As some of you have heard, footage filmed at FC2015 aired on a two-minute segment on national “news magazine” program Inside Edition. This filming was done without the knowledge of or permission by Further Confusion, Anthropomorphic Arts and Education, Inc., Team San Jose, or the attendees depicted.

We are proud to have a visible presence in downtown San Jose, and as such we receive a fair number of media requests during the year–some from professional news organizations, some from blogs and other internet media, and some from enthusiastic community members working on personal projects. Our dedicated media liaisons carefully vet every request to ensure that we can share our community without impairing our guests’ freedom to be themselves. Our liaisons issue media passes in accordance with the Media Policy in our Code of Conduct, which require written permission for commercial use of photography and video taken at FC.

Inside Edition’s producers contacted FC before the convention, shortly after their program covered an incident that occurred at Midwest Furfest this last December. Based on concerns about the nature of their story, we declined them permission to film, and declined follow-up requests they sent after FC2015. It appears the Inside Edition crew registered for the convention (i.e. they weren’t trespassing), but we are certain they did not receive any sort of media permission. Inside Edition’s producers did not mention their appearance or footage in any follow-up requests, and FC staff became aware of the footage only on the morning of Wednesday February 11, when the trailer and segment were posted online.

In response to this incident, we are looking into registration and security solutions for future years, and have reached out to our venue and city contacts to evaluate our options for recourse. We are unhappy with Inside Edition’s disregard for our Code of Conduct and the privacy of attendees, and furthermore we find it inexcusable that Inside Edition chose not to make those filmed aware that they would be on TV. We apologize for this intrusion into FC, and will do our absolute best to prevent similar events from happening in future years.

You can help: If you see any unescorted interviews, TV cameras, or professional media during FC, please notify our Convention Operations in person or by calling or texting the number on the back of your badge. Though we do our very best, your participation helps keep all areas of FC as safe and secure as they can be.

If you have any additional questions or feedback about this matter, please email us at info@furtherconfusion.org.

-Jeff “Dax” Bowman

Chairman, FC2015