Media Policies

The staff of Furry Fiesta welcome media coverage! We have lots of fun every year and the more people know about us, the more people can come and enjoy what we have to offer!

That said, we do have a few standing policies in place to ensure that everything runs smoothly and the interests of our attendees are protected. These are as follows:

Media Policies

Furry Fiesta reserves the right to deny admission to any person, at any time, for any reason. Every year we bring in thousands of our best friends for a weekend of fun, socializing and charity. Our first priority will always be to the safety and security of our attendees.

This being said, the staff of Furry Fiesta very much would like to welcome the various media outlets to come and join in the fun! We are a growing convention and an overall welcoming group with an amazing charity (C.A.R.E.) that could greatly benefit from more exposure. Furry Fiesta is willing to grant interviews and requests for information to authorized agents of the press and media prior to the convention, and we will have Press Memberships for media outlets wishing to cover our event.

To ensure that our event runs smoothly and the interests of our attendees are protected, there are set guidelines for media that are strictly enforced. Violation of any of the conditions below will result in immediate termination of assigned Press Membership, security escort from the premises, and barring from future media interaction with our event or any other Creature Arts run event.

Press Membership

Press Memberships are available to those who can prove that they are employed by a reputable broadcast, print or Internet media organization, and must be arranged at least two weeks prior to our event with our Media Relations team. If you arrive at our event without making prior arrangements with our Media Relations team for a Press Membership, you will be denied admission and will be escorted out of the event by security. This will also result in a ban of you and your organization from any future Furry Fiesta events. We like our media! We implore you to please make the proper arrangements.

When applying for a Press Membership, please be able to provide us with the following information: your name and full contact information (address, telephone and email – the telephone must be a direct, non-recorded telephone line), full contact information for your editor and publication, the nature of the story you are writing and what type of information and media you will be gathering at Furry Fiesta.

If you have been granted a Press Membership, you must check in at our convention’s Con Ops on the day of the event that was previously determined to receive your press badge. You must do this before any media-related activities can take place at the event; failure to check in before conducting media activities will result in revocation of the Press Membership and you being asked to leave. When you check in at Con Ops, please have the following with you: two (2) business cards, a government issued picture ID, a letter on your organization’s masthead stating the nature of your story and including contact information for your assignment editor should we need it to validate your credentials before issuing you a pass.

Restrictions

All media personnel are to be accompanied at all times by a member of Furry Fiesta staff. This helps us control crowds and provide media with better opportunities for quality material.
Coverage must be limited in time and scope. We love our media, but there is a large event going on around us and resources must be allocated as such.
You will be required, at all times while you are at the event, to visibly display your press pass. You may not alter, obscure, or hide you press pass or otherwise attempt to conceal the fact that you are a member of the press.
You will be permitted to conduct interviews and Furry Fiesta can, at your request, provide you with a quiet area to conduct them. However, you must ask us first; we will not be able to guarantee you an area if you have not arranged it with us in advance.
You will not be permitted to harass, intimidate or otherwise force anyone who does not wish to be interviewed or photographed against their will. Our convention’s focus is providing a comfortable environment for our attendees and charity and if consent is not given we require that you respect their wishes.
You may not, under any circumstances, share your press badge with another person. Press badges are issued to a single person only.
You may not utilize any hidden cameras or microphones, or otherwise attempt to conceal an audiovisual recording device. Doing so will be grounds for immediate revocation of your press pass and you being escorted out by security and barred from any future Furry Fiesta events.
Coverage of attendee-only events is not allowed. At the discretion of the convention chairman, this rule may be waived for individual events.
All footage obtained at the convention must only be used in regards to the convention itself and must be used as one continuous segment.
As a reminder, without a press pass approved by the convention you will be escorted from the convention space and forfeit any membership you may have purchased to enter the convention. We are very easy to work with and want to work with you, but Furry Fiesta takes filming without permission very seriously as this can cause a disruption with our scheduling and overall timbre of our convention. Furry Fiesta is a private organization and event. It is not considered a public venue. Usage of any footage filmed at Furry Fiesta or using the name of Furry Fiesta without our prior approval and permission is a violation of law.

In summary, Furry Fiesta does not impose a blanket ban on media outlets, but we do reserve the right to approve and deny media entry at any time to preserve the reputation of our charity, our organization and the privacy of our attendees.

To apply for permissions for a Press Membership to cover any aspect of Furry Fiesta an e-mail must be sent to media@furryfiesta.org no less than two weeks before the starting date of the convention.