We're at the point where Further Confusion will start to come together very quickly. It's an exciting time for us, but also a busy time. This is some of what we will be working on for you!

So with that in mind, lets get this party started!

Guests of Honor

This year we are blessed to have two very awesome Guests of Honor, both of whom in their own ways have touched and influenced our fandom through their art and writing. I know that all of you will give a very warm welcome to both of these very deserving individuals!

• Ursula Vernon - Please join us in welcoming Ursula Vernon back to Further Confusion as a Guest of Honor as we celebrate her Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story with Digger! Of course Ursula is an amazingly talented artist and writer and we very pleased to have her as Guest of Honor on our journey to The Furbidden Planet!

  For more information about Ursula and her work, please check out http://ursulavernon.com/

• Chris Savino - Chris is a writer, director, producer and animator who's worked with a wide array of studios on a number of projects which have been near and dear to the hearts of our fandom. His include The Ren and Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Johnny Test, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.

  For more information about Chris please check out his site at http://www.bfandg.blogspot.com/

You can find more information on our GOH page.

Charities

Every year we reach out to one or two charities, usually local and usually with some connection to issues near and dear to the hearts of members of our fandom. We put a fair amount of thought into this selection and this year we have selected two very worth while organizations to support.

• The Cathouse of the Kings - California's largest no-cage, no-kill, lifetime cat sanctuary and adoption center. Their mission is to place rescued cats and kittens into loving, permanent homes.
• The Little Blue Society - A not-for-profit organization focused on the equatable resolution of situations where human society and the natural habitats of animals comes into conflict. Little Blue Society is dedicated the promoting environmental/ecological stewardship.

Registration

This is a biggie, preregistration for Further Confusion closes at 11:59PM, December 31, 2012. After that, prices rise from $50 for the whole weekend to $60 at the door! If you know you're going to be going to FC then save yourself a few bucks, register early!

More importantly, this year we are changing our preregistration pickup procedures. We are pre-printing badges for preregistered attendees and dramatically reducing the number of steps and at-con technology dependencies required for preregged members to receive their badges. My exact instructions to registration staff this year were that "prereg pickup must be able to start on time, in a cave, by torch light if necessary!"

To that end, prereg pickup lines will be split out from at-con registration lines, they'll be handled upstairs in the convention center concourse.  It may be a little rough this year as we iron out this process but we sincerely believe this will greatly enhance the Further Confusion experience for our preregistered members.

To pre-register for Further Confusion 2013: The Furbidden Planet!, please wander over to our registration page.

Micro-sponsorships

This year we are testing the waters of letting attendees sponsor specific features of the convention without necessarily having to step up to the full price of a Sponsor or Patron level membership in return for recognition for the contribution. Letting fans specifically fund convention features that matter most to them let us expand and improve specific features of the convention while, hopefully, keeping membership prices stable for many to come.

• Lounge Lizards! - Help sponsor the more hangout and chill space at Further Confusion 2013.

We will be announcing one more Micro-Sponsorship program in the very near future that, frankly, I'm really excited about. Keep an eye out for that announcement to come soon.

Hotels

This year we were astounded by the speed of pickup in both the Hilton San Jose and the San Jose Marriott. We knew rooms would go fast but we had no idea they'd go faster than the speed of sound! That said, we still have rooms available in both the Hilton San Jose and the San Jose Marriott, we're actively working to add more rooms to our block in both hotels. From this point forward our Hotel team we will make weekly announcements about the availability of space.

You should know that if you have any issues with either hotel you should get in touch with our Hotel team immediately, they're there to help you have a great time! A member of our Hotel Team will be available at all times in both Hilton San Jose and the San Jose Marriott to assist both convention attendees and venue staff smooth out any bumps quickly and efficiently so that you can get back to having fun.

As we get closer to the convention we will publish phone numbers for ConOps which will be able to quickly connect you with our Hotel Team any time, day or night. Until the start of the convention, please direct any inquiries you have to [email protected].

Parties and Party Floor

We are looking reinvigorate FC's nightlife a little. To that end, if you've got an idea for a party then please let us know, we want to help you make it happen at The Furbidden Planet! In addition we are this year actively soliciting other groups and conventions to host evening parties at Further Confusion.

For more information on working with Further Confusion to get [your] party started, check out our Party Floor information.

Signature events

Our line up of Special and Signature events is as strong as ever. For Further Confusion 2013 we have quite a bit going on for all of you to be involved in!

• The Masquerade! - Our annual event that lets you, the creators of the fantastic and amazing costumes, show off your work in friendly competition. We offer awards in several categories!
• Further Confusion: Unleashed! We're bringing our Sunday night variety show to The Furbidden Planet! A little edgy, a little raw and always fun FC:U! is your opportunity to present skits, songs, dramatic poetry, and short fan-made videos to other members of Further Confusion for real, actual prizes! If you've got an idea for a skit or video, submit it!
• Critter Olympics! - A long standing tradition at Further Confusion, Critter Olympics offers our attendees the opportunity to have fun in fursuit competing against each other.
• Fursuit Dance Competition - Hugely popular and always amazing to watch, the Fursuit Dance Competition is a great chance for our attendees to show exactly what kind of moves they've got. We have some wickedly talented dancers in this fandom!
• The Return of Karaoke! We're very happy to have Kore Karaoke back to run our evening Karaoke lounges!
• Behind the Mascot - We're pleased to announce that we'll have again have a screening of the documentary film Behind the Mascot, portions of which were filmed at at Further Confusion 2004. It's part of who we are and our history as a convention.

Special performances

As with last year, we are very pleased to be able to bring to you al pretty fun line up of special performances by some pretty talented and funny furs.

• We are please to announce that Matt Ebel will be joining us on The Furbidden Planet to perform a live concert for all of you!
• We are equally pleased that 2 Gryphon and Uncle Kage will be returning to Further Confusion to present their always entertaining and often humorous takes on life, the Universe and Everything!
• Live jazz music performances form a great group of local Bay Area Furs!

Fursuit lounges

I used the plural in this header for a reason. The Fursuit Lounge at FC2012 was less than ideal. This year we're expanding the size of the fursuit lounge in the San Jose Convention Center, taking over the room that was adjacent to it and the majority of the terrace patio. (We plan to block portions of that off with a curtain wall.)

We're also adding a second fursuit lounge in the San Jose Marriott. Not tucked away in a dark hard to get to corner, either. We're putting it right on the main convention floor in the Guadalupe room.

So...That's about it for now. We'll be making more updates much more frequently as we roll closer and closer to the time we launch for The Furbidden Planet!

SmackJackal
Chairman
Further Confusion 2013: The Furbidden Planet!