Feed aggregator

Anti-social behaviour caused problems at three different furry events in recent times. These incidences are rare, and there is nothing to suggest that they are becoming less rare. However the fact that three issues occurred coincidentally has led to many of us wonder about furry culture.

Ultimately, each person has personal responsibility for their actions. Beyond that, furries in general hold a collective responsibility for behaviour and self-policing. And finally, organizers are able to influence the culture of a group event.

So how can organizers of large furry gatherings create a culture that reduces the chance of a problem?

To briefly recap the recent problems at furry gatherings:

• Oklacon, which was held in a public campground, was cancelled after congoers had sex in public the night before the 2014 opening ceremony. This brought a long-simmering cultural conflict between Oklacon and park managers to a head, and the application for Oklacon 2015 was rejected.
• A few problems at Rainfurrest 2015 (which I attended) led to the organizers publishing an open letter to attendees, stating that behavioural problem was putting the con at risk. The Seattle Airport Hilton subsequently cancelled their contract with Rainfurrest.
• A lewd act during a 2015 Londonfurs meet was witnessed by barstaff. The Londonfurs organizers issued an open letter stating that this had harmed the relationship with the venue. Part of the venue was closed to the furs for a few months, although it has since reopened.

The ideas I’m presenting here are based on the Nudge philosophy described by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (link to book). To “nudge” is to present information in such a way that doesn’t place any rules or restrictions on behaviour, but does influence behaviour. The US and UK governments both have “nudge units” that have helped improve the effectiveness of government services, and such techniques are commonly used by private industry as a way of maximizing profits.

An example of a government “nudge”: posters of eyes in areas of high crime have been shown to significantly reduce illegal behaviour. Here’s a picture of eyes in a bike theft hotspot in Newcastle, UK:

This poster reduced bike theft by over 60% in a two-year trial.

For a furry convention or gathering, a successful nudge should be inexpensive or free to the organizers, in terms of both cost and time. It should reduce the risk of anti-social behaviour, but without actually applying any new boundaries. In Nudge parlance, this is “libertarian paternalism”.

That’s not to say that there shouldn’t be boundaries on behaviour. Boundaries, for the most part, already exist as part of the gathering’s rules, and they are enforced by punitive measures.

It’s usually easy for an organization to enforce behaviour using punishment. It’s a simple enough equation: if you do this, we will do that. It’s always necessary to some extent, but it can have negative consequences, familiar to anyone who has helped organize an event. Creating and enforcing rules creates a natural “elite” group, which can quickly escalate into an us-vs-them situation.

Any resentment towards the elite organizing group from the attendees can feed conflict and anti-social behaviour. This can reinforce the status of the organizers as an unwanted authority group, at least among some attendees. So while hard boundaries and enforcement are sometimes necessary, they should be minimized.

The ideas presented here follow that spirit. They are based on successful “nudges” applied elsewhere, and neither place a significant extra load on organizers, nor introduce new punishments.

1. Identify and target high-risk groups

Where possible, organizers should identify and target high-risk groups. This should be done in a way that doesn’t obviously single out high-risk groups, for example by sharing a message that is only of interest to some people. The 6-2-1 message, reinforcing good personal hygiene and health during the con, is a good example of a successful nudge that targets at-risk groups.

The organizers should test their assumptions with data where possible. For example, in a large convention where organizers may be worried about room damage: what rooms are at higher risk of damage? The cheaper rooms or the larger party rooms? Furries who are resident for the whole con or just one night? What about rooms that leave a “do not disturb” sign out for the entire con? Organizers can work with the hotel to identify high-risk groups and target messages accordingly.

2. Take advantage of human social behaviour

The behaviour of people is influenced by those around them. This can be used to reduce high-risk behaviour. For example, if furs who don’t allow housekeeping into their room are at greater risk of room damage, organizers should reinforce the normality of having your room cleaned by spreading a message like “86% of attendees allow housekeeping to clean rooms each night”.

3. Observation is a moderating influence

Overt observation of activity significantly reduces anti-social behaviour. Organizers can make people feel observed by taking photos as part of the registration process (perhaps only targeting high-risk groups). Security should take photos of poor behaviour in preference to creating conflict, wherever possible.

If specific high-risk individuals have been identified, organizers can point this out with minimum conflict by slipping a note under the door of their room. By writing their real (non-furry) name on the note, it will reduce the feeling of anonymity that can come along in a large gathering.

Organizers can expect some controversy in reaction to these measures. Furries are a group that resents observation, on personal liberty grounds. In response, organizers should be clear that covert observation already exists, as part of the registration process and in the hotel in general. All they are doing is making observation more overt.

4. Reward good behaviour at risky times

Security personnel can be armed with small bags of jellybeans, and hand these out to well-behaved but at-risk congoers. This might be drunk people in the bar, pot smokers (where legal), or room parties. This creates a reciprocal social environment: the giving of small gifts have been shown to increase positive community behaviour.

5. Make attendees feel like part of a team

Organizers should minimize use of us-vs-them language, especially in text. Some conventions ask attendees to sign official-looking “no ghosting” contracts at registration. These may do more harm than good, in that they provide positive reinforcement to people who will already play by the rules, and increase the sense of outsiderhood among potential offenders. So called “chastity contracts”, designed to reduce sexual behaviour among teenagers, are similarly flawed.

Social media plays an important role. The con “live” Twitter feed should be manned around the clock, with each tweeter introducing themselves by name. They should directly acknowledge any rumours or incidents, as honestly as possible.

This will help create a feeling of fellowship between attendees and organizers. If people feel like they are part of a team that is working towards a common goal, they are less likely to be disruptive.

6. Make the venue feel like part of a team

This is not a nudge, but a worthwhile step. Dogpatch Press recently ran a piece looking at how large conventions manage anti-social behaviour, highlighting the value of showing the hotel that the organizers take behavioural problems seriously. For the hotel managers, perception is reality – showing them that you are “on their side” will help maintain a good relationship.

Many conventions will, of course, already be applying these nudges in one form or another. Others may have learned from experience that some don’t work, or come at too high a cost. Anyone with experience is encouraged to comment below.

This article has come about, in part, following an in-depth discussion with the chair of a very large convention. He wanted to note that, while the recent problems are outliers, outliers occur at every convention.

The reaction of organizers to problems are a part of the puzzle. As a start, cons should avoid giving problematic people any limelight (positive or negative), and the organizers should learn from inevitable negative experiences.

There are a lot of large furry conventions and gatherings. The recent small spate of problems don’t indicate that furry behaviour is getting worse. But organizers can learn from them, and help create better furry environments.

submitted by

“Mature” stuff isn’t built in to a fandom for talking animal art, but it sure makes everyone hot under the collar – whether they love it, or just giggle about how weird it is. Keep that in mind for the below topics: The Latest Hype – The Weird Factor – Why Marketers Care – “Furry Chic” – and Making Buzz With PR Control.

THE LATEST HYPE – AND FOUR REASONS WHY FURRIES CAN’T WAIT FOR ZOOTOPIA.  

Hot discussion.  Coinciding with release of the movie’s trailer #3, an article about Zootopia and furry porn got showered with comments at Cartoon Brew. (Reporting like that is why it’s one of the most read animation blogs). It asks:

“To what extent are Zootopia’s filmmakers aware that they are stoking an adult community of fans?… It would appear that they are intentionally attempting to attract an older crowd with mature and titillating content.”

Aggressive marketing is mentioned in this short article. (That goes both ways – watch for an upcoming article about highly anticipated Zootopia furmeets.)

Exceptional anthropomorphism.  Storytelling appeal is what’s really making fans like me pant with anticipation. See Zootopia Guide: How Disney’s New Film Builds a Different Kind of World –

“We’ve really never seen animals in the modern world, where humans never existed.” 

Provocative art. Reddit furries discuss eye popping animation in the trailers-

• “There’s no denying that they know who they’re marketing to.”
• “Big, beefy, sparkly tigers. They know what they’re doing with stuff like these, and nobody’s gonna tell me otherwise.”
• “And people still claim they’re not marketing to us. ha. ha. ha.”

Those are great reasons for why this movie is making everyone stand to attention. Does it add up to a capital-F “Furry” movie?  (With all this hype, we don’t even know if it’s GOOD yet! The marketing is as interesting as the movie so far.)

Intentionally marketing with furries could be very strategic. It could be “winking” at us behind plausible deniability, making an asset and risk at the same time.  That’s been a showbiz game since bare ankles were naughty, but there’s something new here too.  The 1940’s Golden Age of animation didn’t have alternative fandom like we do now.

It’s hard to tell how much anyone is really teasing us.  Maybe people are just seeing what they want to see.  But Disney directors have been fur con guests since the 1990’s, and marketers are well aware of what goes on.  It sure would be interesting to get such attention. Let’s look at reasons why this may be happening.

THE WEIRD FACTOR – FURRIES TURN HEADS.

 

One day in San Francisco, I was taking a train in my fursuit as a fabulous sparkly Husky.  I was on the way to my favorite thing – a furmeet at a street fair. There would be hours of high-paws and literal tail-shaking to the music.

“Look, a plushie!” shouted a girl waiting for the train with her friends. “We don’t judge you!” yelled one of the guys. They were all smiles to see me in full regalia.  It was the opposite of blending in, and I flaunted it a little. It wasn’t a big deal if they got the meaning wrong.

In public, besides making a spectacle, there’s a certain outsized reputation that turns heads.  People giggle and ask questions.  If you’re not a member of this group, some things can be hard to get.  That makes imaginations run wild.  People fill in the blanks with rumors and sensational media influence.

But furmeets are just harmless socializing and creativity.  Weird feelings from outsiders are defused by the friendly reality.  It makes weirdness fun. It’s in headlines about cons:  Furries are “Silicon Valley’s last, best hope at weird” and “modeling eccentricity for a staid tech culture.”

Cons are on a fertile border between Furry and Normal.  Their grassroots spirit makes them naturally bloom with growth outside of commercialism. It makes bystanders turn their heads.  But marketers might smell money.

Many people deny that companies care about this niche group, because it doesn’t make an audience of real size. My counterpoint is that subculture is tiny, but buzz is mighty. It’s not how many tickets you buy, it’s how many heads you turn.

If marketers want a little piece of that action, it could work like my experience at the train station.  And it’s a good time to get on this hype train.

WHY MARKETERS CARE.

 

Marketers always want to know what’s going to be a trend, and how to get in at the roots. The potential attracts them like plants to the sun.

Reddit:  “According to the google search trends, the term “furry” has never had so many searches before.”

Here’s where this leads. Mainstream advertising: “More and more, Furries are being hinted at in marketing media!”  Some of it is even Furry-led. Cons in Pittsburgh, PA and San Jose, CA are getting city support to spread attention:

I'm at the airport and I see this. Wtf are you ppl!? pic.twitter.com/IapcZMDdiO

— Arokh74 (@Arokh74) December 23, 2015

Attention comes in different forms. I’d say that Buzz naturally spreads from person to person.  Marketing is the effort to intentionally cultivate it, and it brings a reinforcing effect of Hype (or backlash).  I think cultivation crosses a line, and I suspect that’s happening here. (Call it a gut feeling from running the most active Furry News blog… and I have, er, a few connections.) Recognition will have lag time, but speculation is high now.

“FURRY CHIC” IN 2016.

 

We might be in a special era.  Call it the Fursplosion of 2016, or the Year of Furry. It was a minor blog topic last year: “Marvel Looking To Capture The Furry Market?“ and now it’s bigger – Disney Prepares to Cash In on the Furry Demographic with “Zootopia”.

On the day of writing this article (1/23/16), a furry-made documentary (‘Fursonas’) got unprecedented recognition.  It screened at the Slamdance film festival (“one of the most significant Film festivals in the world”) and instantly sold to a distributor. Here’s their press release. Look for it on Netflix.

We're so thrilled that the 1st screened film on our 1st day of #slamdance2016 acquired distribution!! @FursonasDoc https://t.co/VvlXQHEvKM

— Slamdance (@Slamdance) January 23, 2016

Film critics love eras in movies that say something about society.  “Furry Chic” is my way of harkening back (tastefully or not) to 1970’s “Porno Chic”.  Those movies had unprecedented mainstream success, coinciding with social revolution and gutsy exploitation for topics that Hollywood wouldn’t touch.  That era even made Furry roots with the first X-rated animated movie, Fritz The Cat.  It makes it funny when John Lasseter says Zootopia has “Disney’s first ‘nude scene.’”

Furry is already it’s own thing.  This is about mainstream notice that could bring more stuff we like.

Stigma can be risky for marketers.  See: “How Esurance Lost Its Mascot to the Internet” and Kellogg’s deals with sexy tweeting at Tony the Tiger. Hints and winks help them to stay coy.  But after that comes bold recognition.  See CollegeHumor making raunchy in your face “fursploitation” parodies – and Casper Mattress making a gentle mention without explaining.  It tells me that people in high places now know that they don’t have to define us to get recognition.

@DogpatchPress We don’t sleep and tell.

— Casper (@Casper) August 3, 2015

That’s not even a hidden wink. See what I mean about their approach?

MAKING BUZZ WITH P.R. CONTROL.

 

Zootopia might arguably be the most “furry” thing a movie studio has made in decades.  You might even suspect they’re not shy with flirting at the mature side (“what do you call a three humped camel? Pregnant.”)

Of course kid’s animated movies have been full of winks for a long time.  It’s smart to keep parents entertained with jokes that go over kid’s heads.  They’re experts at that.

I got quoted in the news: “patch_ofurr writes ‘don’t ever think a giant corporation doesn’t know EXACTLY what they’re doing…'” 

I believe there are clues about them coyly tailoring social outreach for “no direct Furry engagement” while enjoying fan attention.  It’s probably in their rulebook. You can get the feeling from what they don’t and WON’T say.

@SeiRruf Looks like he removed his tweet.. Luckily, this is the internet. It's preserved in this screenshot. :) pic.twitter.com/B3f6bD0Xw9

— ✎ S e i R r u f (@SeiRruf) November 10, 2015

Reddit comments (two from others, and two from me:)

The “Community engagement representative” probably told him to pull it because it could be misleading. It doesn’t have to be for negative reasons, their PR department may simply not want the message to be “we made this for the furries!”. Employee interaction with the community tends to be pretty heavily regulated when it comes to media.

This. PR control for big projects like this is MASSIVE. There’s a reason most companies have a Community Manager to act as their pointman. It’s very easy for an employee to unknowingly say something they weren’t supposed to, or imply something that isn’t true. One needs only look at extremely public companies like Riot Games to see where an employee post can be blown out of proportion rather quickly.

If they’re pulling messages at furries, that says something about awareness as much as if they were reaching out to them. See here.

No other movie has needed to explain what “anthropomorphic” means. Putting the word in the trailer is like putting “furry” on a giant neon sign… They probably had a board meeting just about using that word. You might call it a subcultural signifier, like shared slang words, because it has special power even though it’s a dictionary word.  Furries love being recognized by each other. Notice from Disney might make them feel extra special. If they’re winking, it’s working.

Whatever this all means, it’s shaping up to make great movie fun with big budget gloss, everything fans love, and likely spawning a new generation of furries.  At the same time, I believe that companies will always keep some distance and avoid stuff like sponsoring cons.  That could let fandom keep freedom that’s beyond safe and corporate, and let everyone treat mature stuff as no big deal – after all, we’re not hurting anyone.  That would be the best of both worlds.  Even if it makes disapproval here and there, those who enjoy it will end up with big silly grins all over their faces.

<!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>Okay , just want to remind you that you can jump into any conversation , don&#39;t just leave me and the commenter to chat!</p> <p>Today&#39;s conversation starter:</p> <blockquote> <p>&quot;Hey , what&#39;s wrong , why are you crying?&quot; </p> </blockquote> </div><!-- SC_ON --> submitted by

<!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>So, err... Hi there! I&#39;ve been lurking here for, well, far too long now and finally joined a few weeks ago when I saw a fur ask about an esoteric computer problem I knew how to solve. I then proceeded to not say anything here for a few weeks because I&#39;m far too shy for my own good. However now I&#39;ve decided I need to get over that and actually say things and that should probably start with an introduction so... HI!</p> <p>What else to say... well, I&#39;m a Hyox, Hyena/Fox hybrid, though will quite often refer to myself as one or the other out of ease of communication. I&#39;ve been a fur for, well, honestly most of my life even if I didn&#39;t know the word back then I have always preferred media with anthros or talking ferials in and was looking at my first furry sites through a 14.4K modem, though that wasn’t as long ago as you might think as non-dialup wasn&#39;t available where I live until 2005 so it would have been around then (80MB fiber-line now :) good things eventually come to those who wait). I&#39;m 25, British, and work as an electronic engineer for a company that designs test equipment. </p> <p>Unfortunately I have absolutely no artistic talent at all which makes me kind of a useless furry and one of the reasons I’ve always been too shy to talk to other furs even though I’ve wanted to. I’ve always wished I could draw even half as good as the rest of you guys but everything I’ve ever tried has always looked like total rubbish, the best I’ve managed were some pixel art animations, some of which I did end up putting on my FA but anyfur can do pixel art, but no real art skill so, well, sorry about that...</p> <p>Anyway, I think that’s everything? I usually just lurk most places really in the past due to shyness but I hope I’ll at least be able to contribute SOMETHING here! And NOT end up being too shy and running off tail between my legs! So err…. HI!</p> </div><!-- SC_ON --> submitted by

1. Tell us about your most recent project (written or published). What inspired it?

Thousand Tales: How We Won the Game is a SF novel about saving what’s important. In the 2030s a game-obsessed AI invents brain uploading technology, making it possible to (arguably) live forever as a digital ghost in her game world. The heroes are the people who befriend or oppose the AI, all with good reasons.

I was troubled that “science fiction” bookstore sections seem to consist of fantasy, far-future space opera, and game/TV tie-ins. I really wanted to write something (1) set in a near future, (2) with plausible technology, (3) that didn’t terrify or depress me.

I’d been interested in artificial intelligence and game design for years, even dabbling in AI programming. I also studied animal intelligence, including college work with the world’s most over-educated parrots. These things didn’t come together as a good story until years later, when to my embarrassment I got pulled into the fandom for a certain cartoon. Among the fanfiction for that world, was a setting called “Friendship Is Optimal”, only tangentially related to the show. “Optimal” involves a runaway AI who’s superficially nice but who deliberately crashes civilization to upload everyone to her cute video-game world. That shared setting got me and other writers arguing creatively about the setting’s implications. I wanted to write about a nicer AI, in a better-developed future, with a different focus.

So, I used the basic premise of “Optimal”, my own take on AI, some world-building about the near future, and even a loose recycling of my first novel as fuel for National Novel Writing Month in 2014. The book sparked enough discussion that I still haven’t run out of stories I want to tell in that setting, so I’ll be releasing a 20K-word novella (“2040: Reconnection“) probably in December, and a longer work early next year.

2. What’s your writing process like? Are you a “pantser,” an outliner, or something in between?

I like to plan, and don’t feel comfortable unless I can shoot an arrow ahead and say “there’s my destination”. Planning doesn’t mean knowing every scene before I start, but knowing something about the characters, setting, and the conflict that needs resolving. Despite planning, I get surprised by details or even plot twists that I didn’t consciously expect. I love it when that happens.

3. What’s your favorite kind of story to write?

Most of what I write is furry, and a lot involves transformations of some kind. I’d been reading something recently contrasting “grimdark” fiction where any victory is personal and costly in a frightening world, versus its opposite of “noblebright”: stories where heroes and villains can make a real difference, and the setting provokes wonder more often than fear. I’d much rather write the second kind.

4. Which character from your work do you most identify with, and why?

On a bad day: Peter the Dragonlord from “Ivan and the Black Riders” (ROAR #6). He’s introverted and thoughtful, has cool magic powers, and is determined to do great things… but your freedom means nothing to him. On a good day: Garrett Fox from Everyone’s Island. He’s an engineer at heart, learning to deal with more and more responsibility even if he’s not sure where he’s heading.

5. Which authors or books have most influenced your work?

Years of reading and participating in the TSA-Talk mailing list and Anthrochat IRC have been great sources of stories and discussion, so I point to writers Phil Geusz, Michael Bard (RIP), and Jon Sleeper from there. Outside the fandom, there’s L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time, Heinlein’s Citizen of the Galaxy and Tunnel In the Sky, Asimov’s “Foundation” series, Bradbury’s short story “The Toynbee Convector”, and too many worldbuilding-heavy tabletop RPG books such as Bard and Victoria Bloom’s memorable World Tree.

6. What’s the last book you read that you really loved?

Weir’s The Martian, for being hard science fiction set in the near future with an upbeat tone. Besides that, Vinge’s A Deepness In the Sky.

7. Besides writing, how do you like to spend your free time?

Reading nonfiction, sometimes. (The history of an ordinary thing like cargo containers can be surprisingly interesting because it cuts across a lot of other topics.) I’m also an avid board/tabletop/PC gamer who plays or runs games like Pathfinder. I program games for fun as well.

8. Advice for other writers?

Seek out critique and be profusely grateful toward anyone who offers reasonably polite explanations of what you’re doing wrong. It’s okay to read comments on your work and go sulk, but then you should come back and write something better. Critique groups (like Critique Circle) can be helpful, especially if you make it clear you can handle serious criticism. Besides that? Save old scraps of ideas, because they might spark something years later. Challenge yourself with projects like NaNoWriMo. Try completely rewriting a scene without looking at the original, to knock new ideas loose. Try taking apart stories you like by writing down exactly what’s cool about them, and adapt those elements into something original.

9. Where can readers find your work?

http://kschnee.deviantart.com/ and http://www.furaffinity.net/user/krissnow for galleries. Amazon for my novels.

10. What’s your favorite thing about the furry fandom?

At a furry convention, I asked some idle question about why there’s no such thing as vintage cola, like wine. The room launched into a detailed discussion of things like pressure storage vessels and chemistry. The fandom has people with varied backgrounds and a lot of knowledge about obscure subjects, who’re ready to think creatively about anything!

 

Check out Kris Schnee’s member bio here!

<!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>As someone interested in sociology, I thought It&#39;d be interesting to ask people how society has affected what they think makes them happy, and how much they have explored non-traditional methods of happiness. As a furry, I thought this would be a great place to ask, and later compare to non-furs.</p> <p>For example: Has being part of a culture that is generally considered to be &quot;fringe&quot; affected how open you are to new forms of happiness? Are you more likely to explore new cultures and ideas pertaining to happiness? What do you think prevents others from exploring the furry fandom? Have you ever been ridiculed for being a furry?</p> </div><!-- SC_ON --> submitted by