FurcoNZ
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 and entice 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.
Contents
History
The Early Years
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.
Moving on out and up
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 (Lead), along with TrojanCentaur were the organizers for FurcoNZ 2008
Unofficial attendance count was around 30-32 people staying during the weekend.
"Modern" FurcoNZ Format (as it is run today)
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 con-book).
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.
Registration cost for "early, standard full registration" was NZ$ 75.00 (which covers ALL costs: accomodation, catering/food and basic events)
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 Head-Chef, Stepwolf as the Sous-chef (they were not part of official staff for 2009, which has been incorporated into the overall structure/logistics from 2010 onwards), 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 a 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".
Registration cost for "early, standard full registration" was NZ$ 85.00 (which covers ALL costs: accomodation, catering/food and basic events)
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: 25th November till 28th November OR 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 likely be the last year FurcoNZ is 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.
Registration cost for "early, standard full registration" for 2011 is projected to be around NZ$ 90.00-NZ$ 95.00 (which covers ALL costs: accomodation, catering/food and basic events)
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
FurcoNZ 2012 (aka FurcoNZ X)
When: To be determined, but tentatively in late November/early December (again, will be planned as a back-to-back weekend event with MidFur 2012)
Where: To be determined, but most likely in the greater Auckland area (for logistical reasons and with consideration from past attendance records)
This will be ten years (a decade) since 2002 that FurcoNZ will run, hence the code-name "FurcoNZ X" (that and "X" just sounds all degrees of cool and futuristic like). Pending the final outcome and debrief for FurcoNZ 2011, 2012 might mark yet another change/direction for the way this event will be organized and run.
Optimistically projected to hit roughly 100 attendees, a potential new site will be looked at and hopefully be used for the next 2-4 years (again, pending growth trends and feedbacks with this event).
The "unique, outdoors Kiwi" style will hopefully be kept, as this is the defining feature for FurcoNZ compared with other events, and more "proper convention-like" atmosphere blended into the mix that will suit an event with 100+ potential attendees and beyond.
Very early organization and ground laying framework has begun.
Administrative staff team: lyctiger (Lead Organizer/Finances), Colin (Website admin/I.T. support/Logistics), Kaltezar (Security/Logistics)
More staff members will be recruited and roles more defined in the future.
Other/Future "FurcoNZ/Alternative" events
While FurcoNZ is designed to be the annual New Zealand community gathering/event/con that everyone can schedule for with a semi-stable location and schedule year-on-year, it is clear that as the event grows larger (as with current (2011) trends), some might miss the days of the smaller and cozier feel, and also the chance to head into a completely new venue/place for an even more outdoor-adventure themed weekend.
Hence "FurcoNZ/Alternative" are planned with the aforementioned factors in mind to offer an extra event run during the year, with a smaller attendance and a less formal/"back-to-adventure"/camp like atmosphere for the weekend.
Other potential events run under "FurcoNZ/Alternative" might include a one-night weekend dance party with a proper venue hired out that is Fursuit friendly.
FurcoNZ/Alt. 2012
When: Potential dates include: Easter Weekend - 7th/8th April, Queens Birthday Weekend - 2nd/3rd June, Labour Day Weekend - 20th/21st October
Where: Potentially the Lower North Island (Wellington area) or South Island (Christchurch or Queenstown)
This will be the first planned FurcoNZ/Alt. event leading up to the main FurcoNZ for 2012. Projected attendance will be around 20-40 people, possibly "capped" for logistical reasons and venue size. The dates and location are to be determined.
Event cost is currently projected to be around the NZ$ 100.00 mark, possibly higher for the weekend.
A completely new organizational team will be formed for FurcoNZ/Alt. with full support from the main FurcoNZ administrative team and staff, including the use of the main website for registrations, finanacial and planning help.
Currently, please contact lyctiger/organizers of FurcoNZ 2011 for more information and if anyone in the New Zealand community would like to submit a full proposal/plan to run FurcoNZ/Alt. 2012.