Further Confusion 2013 saw guests of honor Chris Savino and Ursula Vernon on the stage to answer questions from staff and attendees. Here are their responses:

Q: Could you give us a brief introduction?

Chris: [...rattles off storyboarding, animation, writing and directing credits for shows noted in his Wikipedia article, including Rocko's Modern Life, Ren & Stimpy, Dexter's Lab and The Powerpuff Girls...], written a few episodes of My Little Pony, which is probably what some of you care about - it's so cool to see people who appreciate what you've done; we're so sheltered by TV, we never get to see you, so for all of you, the full house.

Ursula: Ursula Vernon, artist and author; did finally finish the webcomic Digger, which won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Series . . . I do a series for children called Dragonbreath, 8-12ish, I also do a lot of art, I do furry art, I go to furry conventions, I love you people man . . . *applause* . . . and that's sot of what I do.

Sprout: So Chris, you've done a lot of awesome TV shows, so what exactly have you done for each of those throughout your career?

The Grand Sierra, location of the first Biggest Little Furry Convention (May 3-5, 2013), was packed with enthusiastic crowds of casino visitors. A person with free time or money couldn't avoid fun if they tried. It had restaurants, swimming, bowling, gambling, movies, go karts, and more attached to a large and classy hotel. Holding a furry convention there just made things extra outrageous.

Even with the planned options, the place offered good fun just for wandering around. A buddy and I wandered out a side exit that led nowhere special. On the way back in, I was stopped by a blonde woman who looked like a vacationing professional. She gestured with an astonished look, and asked, "What's all this about?"

"It's a theatrical thing. It's for a Furry convention", I said.

"A what?"

I explained about people who like role-playing and creativity. She asked about the costumes.
"No two are alike," I said, "I don't build them, but there's a lot of artists who do it here."

"You're doing pretty good at explaining this," she said. "I just don't know how to take it seriously from a big talking dog!"

"You're doing pretty good yourself," I told her. "And that's the point. Being silly!"

Fur the 'More, Baltimore’s first furry convention, took place on the first week of April. April is known for its rain, and whenever it rains, it pours. It was to be my first small convention, but it was certainly not as small as many other new conventions.

My own experience, compared to other furs, is limited: Anthrocon 2011 & 2012, and MFF 2011. Today I review this hatchling. I’ve included some personal stories – the greatest convention stories are personal. Besides, if you don’t have stories to tell, than what was the point of going on the adventure?

For those who missed out on the news over the last three months, here's a quick roundup.

2013 opened with a feature on the business of fursuit-making, as detailed by Snap E. Tiger.

Further Confusion 2013 garnered some coverage, including a Kotaku contributor's weekend at a furry convention – which started out with party-hopping, followed by a fursuit parade (admittedly, the experience for many FC attendees). The author reached the [adjective][species] statistics panel before returning to the party floor . . . and then, the dance floor.

SanJose.com also provided coverage of FC, albeit limited to an apparently remote Q&A session with the con's media representative, Chairo. The brief piece was fact-filled, yet in comparison with Kotaku did not venture deeply into the motivations of those attending.

Sneaking in at the end of the month was a cover piece in Nashville LGBT monthly Out & About (subtitled "It's not all about sex in fur suits"), and a photo-heavy article of the "everyday lives of furries at home", featuring the furry photography of Tom Broadbent. [tip: HappyWulf]

Flayrah's accomplished reviewer Fred Patten has been invited to contribute to cartoon historian Jerry Beck's revitalized blog, Cartoon Research. He's since reviewed his own history, along with that of Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy and Atomcat, and described how home video created anime fandom (including a brief mention of Mark Merlino and the C/FO).

Beck co-founded Cartoon Brew nine years ago, but was 'bought out' last month by co-editor Amid Amidi, who plans to "evolve the site while retaining its candid and authoritative voice". The move was discussed at Deadline Hollywood and Toon Zone; FLIP has a brief interview.

Fred was also recently named Fandom Guest of Honor at Rainfurrest 2013 for his extensive history within furry fandom. Their other guests are Soulscape, Temperance and Fox Amoore.

The Furry Drama Show (FDS) completed its first season 2012-13, visiting six conventions: Wild Nights, RCFM, Oklacon, Fangcon, F3 and Furry Fiesta. As we start our new season, we continue to look for new performers to join us at these cons. If you cannot, we are also accepting videos of skits and music videos.

Canadian convention VancouFur has a theme for 2014: "Gateway to the Pacific", described by staff as a "celebration of Pacific Rim multiculturalism in Vancouver."

An announcement on VancouFur's official Twitter account stated: "We will be celebrating a country on the Pacific Rim and its cultural influence on our city each month leading up to #VF2014!" On March 7, when a member asked about wearing a kimono, VancouFur replied: "You most definitely can! :D Themed costumes are always such fun! :D"

On March 8, the VancouFur website was updated with a splash screen for 2014, shown as of March 10 with a "chop suey"-style font. (Wall Street Journal blogger Jeff Yang called a similar font "a cliche fake-brushstroke “oriental” typeface" when used in a grocer's flyer last year.)
By March 12, the VancouFur website had been quietly updated to use a different font.

Rocket City FurMeet, Huntsville, Alabama's annual furry convention, was scheduled to be held this year over June 14-16, at the Four Points by Sheraton at Huntsville Airport.

On Friday, however, RCFM board member Bunny Halberd announced that the convention was being postponed to 2014. According to the explanation posted on RCFM's website, late in 2012 the RCFM Board agreed to host the convention at the Huntsville Airport Sheraton in 2013. Unfortunately, the hotel did not fully understand what type of convention RCFM is — and the Board did not realise that the entire hotel is under the control of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

This newsletter also covers Wild Nights' guests of honor, charity auction, and details of meals, lodging, workshops and other activities.

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Come gather Knights and Knaves, Nobles and Lords, Ladies and laymen, as we once again gather for feasting and frolic. Wild Knights of the Round Table is pleased to announce that registration is now open! Visit the web page and sign in, then register online for the event. Join us as we celebrate our fifth year in Robbers Cave State Park, the last weekend of April, 25th–29th.

Toronto-based furry convention Furnal Equinox has released its January 2013 newsletter. Preregistration remains open for the 2013 convention, though it will close on February 18.

The convention has also released Meet the Fuzz, the first in a series of promotional videos profiling Furries in Uniform and featuring a selection of Toronto-area cast and crew.

MiDFur staff have chosen a new name, ConFurgence, after a month-long selection process – but pre-registration of the chosen domain name suggests a pick made prior to the final poll.

ConFurgence's Flash the Dingo as drawn by Kat Aclysm

The event's growth had become an increasing issue with its December timeslot (the 'D' in its name):

December has been pretty bad for a convention. [MiDFur] continues to grow, and during our search for a bigger, more flexible permanent home, we were getting horrid quotes from small hotels with space for 400 people... We got quotes of around $80 000 per day from a few venues... and with selling out the last 500 capacity venue in December, for us to make a step up, we had to look at our time.

ConFurgence will next occur 10–12 January 2014. It retains the "Egyptian Nights" theme, and will bring Dark Natasha, Blotch, Andy Runton and Sardyuon to Melbourne as guests. 'MiDFur' will be used to refer to the original December furmeet.

Toronto-based furry convention Furnal Equinox has released its December 2012 newsletter.

Though early bird preregistration for the convention has now ended, registration remains open, starting at $40 Canadian. Applications are also open for the convention's inaugural Art Show, and staff are seeking panel facilitators.

Chakat Goldfur reports that MiDFur 2012 (14), Australia’s largest (474 attendees this year) and oldest (since 1999 as a house party; 2008 as a convention) regular Furry event, will be the last under that name or in December. Its next meeting will be under the temporary name of Egyptian Nights, January 10-12, 2014, at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The change is due to the growth of the convention making hotels uncomfortably small, and because December is an inconvenient month for many OzFurs. MiDFur stands for Melbourne in December Furmeet, so changing the month has made the name obsolete.

The next convention will be known by the name of its theme until a new permanent name is chosen; and will always be in mid-January. A contest is being held to select the new name. Also, some fans were never happy about the small furmeet growing into a “giant” formal convention, so they will get to continue to meet as a separate informal December gathering.

Update (5 Jan): The MiDFur board have picked a slate of ten convention names (from over 400 submissions), which are now open for voting.

Update (7 Jan): Voting is now closed.

Kon'nichiwa, bonjour, hola, and hello from all of us here at Morphicon, as we plan to welcome you to our tiny slice of the world here in Columbus, Ohio. 2013 is quickly approaching us and in less than a year we wish to welcome you to a small con with a global reach.

Morphicon plans to introduce you to furry cultures from all over our wonderful planet, so please join us and our Guests of Honor P.Moss and Ebony Leopard May 2–5 as we welcome you into our own little multicultural salad bowl; as long as some herbivores don't nom it first!

Wildlife/fantasy artist Nambroth (Jennifer Miller), artist, costumer and sculptress Miss Monster (Melita Curphy), and fursuit builder and artist FirestormSix (Den Barrett) were interviewed last weekend at Midwest FurFest's "Meet the Guests of Honor" panel, hosted by Takaza and Perro.

First, they were asked to identify themselves, and the name of their microphones . . .

FirestormSix: I'm FirestormSix. My microphone is Spike.

Miss Monster: I make stuff in my basement, and it's awesome. My microphone is Applejack.

Nambroth: Nambroth, Jennifer Miller, I'm cool with either. I draw fantasy and wildlife professionally full time. I have Rainbow Dash.

Takaza: What brought you into the fandom?

FirestormSix: Basically the artwork, I started seeing the costumes a few years later; my first commission was six years ago, then I started getting a interest in building things, 4/1 2 years ago did a Dakota Wolf.

Nambroth: I got the Internet when I was 14 and was really into Gargoyles. I didn't know it was furries. I got into Yerf without realizing what I was doing, it was just "the animal people" to me.