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[Announcement] The future of UPFurry
11 years ago
There's been a lot of change and a bit of turmoil in the last few months.
On the convention/meet front, we're all going in separate directions:
-Traditionally we've gathered at Furry Connection North every year. FCN is no more. Will Motor City Furry Con fill the void?
-Traditionally we've gathered at Midwest Furfest every year, especially because it took place over Thanksgiving break for Michigan Tech students. This year, it's moved to early December, which is the weekend right before fall finals for most college students.
-Traditionally we've had a meet at Michigan Tech's Winter Carnival every year. Now Great Lakes Fur Con in Grand Rapids is the same weekend.
-There's a new con in Milwaukee in February and in the Twin Cities in September. Who will go?
On the staff front:
-
hundaro moved away, leaving us with no Houghton staff.
-Some of our Marquette staff are undergoing a variety of personal issues.
-I, platero, have not done much of anything in the last 2 years, except to post meet announcements. This semester I'm finally back in the UP again, and will be until 2016 (minus summers), so I plan to increase my involvement and help with a long-term strategy to keep the group going.
And that's not to mention the possibility that FurAffinity will someday not be the biggest art site, or that Facebook usage is declining among the younger population. That throws our Facebook/Twitter/FA strategy of the last 3 years out of whack.
-We're going to hire at least one staff member who lives in Houghton. More (Houghton or otherwise) could be a possibility.
-We need more events to happen, and people who aren't on staff shouldn't be afraid to host them. I'm in Sault Ste Marie, where most of you aren't, and even though I know Houghton and Marquette well, I'm not comfortable with telling those of you who live there what to do.
-We need publicity! Our founder had business cards and made t-shirts. I'm not sure if that's the route to go, but there are furs in the UP who don't know this group exists, and that's a problem.
-We need you in chat! Turaiel says: "I started an IRC channel for Tech furs a while back, so feel free to join if you'd like. It's #mtufurs on irc.nightstar.net, or http://tiny.cc/mtufurs if you don't already have an IRC client. You're welcome whether you go to Tech or not!"
-The upfurry.org domain expires this summer. It hasn't been used for anything since 2011, except for the email accounts. I plan to renew it for either 1 or 2 years "just in case," but if we don't come up with something to do with it, I'm not renewing it again.
In the next few weeks, I'm going to do a lot of soliciting opinions, mostly in the Facebook group and maybe in the chat. I want everyone to feel comfortable and happy in the community and for new faces to begin showing up. Stay tuned!
On the convention/meet front, we're all going in separate directions:
-Traditionally we've gathered at Furry Connection North every year. FCN is no more. Will Motor City Furry Con fill the void?
-Traditionally we've gathered at Midwest Furfest every year, especially because it took place over Thanksgiving break for Michigan Tech students. This year, it's moved to early December, which is the weekend right before fall finals for most college students.
-Traditionally we've had a meet at Michigan Tech's Winter Carnival every year. Now Great Lakes Fur Con in Grand Rapids is the same weekend.
-There's a new con in Milwaukee in February and in the Twin Cities in September. Who will go?
On the staff front:
-
hundaro moved away, leaving us with no Houghton staff.-Some of our Marquette staff are undergoing a variety of personal issues.
-I, platero, have not done much of anything in the last 2 years, except to post meet announcements. This semester I'm finally back in the UP again, and will be until 2016 (minus summers), so I plan to increase my involvement and help with a long-term strategy to keep the group going.
And that's not to mention the possibility that FurAffinity will someday not be the biggest art site, or that Facebook usage is declining among the younger population. That throws our Facebook/Twitter/FA strategy of the last 3 years out of whack.
So what needs to be done?-We're going to hire at least one staff member who lives in Houghton. More (Houghton or otherwise) could be a possibility.
-We need more events to happen, and people who aren't on staff shouldn't be afraid to host them. I'm in Sault Ste Marie, where most of you aren't, and even though I know Houghton and Marquette well, I'm not comfortable with telling those of you who live there what to do.
-We need publicity! Our founder had business cards and made t-shirts. I'm not sure if that's the route to go, but there are furs in the UP who don't know this group exists, and that's a problem.
-We need you in chat! Turaiel says: "I started an IRC channel for Tech furs a while back, so feel free to join if you'd like. It's #mtufurs on irc.nightstar.net, or http://tiny.cc/mtufurs if you don't already have an IRC client. You're welcome whether you go to Tech or not!"
-The upfurry.org domain expires this summer. It hasn't been used for anything since 2011, except for the email accounts. I plan to renew it for either 1 or 2 years "just in case," but if we don't come up with something to do with it, I'm not renewing it again.
In the next few weeks, I'm going to do a lot of soliciting opinions, mostly in the Facebook group and maybe in the chat. I want everyone to feel comfortable and happy in the community and for new faces to begin showing up. Stay tuned!
now XD