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You know what, furries?
You treat your convention staff, your meet organisers, all your volunteers -- like absolute shit.
You treat your convention staff, your meet organisers, all your volunteers -- like absolute shit.
One morning we woke up. We figured "wouldn& #39;t it be cool if we had a meet near us?"
None of us knew the first thing about organising events. But we figured - the ends justify the means. We& #39;ll scrape together our money. £50 to book a function room, great!
None of us knew the first thing about organising events. But we figured - the ends justify the means. We& #39;ll scrape together our money. £50 to book a function room, great!
Everyone was happy, at least initially. We all kinda knew each other, or we were one or two & #39;degrees& #39; away. Then we screwed up. We tried to fix it, it was never enough.
You& #39;d never come to us to report the issues. You& #39;d always take it to Twitter, to IRC, to Facebook.
You& #39;d never come to us to report the issues. You& #39;d always take it to Twitter, to IRC, to Facebook.
When we asked "why didn& #39;t you give us a chance?" - you said "It& #39;s free speech." You never cared about getting the problem fixed. You wanted to dunk on someone to feel better. You cared about the "ping" sound your phone made when someone responded to you on social media.
We were easy marks. We& #39;d never call out your lies -- how could we? It& #39;d just fuel the flames.
So we put a brave face on it. We pretended it didn& #39;t bother us, all the while we were dying inside. We thought about the 1,694 smiling people. They liked us. Didn& #39;t they?
So we put a brave face on it. We pretended it didn& #39;t bother us, all the while we were dying inside. We thought about the 1,694 smiling people. They liked us. Didn& #39;t they?
We took on a few more staff to help us - and a few more. Almost nobody applied, we couldn& #39;t afford to be selective. We had to take on more people. When we asked you to help, you said "you& #39;d have to be stupid to do that".
No. We just wanted to give you what we& #39;d had.
No. We just wanted to give you what we& #39;d had.
Some of those staff weren& #39;t... brilliant. Some were downright abusive. We got rid of the ones we found, when they were careless enough to get caught.
But you& #39;d never work with us. "I have 20 friends who were victims!" -- & #39;Please! Ask them to talk to us!& #39; -- "You won& #39;t listen!"
But you& #39;d never work with us. "I have 20 friends who were victims!" -- & #39;Please! Ask them to talk to us!& #39; -- "You won& #39;t listen!"
Every mistake we made, you crucified us. For every crucifixion, you brought more nails than the last time.
Things we& #39;d fixed, that you said "yeah, we good fam!", you brought back up like they were new issues.
Things we& #39;d fixed, that you said "yeah, we good fam!", you brought back up like they were new issues.
The mistakes hurt us even more. How could someone we knew, we trusted, do this to another human being? To a fellow furry? To a friend?
We constantly asked - what did we do wrong?
You didn& #39;t need to torture us, we were already tying ourselves to the rack and locking the shackles.
We constantly asked - what did we do wrong?
You didn& #39;t need to torture us, we were already tying ourselves to the rack and locking the shackles.
We figured we& #39;d try and be open with you. Transparency! This sounds like a great idea. You& #39;re people, you& #39;ll give us a fair hearing!
We turned up to your kangaroo court. The judge had already decided. Any evidence we presented was used to shore up his decision.
We turned up to your kangaroo court. The judge had already decided. Any evidence we presented was used to shore up his decision.
You& #39;d cry "Hey, your head of venue has a new £5k fursuit! There was less theming this year. He must have stolen the money from the con!"
But nothing could be further from the truth. The money was sat there. One of our suppliers had backed out on us. That& #39;s why the floor was bare.
But nothing could be further from the truth. The money was sat there. One of our suppliers had backed out on us. That& #39;s why the floor was bare.
By now the cracks were showing. An attendee got right in a head of department& #39;s face. They& #39;d shouted and screamed at him, while their friend shoved a mobile phone in his face. He left. He never came back. His phone disconnected, his Twitter deleted. "I only wanted to help!"
We tried again. In 18 months we& #39;d redone everything. New internal procedures. New codes of conduct. New staff. We weren& #39;t the same event.
The first thing you said was "But you screwed this up in 2008!"
The first thing you said was "But you screwed this up in 2008!"
It didn& #39;t matter. We were so proud. We thought we& #39;d turned the tide. This time we& #39;ll do it. The van won& #39;t catch fire. Everyone will leave with a smile on their face.
But you never wanted to give us a chance.
"This con will never change!"
Ping. Ping. 69 likes. 147 retweets.
But you never wanted to give us a chance.
"This con will never change!"
Ping. Ping. 69 likes. 147 retweets.
We had to cancel one year. Nobody could have predicted a global pandemic. We watched the news in horror. We can& #39;t do it. We can& #39;t risk our attendees& #39; health.
"How dare you not give us a full refund!"
The money wasn& #39;t there. Even if we cleared the bank out and liquidated.
"How dare you not give us a full refund!"
The money wasn& #39;t there. Even if we cleared the bank out and liquidated.
Most of you were happy. But some of you would accept nothing less than perfection. You couldn& #39;t accept that we were fans of the art, like you.
"Your merchant account has been closed due to an extremely large number of chargebacks. You can no longer accept credit cards."
"Your merchant account has been closed due to an extremely large number of chargebacks. You can no longer accept credit cards."
And after we finished, we had a meeting.
"Kay... why are we doing this again?"
& #39;Because 3,290 people left smiling last year& #39;
"... my therapy bills are getting huge. Danny stepped down, you know? He& #39;s been with us ten years. And Jake. And Carol."
"Kay... why are we doing this again?"
& #39;Because 3,290 people left smiling last year& #39;
"... my therapy bills are getting huge. Danny stepped down, you know? He& #39;s been with us ten years. And Jake. And Carol."
We looked at each other.
"I& #39;m getting too old for this."
"I can& #39;t stand to open Telegram. People keep asking me about the bad stuff years ago. I wasn& #39;t even on staff back then."
"I& #39;m burning out, guys. We really can& #39;t do this again."
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
"I& #39;m getting too old for this."
"I can& #39;t stand to open Telegram. People keep asking me about the bad stuff years ago. I wasn& #39;t even on staff back then."
"I& #39;m burning out, guys. We really can& #39;t do this again."
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
The stories above are based on ones related to me by friends on a bunch of cons or events -- but embellished (a fair bit) to drive the point home. So what am I trying to tell you here? Why say this at all?
Convention staff in any fandom aren& #39;t paid. Very few of us have any formal experience in what we do. We& #39;re learning on the job, trying stuff out to see what works.
We& #39;re fans of the artwork, the music, the fursuits, the dances. Just like you.
We& #39;re fans of the artwork, the music, the fursuits, the dances. Just like you.
We& #39;re not "in it for attention", we& #39;re not "scum", we& #39;re not "just in it for the money" (what money?).
We& #39;re stood in the back of Mainstage, watching that dancer on the big screen. Listening to the musicians on their guitar and piano. It& #39;s magic.
We& #39;re furries. Just like you.
We& #39;re stood in the back of Mainstage, watching that dancer on the big screen. Listening to the musicians on their guitar and piano. It& #39;s magic.
We& #39;re furries. Just like you.
And hey, do you know how to make a small fortune running furry cons?
Start with a large fortune.
Start with a large fortune.
Follow-up thread: https://twitter.com/_CosmoSnowmew/status/1281193965551783936">https://twitter.com/_CosmoSno...
