Fursuit Track

Basic Department Description

• You are in charge of organizing and putting into action all planning and events that pertain to Fursuiting. This includes: parade, games, panels, headless lounge and, if applicable, coordinating with Fursuit Guest of Honour and running the Fursuit Dance Competition.
• The skills you will need for this position include, but are not limited to: Organization, patience, a clear loud voice, public speaking ability, the ability to solve problems on the fly.
• Staff email for this department is: [email protected] (These are the forward facing “job” emails that get posted to the public and forward emails to your personal VF email. Your personal VF email is what you log in to and use to read and respond to emails.)

• You are to find Fursuiters (crafters/makers/performers included) who wish to do Fursuit related tracks.
• This can include (but isn’t limited to) fursuit games, instructional panels, charity fursuit panels, performances, etc.

Yearly Responsibilities

• Plan your parade route (indoor and outdoor alternatives) including the fursuit photo following the parade.
• Come up with, and have designed the fursuiter parade tags/badges. They should fit the theme and be easy to quickly apply to each fursuit as they begin the parade. Theming team & art team will help you with this, if they are not already responsible for doing it for the current year.
• Plan your fursuit games. First, find out what's in storage (currently, hockey sticks, ball pit balls for hoarders, and a 12x15' Twister board.) Design any games you wish to add each year, bonus if the game fits the theme.
• Go over the list of panel suggestions and offers, decide which panels you wish to fill for fursuit track. You should include at LEAST 1 fursuit creation panel, 1 how-to fursuit panel, and a meet-and-greet panel. Those are minimums only and you should have much more than that to provide your events director to fill the schedule out.

• You need to liaise via email with the panel hosts to coordinate times/content of the panels to make sure they fit with the Programming team/Event director's schedule and the overall vision of the convention.

Are there things you need to order during the year?

• The aforementioned fursuit tags for the fursuit parade need to be ordered well ahead of time (Or given to the themeing team to create), a plan should be implemented and strictly followed each year to ensure these make it to the convention with all necessary badge clips or attachments needed to make them functional.
• You need to speak with Nitro Shep and Silverski before the convention to coordinate the use of their fans for the headless lounge. If they are unavailable, you will have to coordinate with other staff to find a new person.
• Submit BEO's (room layouts) to the hotel team to make sure your headless lounge is properly stocked and prepared (Tables/chairs/water, etc.)
• Ensure your logistics team has received your request to pick up whatever materials you require from storage.

Do you need a function space map created for your department?

• You need a high quality map of the hotel to plan the parade route. This needs to be submitted not only to the event director and convention chairs, but also to the Hotel Operational Manager (Ask our staff Hotel Lead) before the convention to be approved. (It should also be forwarded to the Programming team to be put up on Sched.org. So fursuiters can forsee the routes.)

What do you need to do during the year to function AT CON?

• Coordinate with volunteers lead to make certain you have the staff you need at each of your events. Especially important with headless lounge and parade.
• Have all of your projects (new games, fursuit badges etc. completed at least 2 months before the convention.
• List your schedule and hosts of your panels very clearly.
• Submit your parade route map to conbook at least 2 months before the convention.
• Keep in close contact with Hotel Lead to make sure your ladder, megaphone, and other parade needs are set up prior to your arrival.
• Get in contact with photography lead to make sure their needs are met to take the fursuit group photograph.
• Contact any emcees you require for your events and have them aware of the scheduled times of those events and what they are required to do if they do not already know.

How many volunteers do you need to function well AT CON?

• You require security at the entrance to headless lounge morning until night to badge check and keep non-suiters and photography/video out of the headless lounge.
• 6-8 volunteers are needed to assist with the parade. 1 to lead the parade, several to travel with to hold doors, 2 at the beginning of the parade to hand out fursuit badges and do an accurate fursuit count, and any others to help keep the fursuiters following the difficult/confusing places the parade travels (dealers den, 100 block East crossroads, outdoors, etc.)

What equipment do you need to function well AT CON?

• Parade Requires: 1 Very tall ladder, megaphone, gaffe tape and green painters tape for arrows on the floor.
• Panels often require: Fursuiters to assist hosts, easel & paper, projector, markers.
• Games require: the games to be brought from storage to the convention space, gaffe and painters tape to mark the floors, chairs.
• Headless Lounge requires: tables and chairs, a minimum of 3 tree fans, 1-3 large floor fans (Ask Nitro shep and Silverski), 2 large water containers (water and gatorade), and multiple cans of powdered orange gatorade (we used 6 last year).

• If headless remains in the same area as last year, you need black paper and tape to cover the windows/doors, and 2 large curtains set up to provide privacy/faux wall.

What staff will you be working with AT CON?

• Hotel lead, volunteer lead, event director, ops, security
• Executive Hotel Operations Manager (Ask Hotel Lead for current person!)

• Make a note of which updates/prompts should be sent to Social Media. (Remember, they can send out notices for more volunteers, due date reminders, opening dates, etc!)

• Panel, parade and games times/updates complete with hosts and info on the panel.(these will be sent to programming, then social media will post once they are confirmed on sched.org)
• Volunteer needs if you are looking for more people to participate in panels/events/etc

Your Department on the Website/in the Conbook

• 2017 will require fursuit/headless lounge rules to be posted on the website and in the conbook.
• Perhaps a note on the Parade and the map on the website as well. (request a fursuit page under events from the web designer!)

• Make sure to have someone look over the information before sending it to the respective lead.
• Send it to the respective lead.
• Make sure to test the contact page (website) that the form sends an email to you.
• Make sure that your email is listed on the contact page (website) outside of the form.
• If you have any future updates, make sure to send them to the Web Lead!
• If you spot any mistakes in your blurb for the conbook, make sure to contact them ASAP about it!

6 Months before con, what do you need to have done?

• Inform volunteer lead of your requirements for the convention.
• Have decided what games and themes you intend on trying to tackle and be well underway with their completion.
• Have determined a design and plan for fursuit parade tags. (Please consult themeing and art lead as they will need to make sure its following the art guide. Chairs also sometimes have a want for the design as well and will work with you. Just be sure to ask!)
• All required budget needs should be submitted and have approval by this time.

3 Months before con, what do you need to have done?

• Confirm with volunteer lead that you have enough to cover your needs at the convention.
• Confirm with your panelists and have your events director's approval on all of your panels.

• confirm with your panelists what equipment (tables/chairs/equipment/IT) or fursuits/people they require to successfully complete their panel.

• Maps and any advertisements you require should be submitted to conbook.
• You should be wrapping up all of your games and theming projects by this point.
• Your fans should all be confirmed for headless lounge.
• You should start building a schedule for your team. Who needs to check in where at what time, if you need to check in that fursuit panels are running on time, etc.

1 Month before con, what do you need to have done?

• Send in your BEO's to Hotel Lead. (Banquet Event/Equipment Order. This is what the hotel needs to set up for your room if applicable. Tables, chairs, etc. You also need a layout of how the room is to be put together with those items.)
• Make sure to contact Logistics to get any equipment from the VF storage locker to the hotel for your use.
• Make sure to contact IT to organize when your equipment and Tech needs can be setup in your department area.
• Send in any needed information to the Conbook for print.
• Don't forget to ask Aphinity to bring his ref Jersey for fursuit games!
• Order your parade route and headless lounge signs from printshop in advance.

After the Convention/Before the Firing Party

• Make sure all your volunteers (and yourself) got input into the system for their hours.
• Update your guide with any new/relevant information/changes.
• A staff feedback survey will be emailed out and sent into the staff chats. Please fill this out ASAP!
• Make any staffing suggestions to the next years' chair. (If you want to work again, staff who excelled and where, etc.)

• Sparky was invaluable last year as a volunteer.
• Talk to volunteers lead often and early, you need a lot of volunteers for parade.

• If VancouFur owes you money for department spending, PLEASE PLEASE send your reciepts to [email protected] & [email protected] and then fill out [[1]]

Break down of contacts

• Hotel to arrange BEO and parade needs
• Volunteers and security to cover your parade route
• Theming team/Art Lead if you require assistance with any theme related games, items, etc.
• Ops/Events Director for any unexpected problems
• Nobody knows fursuit track like Aphinity, if you run into trouble he can help you troubleshoot.

Who is your executive contact?

• Events Director

Do you have contacts outside of VF staff that you should be in contact with?

• Executive Operations Manager Zarmineh (604) 830-9797 (MAKE SURE YOU ASK THE HOTEL LEAD BEFORE CONTACTING! Hotel staff CHANGE constantly!)

Department Inventory and Ordering Resources

• list who you have ordered products from (if any) and be sure to list price/currency/quantity and if there was a representative you were in contact with, please list their name.
• BUDGET for Fursuit parade badges UNKNOWN.

• Previous years were done by Trapa. On his laser cutter.
• 2017 fursuit parade badges were done by foobar
• May be worth checking with ironfur (@ironfur on twitter) to see if he wants to help with helper bucks or other badge related things. He seems keen to help and very good at engineering and manufacturing unique objects.

What remaining inventory you have from this year. (please also write in things you are unsure about! Just make sure it is clear that you are unsure)

We currently have the following for fursuit games in storage:

• approx. 16 hockey sticks.
• 2 boxes of ball-pit balls
• 1 12' x 15' Twister mat (fits 8-12 fursuiters)

• Headless lounge purchased for its power grid

• 30amp twist lock to stove plug adapte

• Currently held by Silverski. He will bring it next year

• List possible ordering/expenses for future years if any.

• Discussed the possibility of spending our budget on water/gatorade coolers
• Headless still needs a changing tent for years that we have insufficient pipe & drape.
• We need a larger budget to have more gatorade powder on hand, we are OUT of gatorade powder. The mix for the gatorade cooler provided by nitro is 2 small cans + 1 cooler of water. We used 7 cans in 1.5 days, more than twice what we used the year prior. I highly recommend not less than 16 cans of gatorade powder for 2018.
• Proper budget assigned for the prize pools for Fursuit Dance Competition. This year we awarded $100 + shirt + poster ad prize (provided by Temrin and Tai) for first, $60 + Shirt for 2nd, and free attendee registration for 3rd.

Do's and Don'ts of the Department

What worked well/Would suggest doing again?

• Expanding on fursuit games went well (added twister), I would suggest continuing to add 1-2 games each year to keep it fresh.
• Having a third tree fan was invaluable, do not go with less than 3!
• Do not overdo the space you have for headless, we were in great shape, and able to keep the smaller area cool at a consistant 16-18 degrees. More space is fine, but not too much!
• The fursuit dance lesson panel would have been a big hit, and had great attendance, I would highly recommend trying this again.
• 1 security all the time in headless was a huge factor and probably avoided a number of problems. We almost never had an issue with people using the emergency exit door, security was very good about keeping it closed at all times.

What didn't work/would suggest to avoid?

• Lack of music for the fursuit parade was an oversight. Plan music at various spots throughout the parade route, or have people bring music with them. It really livens it up.
• Gaps in the parade were created by us not being prepared with the badge clips. I would pre-badge 10-15 suiters next year and have them ready to fill in any gaps in the parade at a moment's notice.
• More notice on the parade route and times. Advertise it better in the conbook and social media. Make sure your route signs are posted well in advance of the parade.

What would you suggest to be done for the future years of your department that aren't already in motion?

• We plan to do a fursuit rooftop dance video with dancing duke and/or Daiquiri Panda. Make sure this gets started at least 3 months in advance.
• Focus heavily on your panels and make sure you have some strong panelists with quality topics to really cover a wide spectrum of fursuit track.
• Work closely with Theatre and provide them fursuiters as they require. They often need them.
• Fursuiters are a very visual and important part of our fandom, don't hide them. Utilize your fursuiters to the best of your ability. Make sure they're an important part of many parts of the convention.
• We had a request that we have private change spaces in headless lounge. Look into this.

Other Resources

• You alone will not be able to keep up with the amount of fluids the fursuiters drink in headless lounge. Nor can you stay awake 24 hours a day to keep the lounge clean and machines disinfected. Enlist the help of a 2nd to help you get these jobs done.
• Aphinity is your best friend, and his experience on fursuit track knows no end.
• Thumper was an invaluable asset in providing emcee coverage for fursuit games
• Lost count of your fursuiters in the parade? Keetah saved the day for me by counting them on his video.(Have more then one person counting and if contact Kheetah or Univaded from the video team to also count if they are willing!)
• Create and enforce those rules for headless lounge, make sure your security are helping you enforce them it will save you many headaches.
• Have someone come up with a better quality more accurate map! To say that the ones we currently have are inaccurate is a drastic understatement.

Hashtags/Keywords to search

• Fursuit
• Costume
• Fursuit Maker/Builder
• Furry
• Anthro
• Furries
• Cosplay

Places to look

• [[2]]
• http://deviantart.com/
• https://www.weasyl.com
• http://www.Twitter.com
• https://www.sofurry.com
• https://inkbunny.net/
• [[3]]
• [[4]]
• Telegram (http://www.furry-telegram-groups.net/)
• Fursuit Groups

• [[5]]
• [[6]]
• [[7]]
• [[8]]
• [[9]]
• https://www.facebook.com/search/groups/?q=fursuit

Canadian and Washington area forums

• www.BCfurries.com
• www.albertafurries.ca
• Seattle Furs https://www.facebook.com/groups/Seattlefurs/
• Canadian Furries (have to join off personal account) [[10]]

• ASK PROGRAMMING FOR PREVIOUS YEAR PANELISTS IN THE FURSUIT TRACK!