This seems mostly very accurate, to me. Is Further Confusion/San Jose really more geographically convenient than ConFurence/Orange County?
I don't think that "Because of Mark's detractors, a couple of the new furry cons that spring up across the country make a not-so-subtle point to change their con chair occasionally, or cycle their top staff members from year to year." is as accurate as that the organizers of the new furry conventions copied the organizational styles of the successful s-f conventions around them; Loscon, Baycon -- I don't know, but I think Philcon, Duckon and I-CON were incorporated. They incorporated as non-profit organizations, with boards of directors; not a single Chairman. Many of them considered that one of their goals was to train local fans in the different aspects of running conventions, and this is why they regularly rotated their chairmen; not from any anti-Merlino goal.
Whether the ConFurence "refused" to incorporate or was "not able to get it done in a timely fashion" over several years is a matter of interpretation. How many other annual furry conventions have incorporated as Anthrocon, Further Confusion, Midwest FurFest, and others have? -- and s-f conventions like Loscon before them? How long did it take them to incorporate? Many years? ConFurence's not getting it done from the mid-1990s to 2003 amounted to a refusal, in my opinion.
This seems mostly very accurate, to me. Is Further Confusion/San Jose really more geographically convenient than ConFurence/Orange County?
I don't think that "Because of Mark's detractors, a couple of the new furry cons that spring up across the country make a not-so-subtle point to change their con chair occasionally, or cycle their top staff members from year to year." is as accurate as that the organizers of the new furry conventions copied the organizational styles of the successful s-f conventions around them; Loscon, Baycon -- I don't know, but I think Philcon, Duckon and I-CON were incorporated. They incorporated as non-profit organizations, with boards of directors; not a single Chairman. Many of them considered that one of their goals was to train local fans in the different aspects of running conventions, and this is why they regularly rotated their chairmen; not from any anti-Merlino goal.
Whether the ConFurence "refused" to incorporate or was "not able to get it done in a timely fashion" over several years is a matter of interpretation. How many other annual furry conventions have incorporated as Anthrocon, Further Confusion, Midwest FurFest, and others have? -- and s-f conventions like Loscon before them? How long did it take them to incorporate? Many years? ConFurence's not getting it done from the mid-1990s to 2003 amounted to a refusal, in my opinion.
Fred Patten