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Oklacon 2015 Has Been Cancelled Indefinitely
10 years ago
To our Oklacon Family,
As we informed you earlier this year, Roman Nose State Park terminated our relationship and denied our group camp application for Oklacon 2015. The entire Oklacon Street Team, the officers that manage the event LLC and those volunteers who actually make Oklacon itself happen, scrambled to find alternative locations on short notice. We found what should have been a great opportunity for the convention, Sequoyah State Park. It included expansion options, higher quality facilities, and a new hope for Oklacon to carry on another year.
The final straw for Oklacon’s ouster from RNSP was three first-time, out-of-state individuals who elected to show up, register for our event, and engage in lewd and illegal conduct on the state park grounds, on group camp space under Oklacon’s name, as was already announced in detail here. Last week, an Oklacon attendee directly contacted Sequoyah and linked our event with these serious lapses in judgement by those three individuals that damaged Oklacon’s reputation and ability to host at RNSP to the Sequoyah State Park staff. Sequoyah now views us as too large of a liability to be hosted there, and we have received notice from the state-level management of the park system we will be denied from re-entry to any state park in the future.
So, it is with a sad and heavy heart that we inform you that Oklacon is cancelled this year and indefinitely.
We understand the extreme disappointment and trouble this will cause those who had planned to attend this year’s iteration of the world’s largest outdoor furry convention. We understand some may have arranged travel, time-off, or forfeited other plans to attend Oklacon - and to those who have been adversely impacted by the State of Oklahoma’s decision as have are too - we are extremely disappointed.
First and foremost, those who paid any funds in 2015 for registrations, lodging, tent spots, dealer spaces, etc. for Oklacon 2015 will be made whole through refunds. There are over 250 payments we have to date to refund, so please bare with us as we work to reach out and provide an orderly return of your monies no later than October 31, 2015. We will be unable to honor refunds for ‘comps’, contest winnings from 2014, or deferrals from a previous-year no-show. Any and all requests for information or refund status should be only sent to registration[at]oklacon.com - not to any one individual, through social media, or via SMS or IM.
Second, the legal entity that produces Oklacon, Fuzzy Productions LLC, will be shuttering its operations by December 31, 2015 and divesting itself of all assets and funds by that date. In an open and transparent process, we will find appropriate ways to wind down various areas such as our website, assets in storage, and funds in the bank. As an LLC, any liquidated ‘proceeds’ of the business will be returned to the five Board members of record; however, all have agreed to return any funds remaining after all refund, tax payments, and other wind down obligations are met immediately to provide them as a charitable donation to Wildcare Foundation, of Noble, OK.
Third, the Oklacon trademark will be transferred for ‘safekeeping’ and maintained only insomuch as to ensure no other event that starts in the future uses this name for its own purposes. The last Oklacon event was Oklacon 2014, and no future event under this brand will be scheduled. The damage done by the three individuals and the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department to our event planning and brand name is irreparable at this point.
Fourth, if you are an Oklahoma resident, your tax dollars fund the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department that has forced this outcome. If you wish to file a complaint by phone, you may do so at the Executive Office of Oklahoma Tourism at 405-230-8303.
Fifth, this board will not be releasing the names of the three individuals who exhibited such poor behavior in 2014, the individual who last week precipitated this year’s cancellation at Sequoyah, or the names of individuals at the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department who made their decisions. We absolutely do not desire or condone any harassment of individuals, however poor their behavior or decision outcome may be. Let this be a warning to the entire Furry community both inside Oklahoma and abroad: poor actors can sabotage not only an event or a convention, but everything we stand for as a community. Despite the incredibly hard work of many furs over the course of more than a decade, it takes only a few selfish individuals acting without regard of each other to destroy the tremendous good that brings us together. Check each other, and give careful consideration to the maturity of your actions when you interact, especially at a larger community event. There is no excuse for reckless, dangerous, or illegal behavior, and we need to as a community voice and act on our intolerance for it.
Sixth, all personal information will be fully destroyed, deleted, and securely wiped after refunds have been issued and confirmed. No personal information will be stored or made available to another convention or event.
And finally, Oklacon ran for 12 years, welcoming over 1,720 unique faces into the wild splendors of Oklahoma. In a world before FWA, Califur, RMFC, or RainFurrest, we united the whole Southwest in one of the most exciting and refreshly different events and created a safe haven for many young furs in particular - all of you reading this will recount some great memories and wonderful friendships made at Oklacon over the years. Many of you will call it your very first con, or even your ‘con home’. Through everyone’s generosity, we raised over $50,000 for two amazing Oklahoma charities - Safari’s Animal Sanctuary of Broken Arrow, OK and Wildcare Foundation of Noble, OK. We brought many firsts to the furry community, such as Charity Poker, which is now a staple event at many cons from coast to coast, and with the help of our great friends at Feral!, Predator and Prey debuted in the United States in a way only an outdoor convention could do it justice.
We’ll be honest - this outcome is a shame and a huge disappointment for all of us who have worked for so many years to bring a great time to all. As with great care and transparency we close the last chapter of what is a fantastic story that is “Oklacon” in the history of the furry fandom, it is with great sadness, but also optimism we look forward for what happens next. Oklacon was only ever a group of great people who wanted to see an Oklahoma owned and operated furry convention. That community has only grown and strengthened over great memories of hotdogs over the campfire, hot chocolate on a chill autumn morning, or howling into the moonlit October sky during a late night game of Werewolf.
There’s another fantastic story to be written. This time, it’s up to you to write it.
Farewell,
Yours,
Warnndog
Horses’ Ghost,
Wolff,
BlueOtter,
Drazil,
Daxter,
Wildstreak
Fuzzy Productions, LLC
As we informed you earlier this year, Roman Nose State Park terminated our relationship and denied our group camp application for Oklacon 2015. The entire Oklacon Street Team, the officers that manage the event LLC and those volunteers who actually make Oklacon itself happen, scrambled to find alternative locations on short notice. We found what should have been a great opportunity for the convention, Sequoyah State Park. It included expansion options, higher quality facilities, and a new hope for Oklacon to carry on another year.
The final straw for Oklacon’s ouster from RNSP was three first-time, out-of-state individuals who elected to show up, register for our event, and engage in lewd and illegal conduct on the state park grounds, on group camp space under Oklacon’s name, as was already announced in detail here. Last week, an Oklacon attendee directly contacted Sequoyah and linked our event with these serious lapses in judgement by those three individuals that damaged Oklacon’s reputation and ability to host at RNSP to the Sequoyah State Park staff. Sequoyah now views us as too large of a liability to be hosted there, and we have received notice from the state-level management of the park system we will be denied from re-entry to any state park in the future.
So, it is with a sad and heavy heart that we inform you that Oklacon is cancelled this year and indefinitely.
We understand the extreme disappointment and trouble this will cause those who had planned to attend this year’s iteration of the world’s largest outdoor furry convention. We understand some may have arranged travel, time-off, or forfeited other plans to attend Oklacon - and to those who have been adversely impacted by the State of Oklahoma’s decision as have are too - we are extremely disappointed.
First and foremost, those who paid any funds in 2015 for registrations, lodging, tent spots, dealer spaces, etc. for Oklacon 2015 will be made whole through refunds. There are over 250 payments we have to date to refund, so please bare with us as we work to reach out and provide an orderly return of your monies no later than October 31, 2015. We will be unable to honor refunds for ‘comps’, contest winnings from 2014, or deferrals from a previous-year no-show. Any and all requests for information or refund status should be only sent to registration[at]oklacon.com - not to any one individual, through social media, or via SMS or IM.
Second, the legal entity that produces Oklacon, Fuzzy Productions LLC, will be shuttering its operations by December 31, 2015 and divesting itself of all assets and funds by that date. In an open and transparent process, we will find appropriate ways to wind down various areas such as our website, assets in storage, and funds in the bank. As an LLC, any liquidated ‘proceeds’ of the business will be returned to the five Board members of record; however, all have agreed to return any funds remaining after all refund, tax payments, and other wind down obligations are met immediately to provide them as a charitable donation to Wildcare Foundation, of Noble, OK.
Third, the Oklacon trademark will be transferred for ‘safekeeping’ and maintained only insomuch as to ensure no other event that starts in the future uses this name for its own purposes. The last Oklacon event was Oklacon 2014, and no future event under this brand will be scheduled. The damage done by the three individuals and the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department to our event planning and brand name is irreparable at this point.
Fourth, if you are an Oklahoma resident, your tax dollars fund the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department that has forced this outcome. If you wish to file a complaint by phone, you may do so at the Executive Office of Oklahoma Tourism at 405-230-8303.
Fifth, this board will not be releasing the names of the three individuals who exhibited such poor behavior in 2014, the individual who last week precipitated this year’s cancellation at Sequoyah, or the names of individuals at the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department who made their decisions. We absolutely do not desire or condone any harassment of individuals, however poor their behavior or decision outcome may be. Let this be a warning to the entire Furry community both inside Oklahoma and abroad: poor actors can sabotage not only an event or a convention, but everything we stand for as a community. Despite the incredibly hard work of many furs over the course of more than a decade, it takes only a few selfish individuals acting without regard of each other to destroy the tremendous good that brings us together. Check each other, and give careful consideration to the maturity of your actions when you interact, especially at a larger community event. There is no excuse for reckless, dangerous, or illegal behavior, and we need to as a community voice and act on our intolerance for it.
Sixth, all personal information will be fully destroyed, deleted, and securely wiped after refunds have been issued and confirmed. No personal information will be stored or made available to another convention or event.
And finally, Oklacon ran for 12 years, welcoming over 1,720 unique faces into the wild splendors of Oklahoma. In a world before FWA, Califur, RMFC, or RainFurrest, we united the whole Southwest in one of the most exciting and refreshly different events and created a safe haven for many young furs in particular - all of you reading this will recount some great memories and wonderful friendships made at Oklacon over the years. Many of you will call it your very first con, or even your ‘con home’. Through everyone’s generosity, we raised over $50,000 for two amazing Oklahoma charities - Safari’s Animal Sanctuary of Broken Arrow, OK and Wildcare Foundation of Noble, OK. We brought many firsts to the furry community, such as Charity Poker, which is now a staple event at many cons from coast to coast, and with the help of our great friends at Feral!, Predator and Prey debuted in the United States in a way only an outdoor convention could do it justice.
We’ll be honest - this outcome is a shame and a huge disappointment for all of us who have worked for so many years to bring a great time to all. As with great care and transparency we close the last chapter of what is a fantastic story that is “Oklacon” in the history of the furry fandom, it is with great sadness, but also optimism we look forward for what happens next. Oklacon was only ever a group of great people who wanted to see an Oklahoma owned and operated furry convention. That community has only grown and strengthened over great memories of hotdogs over the campfire, hot chocolate on a chill autumn morning, or howling into the moonlit October sky during a late night game of Werewolf.
There’s another fantastic story to be written. This time, it’s up to you to write it.
Farewell,
Yours,
Warnndog
Horses’ Ghost,
Wolff,
BlueOtter,
Drazil,
Daxter,
Wildstreak
Fuzzy Productions, LLC
This is sad news :(
Speaking of which, what is going to be done with the remaining Oklacon swag? I hope we can get a final chance at buying some of it...
I also realize that Oklacon made a point of stating that these Lifetime Memberships offered no guarantees, and that Oklacon would not reimburse those who took advantage of this offer, in the event of a cancellation(s). It was emphasized that those purchasing these memberships were doing so, as a way to support the convention, and boost revenue for various projects that would otherwise have been either impossible, or at least delayed by a couple more years. That said, I think it would be a great show of goodwill, for Fuzzy Productions to offer something to the four of us, much moreso to those with higher Lifetime Membership levels than myself.
Please don't get the wrong idea...this is merely a suggestion, not a demand. I WOULD like to get a little something more, but the others with Lifetime Memberships DEFINITELY ought to be given some special consideration.
Finally, I will most definitely miss this convention, and was REALLY looking forward to seeing more of what Sequoya State Park had to offer. I know I'll still get to see a LOT of you at Wild Nights, and I suppose I'll consider that my "home con", going forward. But Oklacon was still my first furry convention, first furry meetup of any kind, and the first event that I even got to meet any other furries in real life, at all. This is a sad day in the furry fandom, but the fandom itself lives on and, with time, I know that something will fill this void.
I'm really sad that this happened. I've been working on a Tulsa furmeet, but I know a few of the people that run larger cons for the anime/gaming crowd in the state that I might talk to to see if I can get anything new started. *Shrug*
This saddens me. :/
Because the public needs to be warned.
No they don't pose a threat period, publicly naming them will only bring out the worst in the fandom to attack the individuals and for all we know they probably regret what they did, quietly alerting any other cons staff however I see is totally fine.
Also, 'criminal content forfeits all rights'. I don't want to live in a society where breaking the law results in the forfeiture of 'all' of someone's rights.
There HAVE been a very few furs who have earned bans from any and all events which are familiar with the name of the individual. However it is VERY difficult to get actually, fully blacklisted from furry events, other than the particular event where an offense has occurred.
I'm certain being "flagged for special inspection" 100% of the time I'm flying at the airport because I'm on a secret watchlist is surely a step taken for your safety. You should feel safer knowing that the watchlist that adds an extra hour and removes an immeasurable amount of dignity to my flight time is protecting you in the event I should possibly misbehave.
Hint: Oklahoma is on the Bible belt.
There was vandalism at Indiecon and I found a user talking about details that weren't privy to the news. I submitted screens to the con staff. I don't know what happened after that though.
That's why I'm very skeptical about the recent happenings over Oklacon. --because there are people who are psycho enough to not care about possible jail time and probably think they won't have any repercussions.
So I ask of Blue otter and others: How can we rebuild?
it was probably two furries who were dipshits and didn't think they had any consquences
non-consensually
We just found out one of the involved
All I can say smdh, why.
Not Even Once
http://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds.....rounds-map.htm