ConFurgence

ConFurgence was an annual furry convention in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, first occurring under this name in 2014.

History
Since 1999, Melbourne had hosted the MiDFur (Melbourne in December Fur Meet), which grew by fits and start into a full-blown, corporation-backed convention at the Arrow on Swanston. In late 2012, it was announced that a new event would for the most part, replace MiDFur, with the original name being handed back to the community "for future use". After MiDFur 2012, the theme "Egyptian Nights" was used as a placeholder name for the next convention, to be held in January 2014.

The reasons for this were that: Sine the event was no longer expected to be in December (indeed, it had already slipped to January in 2012), nor what was commonly understood as a furmeet, the name had become inappropriate.
 * the name "furmeet" did not fully reflect the nature of the event;
 * the hotel was starting to run out of room, and other locations were cost-prohibitive in December;
 * December was also an inconvenience for growth, with university exams falling in that month.

As of February 2018, ConFurgence was Australia's longest-running furry convention, and one of the largest in the country; however, after the 2018 event, chairman and Australian Fandom Conventions lead CynWolfe (Pete Smith) stepped down; vice-chair StarShadow (Nathan Cooper) eventually announced in a letter that he and Nonna Bunny would be acting as co-chairs for a Saturday event in early 2019, planning a return to a full three-day event in 2020. until it was officially announced that ConFurgence would not be continuing in late 2019; meanwhile, Melbourne Fur Con has been announced.

Locations
In its first year in 2014 ConFurgence took place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC). The following year in 2015 it was originally scheduled to be at the Jasper Hotel, but then was later changed to the Arrow on Swanston. In 2016 ConFurgence again changed venues, first at the Citiclub Hotel and then finally to the Amora Riverwalk Melbourne Hotel.

Themes

 * 2014 "Egyptian Nights"
 * 2015 "The Dragon Dynasty".
 * 2016 "Gods of Olympus"
 * 2017 "Dawn of the Seventh Realm"
 * 2018 "Heroes of Furtropolis"

Organization
ConFurgence is owned and operated by Australian Fandom Conventions, the same organisation who operated MiDFur, and it is still run by the ConFurgence board, of which these partners are equal members.

Staff
Below is a current list of staff, taken from the official website.


 * Pete J Smith (CynWolfe) - Chief Executive Officer
 * Nathan Cooper (StarShadow) - Chief administrative officer
 * Kuroko - Events
 * Flye - Exhibitions
 * Nonna Bunny - Dealers Den
 * Thane Staples - Human Resources
 * Nova - Logistics
 * Sin Drafennir - Safety & Emergency Protocols
 * Boost - Fursuiting
 * Tayla - Memberships
 * Jenner - Guest Relations
 * Skye - Director, Multimedia

Furry Hall of Fame
The Furry Hall of Fame was conceived by CynWolfe in 2008, and its first induction was held that year at MiDFur X. While the Hall has a worldwide reach, and is not intended to be event-specific, its induction ceremony has been organized by AUSFA/AFC and was hosted by MiDFur each year through 2012. The last award appears to have been at ConFurgence 2015 (for the class of 2014, one of whom was also a guest of honor at the event).