Difference between revisions of "FurcoNZ"

Revision as of 22:14, 16 January 2011

FurcoNZ: the annual campout/gathering held in New Zealand, with a distinctively "Kiwi" outdoors theme. It is usually held at the end of the year, since 2007 held around end of November/start of December, and since 2009 have scheduled to be held on "back-to-back" weekends with MidFur (in Melbourne, Australia) to help with overseas attendees to make both events.

The official FurcoNZ website is located at: http://www.furconz.org.nz

The official IRC channel is located on FurNet at: #Furconz

Please skip to the FurcoNZ 2011 section for information regarding the (most current) upcoming event.

History

FurcoNZ first started off as a meetup for local furries residing in New Zealand, usually at someone's house. Throughout the years, it has grown and evolved into a regular event being held in a camp/lodge site over a weekend, with scheduled activities and programming. While not officially reaching the size and structure of a "convention", many locals do refer this event as the "annual New Zealand furry con".

FurcoNZ 2002

Hosted by PuppyDog in Panmure Auckland, at a private residence.

FurcoNZ 2003

Held in West Auckland, at a private residence.

FurcoNZ 2004

Hosted at Student Central in Dunedin.

FurcoNZ 2005

Held in December 2005 in Taupo. Unofficial attendance count was 18 people.

FurcoNZ 2006

When: November 2006 in Wairakei, just north of Taupo.

Where: Hosted by Southpaw at his three-bedroom house.

The weekend gathering was documented and have a DVD produced from digital video footage. The 2006 event also marks the end to the "old era" of FurcoNZ of being held at a private residence.

Unofficial attendance count was just over 30 people.

FurcoNZ 2007

When: 30th November till 3rd December

Where: 'Kiwanis Camp' in Huia, Waitakere, Auckland.

This was the first time FurcoNZ was being held at a place other than someone's home and started the transistion to the "new era" and is ground breaking for the New Zealand furry community. A recap DVD has been produced from footage being recorded during the weekend.

Lex Cypher was the organizer for FurcoNZ 2007

Unofficial attendance count was around 32-36 people staying, with a peak of around 40 people (on Saturday) throughout the weekend.

FurcoNZ 2008

When: 21st November till 24th November

Where: 'Camp Rangi Woods' at Pohangina, North Island.

This time FurcoNZ moved to the southern part of the North Island. This is also the first year that the FurcoNZ was being organized through the official website. All footage was recorded in some nice Sony HD equipment and again a DVD has been produced.

DarthMeow was the main organizer for FurcoNZ 2008

Unofficial attendance count was around 30-32 people staying during the weekend.

FurcoNZ 2009

When: 27th November till 30th November

Where: 'Kokako Lodge' at Hunua Ranges in Papakura District, Auckland.

This year marked the introduction of the online registration system and also various organized outdoor events and activities such as archery, abseiling, kayaking and hiking was ran with much success. There were also a variety of indoor activities such a board-gaming sessions and dances during the night.

Also new this year were: official FurcoNZ event (con) badges, and an official event/FurcoNZ booklet (or conbook).

A proper staff/operating structure has been set up and will be used for FurcoNZ organization moving forward.

This was also a fully catered event, and a full menu plan (with 8 main meals: Friday Dinner, Saturday/Sunday Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner and Monday Breakfast) implemented and served by the kitchen team with generally positive feedbacks.

Offical Staff for this year were:

Lead Organizer (aka "con-chair"): lyctiger

Security (aka "The Muscle"): Kaltezar

Website admin/I.T. support: Colin

Other general duties: Blitz, DarthMeow, Foofox, Lex Cypher

Also thanks to Thiper "Imported Bunny" as the year Head-Chef, Stepwolf as the Sous-chef (they were not part of official staff for 2009, which will be incorporated into the overall structure/logistics in future events), and lyctiger over-seeing the menu/service (aka "Executive Chef").

Final official attendance count are as follows:

Final Attendence: 58

Full Registrations (staying 2+ nights): 47

Partial Registrations (staying 1 night): 2

Day Passes (not staying at the lodge): 9

FurcoNZ 2010

When: 10th December till 13th December

Where: 'Kokako Lodge' at Hunua Ranges in Papakura District, Auckland.

This year followed a very similar format and structure introduced last year. Various organized outdoor events and an expanded activities schedule (with 2 streams/instructors) took place: archery, abseiling, high-ropes course, kayaking and hiking. Once again variety of indoor activities and an A/V room setup with consoles, board-gaming sessions and nightly dances were scheduled. A "SingStar" tradition has also been started (to the delight/dismay of various attendees).

This was also a fully catered event, and a full menu plan (with 8 main meals: Friday Dinner, Saturday/Sunday Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner and Monday Breakfast) implemented and served by the kitchen team, and compared with last year, most attendees thought that this was the best catered FurcoNZ yet. As mentioned in the con-book: "we hope to further reinforce FurcoNZ as the gathering that sets a very high culinary standard. Who says camp or "furry gathering" food/meals should be bad and boring".

Offical Staff for this year were:

Lead Organizer (aka "con-chair"): lyctiger

Security Team (aka "The Muscle"): Kaltezar (Lead); Ruggs

Kitchen Team: Thipher (Head-chef); Colin, Stepwolf (Sous-chef); lyctiger (Executive-chef)

Website admin/I.T. support: Colin

A/V Technical Lead: DarthMeow

General duties: Lex Cypher

Final official attendance count are as follows:

Final Attendence: 66

Full Registrations (staying 2+ nights): 65

Day Passes (not staying at the lodge): 1

FurcoNZ 2011

When: To Be Determined, but most likely the weekend of: 9th December till 12th December (tentative, pending final scheduling of MidFur 2011 and other factors)

Where: 'Kokako Lodge' at Hunua Ranges in Papakura District, Auckland.

Registration will hopefully begin by late April of this year.

This will most likely be the last year FurcoNZ is to be held at Kokako Lodge, as it has slowly outgrown the location, and should follow the format set out from the previous 2 years (2009 and 2010). As the event grows larger and edging towards the 100 attendees mark (optimistic projection is for 70-80 attendees this year), a more "convention-like" schedule will slowly be introduced which might include: proper "panels" or "discussion groups", an official "artist alley/art area" and possibly an art-show. Having said that, we will continue to offer and arrange outdoor activities to take advantage of the great clean green Kiwi outdoors, and to offer a unique experience compared to other gatherings/meets/conventions elsewhere.

Also planned this year are even better things from the kitchen team. On the back of the very successful services from the previous 2 years, a "premium" menu plan is being reviewed and might be introduced this year with full, 3-course dinner being served.

Offical Staff for this year:

Lead Organizer (aka "con-chair"): lyctiger

Security Team (aka "The Muscle"): Kaltezar

Website admin/I.T. support: Colin

The kitchen team and other Staff members will be assigned and to be determined, but will most likely include people from previous years: DarthMeow, Lex Cypher, Ruggs, Stepwolf, Thipher

External links

• Official FurcoNZ Website