Quote from: RMFC's social media manager

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

I'm Sick of this Crap, so I'm Saying Something....

I am writing this today to get a few things off of my mind that have been bothering me for almost a full year now.



For those of you who do not know, I am the Social Media Manager for Rocky Mountain Fur Con. My responsibility is our web presence and being the ambassador of the public face of our convention via our Social Media outlets (Twitter, Facebook, FurAffinity, Google+, Telegram, etc.). I have been in this position for two years now, and I continue to love it to this day.



Early this year, it was announced that Rocky Mountain Fur Con was not going to be held at the Marriott in the Denver Tech Center because they were going through renovations that forced us to relocate to a temporary home for the 2016 convention year. The con chose the Crowne Plaza near DIA because of the large amount of convention space, but the hotel did not have enough rooms in proportion to that space. As the staff member in charge of Social Media, I was given the reservation link a couple days in advance so I could craft the announcement to post on Facebook, Twitter, FurAffinity, etc.. The post was scheduled to go live simultaneously on all of our sites with the exception of FA because they do not allow future dating of posts.



Shortly after the announcement was made live, the room block had sold out, as expected. I learned shortly after the sellout that a group known as the Furry Raiders had bought nearly half of the blocked rooms either during the open time or shortly before it and that it was handled between their groups leader and the Crowne Plaza. I was told to announce what happened by my Director and of course, kept in the loop about any further developments. When I was given the information to post, I voiced my concern that it would cause unnecessary backlash and a PR nightmare for years to come because of the penchant furries have to perpetuate drama. I felt the issue would be best handled internally, but ultimately I was shot down.



After I made the announcement of what happened, social media of course blew up with a lot of, for lack of a better term, drama. Most of it was centered around the so-called leader of the Furry Raiders, Foxler Nightfire, and certain things he had posted on other sites around 3-4 years ago that put into question his personal beliefs and ideologies. I suspect nobody who posted such criticisms ever bothered to actually talk to Foxler or get to know him, but that is not for me to say whether or not that happened. There were also many responses thanking the con for handling the situation, but there was a lot of negativity going around. Without knowing the full circumstances of what happened, I was unable to handle many of the questions that were directed my way and had to forward them up the chain. There were a couple of instances where my temper got the best of me and I was not exactly professional on the Conventions public Twitter account in response to certain people. For that, I have and do once again apologize.



While the higher-ups were investigating the situation and trying to come to a resolution, I took it upon myself to do something that most of the perpetuators of the drama have not done. I reached out to Foxler in an unofficial capacity and got to know him. During the very long conversation we had, we talked about each other, we discussed some of the things that were shared to RMFC, and we discussed the Furry Raiders. He detailed the groups history and his vision for the future of it. Among the details of that were that the group itself was very disorganized and had a very de-centralized presence, mainly across social media. I provided him some tips on getting the true image of the group out there via the web because the de-centralized nature of it was what was partially causing the drama. Foxler and other members of the group had many MORE examples of the positive things they have done throughout the fandom than the negative things that were said about them, so I felt that it was important for them to get those things out there.



Shortly after my conversation with Foxler, the Furry Raiders released many of the rooms they had reserved so that the conventions attendees could use them. They also gave out some of the reservations to attendees who were not members of the Furry Raiders group. One would think that this would be a step to end the drama, but unfortunately it did not. The accusations of the group being Nazi-Furs, Anti-LGBT, Anti-Trans, among others continued all the way up to RMFC 2016. There were legitimate concerns that there would be trouble at the con and I believe to this day that it had an effect on our overall attendance. It is sad to see how much fear can motivate people to either do something or avoid enjoying themselves.



Despite the fears, the convention did not ban any of the group from attending. We knew all about the drama, and we even had staff members who are a part of the group. Shortly before the convention began, Foxler had created business cards for the group and also unveiled their new website. RMFC staff were given copies of the cards as well. During the convention, someone thought it would be a good idea to create fake business cards to harm the groups image and spread them around the convention space. Since we had copies of the real ones, this was quickly handled, though I was once again mocked on the conventions Twitter account for not detailing exactly how the situation was handled.



Heres something you all need to know and accept .despite all the information we as a people have access to, you do not have a need-to-know exactly how a situation is or was being handled. As a private organization, RMFC has a right not to disclose that information. Before the days of social networking, most folks would be fine with accepting a solution as long as there were visible results of it.



As the convention continued, there were very little problems with the Furry Raiders, but some people did bring up concerns and as a result, the group was asked by our Directors on Sunday to remove their armbands, which they did without protest or issue. Despite all the pre-convention drama and fear, there was little or nothing to really be concerned about at the actual convention, but the fear did the damage.



I will let everyone know right now that yes, I am a staff member on the management level at RMFC. I also support the members of the Furry Raiders. The reality you must face is that your words have very little influence on me. Im nearly 36 years old and have done things in my life that most of you would not do or would be afraid to do. I also dont care what you think. I, and others, have fought for my right to have my opinions.



Even as I write this, the drama continues because people dont have the sense to either do a little research or find out the true facts. This is where I decided to step in and let out a few bits of knowledge. Below are the myths and true facts of the myths.



Myth: The Furry Raiders are Neo-Nazis

Fact: The Furry Raiders are NOT Neo-Nazis. The group is a small organization of friends from Colorado and all parts of the world. One member is a re-enactor of German and Russian WWII battles, but has no leanings toward Nazism.



Myth: Foxler is a combination of Fox and Hitler.

Fact: Foxlers name is a combination of his fursona (Corsac Fox) and his real-life last name (Miller). A simple search would confirm this information.



Myth: Foxler is a white-supremacist Neo-Nazi

Fact: Foxler is not even 100% White. His heritage is German and Thai. One of the requirements of being a white supremacist is that you have to be white.



Myth: Foxler and the Furry Raiders are Anti-LGBT

Fact: Most of the members of the Furry Raiders are LGBT. Foxler is himself gay and mated to a gay man.



Myth: Foxler and the Furry Raiders are Racist

Fact: The membership of the group is of multiple races and ethnic backgrounds. As said before, Foxlers heritage is German/Thai and he is mated to a black man.



Myth: The Furry Raider Armbands are Nazist

Fact: A paw print has never ever been used as a Nazi symbol. The Nazi symbol is a swastika, which before the formation of the party, was a symbol of prosperity and good fortune. The fact that the Furry Raiders use a black paw print against a white circle on a red band is purely coincidental. There is a lot more to Nazism than a symbol. You should probably use the extra energy to do a little research.



Also worth noting, not all the members wear a red armband. Several have different color armbands and some wear the paw print on other articles of clothing.



Myth: The Furry Raiders are new to RMFC

Fact: FR is not new to the convention. Some of their members have attended the convention since it began in 2007 and until they do something that merits them being banned, will continue to do so. The group has at least 4 members who are on staff at RMFC and are completely professional and competent in their positions.



Myth: Furry Raider members cause trouble at fur-meets.

Fact: Aside from a minor incident at FoxTrot that was over-perpetuated by the FoxTrot organizer, the Raiders have not caused problems at any fur meet or gathering. They have been present at several instances of Paws at Pearl in Boulder with no issues. They have also been to Sprocket & Grizdogs charity fur bowl in Colorado Springs, also with no issue. In fact, at the most recent fur bowl, the charity raffle prizes were donated by Foxler. Since the events of the RMFC room block, their name was blamed for the 2014 gas attack at Midwest FurFest (later disproven) as well as blamed for the fast sellout of the 2016 MFF room block (also disproven). Lets be realistic. That room block sold quick because (A) MFF does not require a first-night deposit for rooms and (B) The convention grew from 5600 attendees to 7075 this year. Most of the drama at conventions and furmeets has been shown to be caused by people who think it is fun to try to harm a person or groups image.



Myth: There is a photo of Foxler giving the Nazi salute.

Fact: This is partially true. Upon request for a photo of his suit, Foxler did submit such a photo. However, the hand salute used was not just used by the Nazi party. The salute is called the Bellamy Salute and prior to WWII, it was used during the American Pledge of Allegiance. It was only after the Nazi Party started using it that it was replaced with the current hand-over-heart salute. The main difference between the two is that the Nazi Party salute has the palm of the hand facing outward while the Bellamy salute has the arm, hand and palm all aligned straight.



The conclusion to all of this is such: The Furry Fandom is a community of acceptance and diversity, but lately, the members of it only want people in it who are just like them  politically correct crusaders for social justice and equality for everyone. If someone or a group within the community has opinions or ideas that are not part of the community as a whole, they become outcasts. If this behavior continues, this community will fall. The reality is that there is no such thing as a utopia as long as the human race exists. It is human nature to have an Us versus Them mentality. If you are not Us, you are Them.



The group is mainly a bunch of furries who are still furries, but for one reason or another, were determined to be outcasts of the furry fandom. To put it simply, furries created the group, and furries are responsible for the groups growth. What does that say about a fandom whose core belief is acceptance of all regardless of who they are or what they believe that we would discard members of our own fandom because they have different beliefs that dont mesh with todays politically correct social justice culture?



The Furry Raiders are not going anywhere, no matter what you or I do. However, it has been proven that they are not the cancer that many in the Fandom have made them out to be. Once you accept that and move on with things that are more important in your life, it will be better for you and better for them. Have a nice day!

Spikester at 8:56 AM

This was posted weeks ago, but THE TWITTER seems to have just discovered it now:For the sake of their (really stupid) argument, let's just ignore the idiotic use of fascist imagery and how it might be ironic or non-ironic or post-ironic or unironically ironic or ironically ironic. The fact that the "furry raiders" are a group of dumbasses who go to cons with the sole intention of provoking people and causing image problems for everyone are far and above the most obvious reason to not let them in the damn event, and yet we have here a wall of text espousing the worth of someone who couldn't even hack it as a dogfucker.This is of course such an idiotic stance to take that it might actually hurt attendance; it's a Piche level of dumbfuckery that could bring forth some negative consequences. Cons have historically been terrible at banning people because that takes money they won't have and effort they won't put forth; usually they only do so when they are directly provoked or the people in charge have a personal axe to grind. It's far easier to write walls of text that can be shortened to "it's not my problem", which is how cons have typically confronted issues such as convicted sex offenders on staff