I've seen CrossAffliction's reply but that would not be my main objection.
I don't think sponsorship is that common, we only have two examples that have been brought up in this discussion; one from a long time ago. Obviously con organisers don't have a lot of money, that's why it works through donations and con fees. If young cons are doing that, I would concerned about what influence that may have on the future of the furry fandom.
The first concern I have with corporate sponsorship is the reduction of the community aspect and the hijacking of the community as an advertising tool. Corporate sponsorship is seldom, if ever, done silently. The companies want a presence, want their logo there. It's advertising to them, not from the goodness of their heart, and I don't want to see cons become just advertising for corporations instead of a community celebration. The example people were talking about was Pride. It's supposed to be a celebration of the LGBT community but, from what I've heard, advertising and corporations now have a large part in it.
A second concern is that corporate sponsorships undermine the independence of the convention. The furry fandom is filled with weird, niche ideas and identities, many of which are not accepted by the mainstream. Corporations are well known to be risk averse, so they can put pressure on conventions to exclude aspects of the fandom that they do not like. For example, pornography is a controversial issue and they may pressure conventions to remove adult works or talks. If you are relying on corporate sponsorships to pay the bills, then it would be very difficult for a convention to deny such a request.
I am sure there are more objections around but a loss of independence, treating people as a captive advertising audience, the risk of excluding the diversity of furs and potential losses of smaller, independent furry artists seem like plenty of reasons to be concerned.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
I've seen CrossAffliction's reply but that would not be my main objection.
I don't think sponsorship is that common, we only have two examples that have been brought up in this discussion; one from a long time ago. Obviously con organisers don't have a lot of money, that's why it works through donations and con fees. If young cons are doing that, I would concerned about what influence that may have on the future of the furry fandom.
The first concern I have with corporate sponsorship is the reduction of the community aspect and the hijacking of the community as an advertising tool. Corporate sponsorship is seldom, if ever, done silently. The companies want a presence, want their logo there. It's advertising to them, not from the goodness of their heart, and I don't want to see cons become just advertising for corporations instead of a community celebration. The example people were talking about was Pride. It's supposed to be a celebration of the LGBT community but, from what I've heard, advertising and corporations now have a large part in it.
A second concern is that corporate sponsorships undermine the independence of the convention. The furry fandom is filled with weird, niche ideas and identities, many of which are not accepted by the mainstream. Corporations are well known to be risk averse, so they can put pressure on conventions to exclude aspects of the fandom that they do not like. For example, pornography is a controversial issue and they may pressure conventions to remove adult works or talks. If you are relying on corporate sponsorships to pay the bills, then it would be very difficult for a convention to deny such a request.
I am sure there are more objections around but a loss of independence, treating people as a captive advertising audience, the risk of excluding the diversity of furs and potential losses of smaller, independent furry artists seem like plenty of reasons to be concerned.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~