In 1997, three Toronto furs returned from the first Albany Anthrocon inspired to start a local convention. The first fur wanted to plan a traditional FurMeet, eventually to become the biggest con in the north! The second fur had the unique idea of running the first Furry University with a focus on workshops and panels, run in a University setting. The third fur wanted to drag furries away from their computers and into the woods to be around nature and the furry community. Luckily, since everyone knew each other in the late 90s, they brought the ideas together and mashed them up, creating Camp Feral: Canada’s first furry convention, and the world’s first outdoor convention. Furries in the woods!
It was doomed to fail.
Twenty years later, Feral is either the 4th, 3rd or 2nd longest running furry convention in the world! How did it last so long? Easy: you can’t stop organized chaos! Potoroo shares some videos and talks about the history of Camp Feral from the first visit to the site in 1998 to how in 2010 they planned each year from 2011 to 2018. The backlash they got for having contraceptives free and available in 2003, the backlash they got for often unsettling and occasionally promotional videos from 2010 to 2014, the challenges of problem solving in the woods, the incredible friendship that has grown between Feral’s furry staff and Camp Arowhon’s not-furry staff, and a few anecdotes about stupid things Potoroo has done over the 13 years he has been chairman.
