Chairo

Chairo Itazuramono, also known as L. Strom, is a fursuiter and puppeteer who lives in the Bay Area in California, USA. He has been a member of the Further Confusion organising team since 1998; he was a guest of honour at Eurofurence 7.

Translated in Japanese as "tea colored maker of mischief," Chairo's character is a raccoon.

Chairo joined with the organizers of Further Confusion shortly after his first meet with them at Confurence 9, which was the first convention he attended whilst in the fandom. With several years of project management behind him, he offered his services to assist in the creation of FurCon.

A fursuiter from the start, Chairo developed the "Fursuit Badge" with a test run of a personal badge at CF9. At Further Confusion 99, they were offered for the first time to fursuit-clad attendees free of charge. Since then many conventions have adopted this service, with some using them as valid credentials for certain events.

Chairo has been active in the community as a whole since 1997, organizing and participating in community events including many costume based events, workshops, socials and large fandom based house parties topping 200 attendees. He is an avid fursuit designer and creator. He also enjoys laser entertainment and is a member of ILDA, the International Laser Display Association. Chairo also loves to travel and has been to nearly every state and many European nations. He also enjoys audio engineering, with 2 years television studio work and an ESPN shoot under his belt he dabbles when he can.

Positions held within the FurCon / AAE Inc. organization

 * 1998 - Co-Founder: Worked with the core individuals to create Further Confusion / Created "FurDance"- A community dance and social for the promotion of FurCon.
 * 1999 - Dealers' Room Manager
 * 2000 - Business Divison Second / Dealers' Room
 * 2001 - Vice Chairman / Media Relations (FC and AAE Inc.)
 * 2002 - Media Relations / Summer Campout Organizer
 * 2003 - Convention Chairman / Media Relations / Prop Design and Implementation / Summer Campout Organizer
 * 2004 - Media Relations / Summer Campout Organizer
 * 2005 - Elected to the Board of Anthropomorphic Arts and Education Inc. / Media Relations / Prop Design and Implementation / Summer Campout Organizer
 * 2006 - AAE Board Member / Media Relations
 * 2007 - AAE Board Member / Media Relations
 * 2008 - AAE Board Member / Media Relations / AAE Board Representative to FC2008 Executive Committee
 * 2009 - AAE Board Member / Media Relations / FC 2010 Hotel Contract Negotiator
 * 2010 - AAE Board Member / Hotel Liaison / Media Relations
 * 2011 - AAE Board Member / Media Relations / FC 2012-2014 Hotel & Convention Center Contract Negotiator / FC Rep. to Furry Convention Leadership Round Table (FCLR)
 * 2012 - AAE Board Member / Media Relations / FC Rep. to Furry Convention Leadership Round Table (FCLR)
 * 2013 - AAE Board Member / Vice Chairman / Media Relations / FC Rep. to Furry Convention Leadership Round Table (FCLR)
 * 2014 - AAE Board Member / Vice Chairman (Jan '13 - Nov '13) / Media Relations / FC Rep. to Furry Convention Leadership Round Table (FCLR)
 * 2015 - AAE Staff Member (retired from board 1/19/2014) / Media Relations Adviser to the Board / Historian / AFR Rep.

Other Roles

 * 2012 - MFF Art Show Minion
 * 2013 - BLFC - Media Relations
 * 2013 - DeAnza College - Humanities Speaker on Furry
 * 2013 - MFF At Con GoH Liaison
 * 2014 - FCLR - Special Projects
 * 2015 - MFF At Con GoH Liaison
 * 2015 - PAW Hotel Contract - DoubleTree
 * 2016 - MFF At Con Convention Operations
 * 2017 - MFF Media Relations
 * 2018 - MFF Director of Public Relations

General

 * Created the Fursuit Badge - 1998
 * Guest of Honor at Eurofurence 7 - 2001

Fursuit / Costume

 * Confurence 9 - Third Place, Best Use of Materials (Chairo - original)
 * Confurence 11 - First Place Advanced Costume (Jazz Jackrabbit)
 * Confurence 12 - First Place, Performance (The Mr. Big Act - Evil Lawyer)
 * Eurofurence 7 - First Place Best Costume (Thomas)
 * Further Confusion 2001 - Second Place, Performance (Thomas and Dizzy)
 * Further Confusion 2009 - Second Place, Journeyman (Nougat)
 * Sucker Punch Studios - Creators of the Sly Cooper games - First Place, web contest (Sly Cooper)
 * Playoff Halftime Show at Stanford - 6 minute mascot basketball game in costume (Chairo - original)
 * Charitable events such as parades, hospital visits, holiday festivals, telethons, etc.

Noteworthy Media

 * 2003 - ANG News(Oakland Tribune, etc) - Positive article on FurCon emphasizing charity and education.
 * 2004 - Appeared in "Behind the Mascot / The Mascot Movie" both interviewed and in costume.
 * 2005 - "Creature Feature" in Successful Meetings Magazine (Trade publication for Event Planning)
 * 2005 - Worked with the president of the International Laser Display Organization on Public Relations revolving around the popular laser pointer issues within the press.
 * 2010 - CBS News - (FurCon piece, Chairo debunks CSI @ 1:55)
 * 2012 - CBS Eye on The Bay - (Interviewed for Further Confusion)

Fun Facts

 * Creator of the parody shirts of fictional PafCon
 * Rode the Worlds Tallest Ripcord ride (310') while wearing a fursuit (1999)
 * Appeared in a video game as the name of a spaceship.
 * Grandfather was a school mate and good friend of Mel Blanc