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Statement on Rainfurrest 2015
10 years ago
General
Everyone has an opinion. I'll throw mine into the mix.
For starters, I'd like to disclose that I'm interested in volunteering for RF next year. I'm considering a move to Seattle should my job and economic prospects not improve in the next couple of months, and I figure I could get a few things accomplished while I'm up there: check out the apartment market, get accustomed to the locale and attend a convention that I've always wanted to check out. I'd love to stay in California, but c'est la vie, I suppose.
I've been in the fandom for almost 20 years. Started cruising the furry newsgroups in 1997. At the time, conventions were happening and people were aware of them, but there wasn't much excitement or anticipation. "Hey, did you know [insert convention name] is coming up soon?" "Yeah, dude. Sounds like fun, but I have work and stuff to do. I won't be able to go." "It's cool. I can't go either. Maybe someday we can meet up." I saw a lot of conversations play out like that, and discussions about con attendance would fade into obscurity. From 2000 to 2006, furry conventions saw a significant increase in attendance due to growing interest in the fandom and the emergence of social media -- which made it a lot easier for furries to coordinate, arrange travel accommodations and make plans. As time went on, conventions got bigger and bigger to a point that organizers and volunteers had to seriously assess the risks.
There will always be a segment of the furry populace that will ruin the fun for everyone else. In RF, there were a few isolated cases that caused a lot of headaches for Hilton staff, con-goers and con organizers. Now the Hilton wants out of the contract for 2016, and I don't blame them. Furry conventions are a massive undertaking and having people behave badly --as in causing property damage, not emotional damage -- on top of that is a liability. But conventions are getting bigger in scope. By the laws of proportion, liability and the risk increases as well.
Conventions like RF need to figure out a long-term strategy for dealing with growth. Obviously they're going to have to enforce stricter rules. But wait! If their rules align more closely with the rules enforced by Eurofurence 2015, then people are going to cry, "Oppression!" But if the rules are too lax, people are going to behave badly. How do you strike that balance? I hope that I can initiate a conversation about RF, about furry cons in general, as far as dealing with the ramifications of having a big convention. A big convention that will only get bigger, not smaller. How can organizers adjust to growth and the increased demand for risk management?
Thoughts?
For starters, I'd like to disclose that I'm interested in volunteering for RF next year. I'm considering a move to Seattle should my job and economic prospects not improve in the next couple of months, and I figure I could get a few things accomplished while I'm up there: check out the apartment market, get accustomed to the locale and attend a convention that I've always wanted to check out. I'd love to stay in California, but c'est la vie, I suppose.
I've been in the fandom for almost 20 years. Started cruising the furry newsgroups in 1997. At the time, conventions were happening and people were aware of them, but there wasn't much excitement or anticipation. "Hey, did you know [insert convention name] is coming up soon?" "Yeah, dude. Sounds like fun, but I have work and stuff to do. I won't be able to go." "It's cool. I can't go either. Maybe someday we can meet up." I saw a lot of conversations play out like that, and discussions about con attendance would fade into obscurity. From 2000 to 2006, furry conventions saw a significant increase in attendance due to growing interest in the fandom and the emergence of social media -- which made it a lot easier for furries to coordinate, arrange travel accommodations and make plans. As time went on, conventions got bigger and bigger to a point that organizers and volunteers had to seriously assess the risks.
There will always be a segment of the furry populace that will ruin the fun for everyone else. In RF, there were a few isolated cases that caused a lot of headaches for Hilton staff, con-goers and con organizers. Now the Hilton wants out of the contract for 2016, and I don't blame them. Furry conventions are a massive undertaking and having people behave badly --as in causing property damage, not emotional damage -- on top of that is a liability. But conventions are getting bigger in scope. By the laws of proportion, liability and the risk increases as well.
Conventions like RF need to figure out a long-term strategy for dealing with growth. Obviously they're going to have to enforce stricter rules. But wait! If their rules align more closely with the rules enforced by Eurofurence 2015, then people are going to cry, "Oppression!" But if the rules are too lax, people are going to behave badly. How do you strike that balance? I hope that I can initiate a conversation about RF, about furry cons in general, as far as dealing with the ramifications of having a big convention. A big convention that will only get bigger, not smaller. How can organizers adjust to growth and the increased demand for risk management?
Thoughts?
But then, Anthrocon was arguably worse in that regard because they let someone express those views in a con-approved panel. But that doesn't really underscore the liability that cons can be, so I won't digress on that too much.
I think a lot of con rowdiness has to do with the prodigious amounts of alcohol that is present at conventions, but that's only part of it. There needs to be more regulation of what kinds/how much alcohol is allowed to be brought, but again - you don't want to just kill the fun. I don't know if there's a clear "one size fits all" solution, but I think having more security would be helpful.
Sometimes you have to play the 'bad guy' in order for things to pan out better.