And for the curious, here’s the post that I’ve been thinking about – I just sent it off. I think it’s worth repeating here. “Number 7,” by the way, is another one of those anonymous, complaining, useless malcontents for which alt.fan.furry is so famous.
From: Duncan da Husky
Newsgroups: alt.fan.furry
Subject: Re: Work the media
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 13:39:40 +0000 (UTC)
Message-ID:
Number 7 wrote:
> Press liaisons are indeed wonderful things, WHEN they do their jobs.
> Midwest FurFest had a press liaison their first year, and look at what
> happened: They were the stars of not one but TWO media pieces that
> depicted furries as kinky sex deviants…..
Pray tell me, what proof do you have that the press liaison didn’t do their job?
Were they supposed to be riding in the car with George Gurley and Ostrich, monitoring every word?
Were they supposed to have been at Foxwolfie Galen’s computer, telling him not to type what he did?
Were they supposed to be in Yote’s room, politely suggesting they speak of other topics?
Were they supposed to be in the rooms of the other fans interviewed, quietly telling them that editing could make them look foolish when the final film was assembled?
Were they supposed to have final editing privileges over all works that mention the convention, so they could prevent the omission of all of the materials and information they provided?
The press liaison did their job. They made sure both Gurley and Castro saw the charities that raised thousands of dollars, the multitude of G- and PG-rated art in the art show, the folks having fun at the dance. They provided printed materials that explained how Midwest Furfest is a family-oriented convention, where people from all walks of life are welcome to attend and enjoy themselves.
In my opinion, the job of the press liaison is to put the best face on a convention, to introduce the media to our admittedly non-mainstream interests and explain why we do what we do. The job of the press liaison is not to be by the side of the media person 24 hours per day, all three days of the convention, protecting fans from themselves. I believe that the jobs of conventions are not to be the saviors of the fandom – they have their hands full doing what they are created for: providing entertainment, programming, and meeting space for people in furry fandom to congregate and have a good time.
-Tom
Number 7 Unmasked
Number 7 is none other than our favorite resident Burned Fur, Michael Campbell.Michael Campbell has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth with alarming frequency. That he’s using the alias ‘Number 7’ right now is a good example, especially after he boasted “I am confident enough in my views, beliefs, and works to not have to hide behind a ‘fan name'”I was thinking of pointing it out on AFF, but where’s the fun in that? Let’s let him continue posting under the belief that his anonymity is secure and we don’t know who he really is. It’ll be worth a good chuckle.Ooooh! Number 7! Who could it be? Heeheeheeheehee!
Re: Number 7 Unmasked
Iiiiiinteresting…..
Michael Campbell also happens to be a local area resident. So much for his ‘support of local fandom’, as he once said to me.
Re: Number 7 Unmasked
I was a pal to him while he was living in Milwaukee, despite our differences in furry politics. We lost touch a couple or so years ago. Next time I see him at a con, I’m not going to even give him a “hello” now that he’s been badmouthing the way my girlmate performed as press liason in 2000. If he had a problem with how she handled it, he could’ve emailed her about it or discussed it with constaff. But no, he has to air it out on a newsgroup. Hmph.
Duncan, thank you for handling this in a intelligent manner. There are times that our constaff needs to confront the issues being bandied about in order to prevent misconceptions from arising. On a personal level, thank you for defending my girlmate’s position. I’m glad that her name was not even brought up in this thread on AFF (from what I can tell).
I am so glad I don’t read AFF these days. Afterall, Flayrah provides me with what I was going there for in the first place: pertinent news.
Re: Number 7 Unmasked
Normally I would stay out of all this. It’s neither professional nor does it look good for a convention to try to hash out this kind of stuff in a public forum (see the current Pawpet Megaplex/FSB debate going on in AFF now. Better yet, don’t). Mr. Campbell’s comment warranted a response, though his bullshit reply most certainly does not. The man is obviously completely out of touch with reality, and any further debate with him on this matter is sure to be completely unconstructive.
Hey Duncan…I saw you slip onto my friends list…you naughty husky. 🙂
Anyways…I don’t blame MFF for anything that happened in terms of the media. I think it all happened at a more ‘simplier’ time in furry history when we weren’t exactally expecting to see furry’s sex life being exposed as ‘normal’ furry activity.
In that vain…I have to chuckle when MP claims they will be ‘press free’. Unless they buy out the whole hotel, thus closing it to the general public, anyone including the press can be in the public areas of the hotel. Not only that…they can’t exactally control what people do in their hotel rooms.
Either way…the press is there…for good or bad. Just wish furries would lighten up and realise there’s worse things in life than a little bad press. 🙂
I have a theory that there need to be referees in all fandoms, from furry to SF&F to SCA to stamp collecting. Their job is to step in and give certain people “time outs”, in which they can have no contact or even think about their fandom for six months. In this time, they are to devise new hobbies, get back in touch with the real world, and try to reconnect with what matters.
You’d be amazed at the decrease in fan politics 🙂
AFF: Home of the Soul-Sucking Arguments To Nowhere(tm)
I’ve found it’s not so much time away from the fandom that I’ve needed as much as just time away from AFF. It’s a great feeling to unsubscribe for a few weeks, go wander up to Baltimore to see the Tall Ships, or get a bunch of furries together to visit Northlandz, or go hiking at Breakneck Mountain, or exploring the ruins of King’s College. It gives you a refreshing sense of perspective, and when you resubscribe to AFF you can’t help but feel a little sorry for those folks who apparently spent their entire weekend at their keyboard yelling about the same things they’re been yelling about the past five years.
Thanks…
Thanks Duncan for defending the job that I did as press liaison. I don’t think that the average Joe person realises just how much freedom the press actually has. It is a very difficult thing to control. If we had seen the VF article prior to publication, and asked that all mention of MFF be taken out, George still would have had every legal right to say “a popular midwest furry convention” and still be holding to the letter of the law. Nothing was going to stop this guy from doing the piece from the angle that he did. And the MTV piece had very little that associated itself to Midwest Fur Fest. As my sweetheart Wendy put it, not enough about the con was presented for mundanes to pick it up.
Anyway, thanks Duncan. I don’t want to start bashing any person in particular, but the person in particular, who is making the most noise about this stuff, is someone who is always trying to start an arguement and is one of those “Furry Police” types. Bah!