FC2003 Newsletter - May

1. Info From the Head Mad Hatters

Greetings fellow furs. Well, summer is nearly here and preparations for FC2003 are well on their way. I cant help but to be excited about the things to come. Including out camp-out and picnic listed below. Break out the smores! Mmmmm chocolate.....mmmmm. Anyhow, there is ONE thing that I would like to try to help clarify. FC has been advertising itself as having the first 5 day con. I just wanted to let everyone know that even though the actual convention space and a few events WILL indeed span the course of 5 days, that ALL traditional programming will occur on traditional days. So for those of you who are unable to stay around, you
will not miss out on the quality traditional programming that you have come to expect from FC. So come for 3 or stay for 5, all we are concerned about is seeing your happy faces enjoying our improved schedule of events and the company of your fellow furs at our new, awesome hotel.

Also, take some time to scan over our web pages and be sure to return. Many new exciting things will be appearing in the near future, including our forums, some of our new imaginative interactive events and some surprises thrown in just for fun.2. Charities Selected for FC2003

We are pleased to announce that the charities for FC2003 have been
selected. They are:

PAWS: Pets Are Wonderful Support
http://www.pawssf.org/

Pets Are Wonderful Support {PAWS} is a volunteer-based organization that
helps improve the quality of life for persons with AIDS and other
disabling illnesses by offering the emotional and practical support to
keep the love and companionship of their pets, and by providing
information on the benefits and risks of animal companionship.

Seymour Marine Science Center
http://www2.ucsc.edu/seymourcenter/
The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is part of the Joseph M. Long Marine
Laboratory, a research and education facility of the University of
California, Santa Cruz. The laboratory is affiliated with the Institute of
Marine Sciences, a university research unit. The lab serves as a base for
field research in Monterey Bay and the ocean beyond. Institute of Marine
Sciences faculty and researchers conduct marine field studies throughout the world.

3. FC Summer Picnic and Campout Announced

It's almost that time again; time for the annual Further Confusion spring
picnic. This year, we're holding it at Lake Chabot regional park, in
Castro Valley, on July 27th, from 10AM until 6PM, with lunch starting
around noon. As usual, we'll be providing the meat, and suggest bringing
salads, other sides, or deserts. If you are feeling really brave, there's
fishing in Lake Chabot, which is stocked with bass, crappie, and other
fish.

Other activities around the picnic site include swimming, hiking, lake
tours, volleyball, horseshoes, and boat rentals. Dogs are permitted, but
must remain leased in developed areas. There is a $4.00 parking fee for
non-East Bay Regional Park District members. If you wish to car pool into
the park, you may park nearby at Chairo's house.

In addition to the picnic, we'll be camping at the nearby Anthony Chabot
park, Friday and Saturday nights. There is limited space at the
campsites, so please RSVP to [email protected] if you plan to
camp. Use of the campsites is not free, so there will be a roughly $5.00
charge per person to recover the reservation fee.

To get to the park, take I-580 to the 150th Ave exit. Head east to
Fairmont Drive, then turn left up the hill and continue to the park
entrance on the left. If you want to use MapQuest to find your
directions, the complete address is:

17930 Lake Chabot Road
Castro Valley, CA 94546

We'll have a web page up with links and such shortly.

4. FC at Baycon

We are still waiting for word, but we expect to man our fan table at
Baycon. If you are there stop and give us a hello, feedback, and snag a
membership.

5. Hotel Information
Hotel Reservations and Online Registration are now available. Get all the
details form our website. Book early and often. Its our first year at a
new hotel so we want to impress them with our patronage.

6. New Website Look and Banner Ad Available:
Our new website look is up and our new banner is available at the
following URL. Many thanks to Jason Thomas (Loran) for the new look, to
Jonas Silver for the artwork, and to Ron Nixon (Wastrel) for the banner.

Coming soon: The re-release of our FC Forums and a list of attending
Dealers.

7. New Event Information

And from Jason Thomas aka Loran, our events director:

First up I wanted to say that we are still hiring for the Writing and
Social Track Leads. I would also like to announce that Penh Gwyn has
volunteered to once again head up the Return of Critterlympics and we will
have more details regarding that soon. I'm also looking for people to help
me write up questions and answers for the Scavenger Hunt that we will be
having. So if you know any good furry related trivia, please let me know.
Also, for those of you that don't know, the side of the Double Tree hotel
has a blank wall that is about six stories tall that we can project a
video image onto. I have talked to the AV people and we are working on
having the DDR finals projected there as well as other events throughout
the con.

For full info check our website at: http://www.furtherconfusion.org

--
Further Confusion
[email protected]
http://www.furtherconfusion.org