degree sexual abuse, recklessly endangering another person, contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, endangering the welfare of a minor and sexual misconduct.

It seems word is spreading over the newsgroups that Ross "Sibe" Reddick, wanted by quite a few artists and network admins for numerous counts of copyright violation, distribution of artwork, DoS attacks, and general script kiddie annoyances, has apparently landed himself in jail.

Now I must note that this claim has not been substantiated, and should be treated as rumor until someone can prove that the poster does in fact speak the truth..

The FC2002 Charity Auction

Further Confusion is just over two weeks away. The events are getting
ready; the panelists are studying; the artists are putting the final
touches on their paintings; and the folk of Tiger Touch and the Comic
Book Legal Defense Fund are hoping for your help.

Click Read More... for the rest of the announcement.

Some of the yiffnet servers have decided to shutdown quoting complaints they got about Sibe. This reportadly includes DNS services for Yiffnet.

You can get more details from these sites:

http://www.pridelands.org/irc/
and
http://furry.ao.net/closed.html



Pridelands.org lists the following yiffnet IRC servers still operational: yiff.furry.de, irc.critter.net, and irc.chameleon.net.