Arizona furry convention ZonieCon, intended to relaunch in Tucson this September after a decade-long hiatus, has been cancelled.

Chair Scott Malcomson listed various promotion and communication issues – compounded by his Phoenix address, 100 miles away:

As one of the millions of long-term unemployed in this country, [I can't] pay for significant advertising out of pocket. […] Nor have the flyers been moving in any significant numbers. […] There has even been active hostility against the idea of having an Arizona furry convention from other Arizona-based furries. In furry-frequented places where our flyers have been provided, they have subsequently been trashed, and artwork has been posted indicating hostility towards myself.

We were supposed to have an active website up by the end of February […] I was told by one of our core convention staff that they had a qualified volunteer for the website […] March rolled past without any sign of such a website or even any confirmation of who exactly was supposedly working on it. […] Weeks would pass […] We currently have exactly two pre-registrations, and NO hotel room block reservations.

I do not see a future for an Arizona convention which does not have a stronger and more active commitment towards building attendance, or which has a chairman, like myself, unable to provide for its needs. […] ZonieCon is simply not to be.

It's true! ZonieCon will be returning for at least one more go, from September 30–October 2.

The Hotel Tucson (part of the 'Innsuites Boutique' line), secured for the weekend, is newly-remodeled with excellent services at surprisingly low rates — a King or Double Queen for just $69/night, including airport shuttle service, Wi-Fi and hot breakfast with Belgian waffles! The hotel shuttle can take you to the Tucson Mall or local restaurants at no extra charge.

This year our Guests of Honor are Steve Addlesee, Kjartan Arnorsson (Karno), and Mitch Beiro.

ZonieCon, Arizona's own furry convention, announces a recent addition to their Guest lineup.



Lisa Jennings (aka: Micole the Ermine) will be ZC's guest at our next convention, October 19-21 in Tucson, Arizona.

From Scott Malcomson on alt.fan.furry: "ZonieCon will launch a new program in October, awarding an engraved plaque on an annual basis to a notable person within the fandom for Conspicuous Integrity. Bearing Mike's name and Zonie's likeness, it will serve in some way to help keep alive his memory and his spirit, while also serving to recognize those worthies in the fandom who manage to achieve the difficult task of earning their spurs without selling their ideals."

Hiya Kiddies! Several folks have been bending our ears here in Tucson about the slowness of the upgrades to the ZONIECON website(s). Here's the straight dope. The Geocities site has been all screwed up for a while now. Our Web-monkey, The WhiteWerewolf is clanging away at it and will soon have the new info up for yer perusal. For those of you who don't know us, we are the new punks in the convention field with three years gone and our forth rapidly approaching.

Darrel L. Exline announced on alt.fan.furry that the ConFurence Group will be joining the con com of ZoniCon. The full announcment appears below:

Darrell Exline posted the following on alt.fan.furry: "Well, we're still working out the logistical details, but The ConFurence Group can now say that we have THREE (yes, *three*!) furry conventions to brag about.

Adding to our existing "ConFurence" each April (Southern California) and
"CritterConDiego" in July (San Diego), The ConFurence Group is proud to announce that it is now also an organizational part of "ZonieCon" (Tucson, Arizona) in October.

This is something I've been discussing with some of the staff members of
ZonieCon since last October's convention (ZonieCon 3) and I believe that it is a good fit within the goal of The ConFurence Group. Our exact position within ZonieCon's staff is still being nailed down, but is likely to be limited to handling pre-registration, structuring the business model, and helping to organize the convention running process.

The ConFurence Group's mission statement has always been "To promote
anthropomorphic fandom related events" and helping to host ZoniCon certainly fits the bill.

Watch our website at http://confurence.net for more de-tails as they develop"