A major reason that ConFurence failed, in my opinion, was that the convention committee refused to incorporate as a non-profit corporation “because we don’t need the bureaucracy”. This left Mark Merlino (and Rod O’Riley), and later Darrel Exline, as the dictators of ConFurence. Exline in particular tried to do too much personally. What you describe as “the organizers couldn’t keep up with rising attendance” was more like Exline couldn’t keep up with the workload by himself.
The size of the ConFurence had little to do with its decline. It was the combination of losing the January 1999 date, moving to the Easter weekend that year as an experiment – with the intention to move back to January if it didn’t work out – and the new Further Confusion promptly grabbing the January date, so ConFurence couldn’t move back without creating a Northern/Southern California furry war. That and the fact that Eastern fans were no longer willing to come all the way to California for a furry convention. There were the new ConFURence East, Camp Feral!, and Albany Anthrocon by 1999, which drew attendance away from ConFurence.
The dictatorship meant that when Darrel Exline got tired of running ConFurence in 2003, even though most of his Committee wanted to go on, he chose to just discontinue it; and he legally could because it belonged to him personally. He said that if anyone else tried to organize a ConFurence 2004, he would notify the hotel that the Committee was stealing the convention from him, and he could prove it. The fans who had wanted to continue ConFurence created CaliFur the next year instead, as proof that a Southern California furry convention was still viable. CaliFur today is bigger than ConFurence ever was.
A major reason that ConFurence failed, in my opinion, was that the convention committee refused to incorporate as a non-profit corporation “because we don’t need the bureaucracy”. This left Mark Merlino (and Rod O’Riley), and later Darrel Exline, as the dictators of ConFurence. Exline in particular tried to do too much personally. What you describe as “the organizers couldn’t keep up with rising attendance” was more like Exline couldn’t keep up with the workload by himself.
The size of the ConFurence had little to do with its decline. It was the combination of losing the January 1999 date, moving to the Easter weekend that year as an experiment – with the intention to move back to January if it didn’t work out – and the new Further Confusion promptly grabbing the January date, so ConFurence couldn’t move back without creating a Northern/Southern California furry war. That and the fact that Eastern fans were no longer willing to come all the way to California for a furry convention. There were the new ConFURence East, Camp Feral!, and Albany Anthrocon by 1999, which drew attendance away from ConFurence.
The dictatorship meant that when Darrel Exline got tired of running ConFurence in 2003, even though most of his Committee wanted to go on, he chose to just discontinue it; and he legally could because it belonged to him personally. He said that if anyone else tried to organize a ConFurence 2004, he would notify the hotel that the Committee was stealing the convention from him, and he could prove it. The fans who had wanted to continue ConFurence created CaliFur the next year instead, as proof that a Southern California furry convention was still viable. CaliFur today is bigger than ConFurence ever was.
Fred Patten