by James Allen

As I've been so kindly invited to participate, here I am. :)

I agree that the basic idea is a good one, but, as others have said, we do need to stay away from the "Burned Fur" approach. Whatever that movement's intentions may have been, it came over as a simple "moral crusade" against pornography and sexual unorthodoxy of any sort, as something to be ridiculed rather than listened to. This is why, in my opinion, any new organization shouldn't try to tackle all the problems of the fandom, if it wants to have widespread support - especially considering that many of these "problems" might better be described as "people doing things that we don't approve of". If we create the impression that we're supporting a particular moral/political agenda, we'll be written-off as bigots and prudes who just want to stop furry fans enjoying themselves; and we mustn't lose sight of the fact that we have to deal with the fandom as it is, not as we'd like it to be. Many of us do follow alternative lifestyles, enjoy erotic art, and generally indulge in things that our grandmothers would be shocked by; attack that, and you've lost most of your support straight off the bat.

So, in my opinion, we need to focus on something that undeniably needs improvement, but that, at the same time, is uncontroversial; of the topics suggested so far, professionalism in both artistic and business matters seems to satisfy this requirement. Our ultimate goal (or "vision statement", as they say in management courses), should be to create something like a trade association - a body that sets standards, offers advice, and gives (or witholds) its seal of approval to people who practice that trade. We should look to the day where an "FRF Approved" logo is something which all artists, publishers, and convention organizers are proud to display, and which everyone will recognize as a sign of quality.

One concrete suggestion that I certainly approve of is some sort of arbitration service (not a blacklist - we want to praise sucess as well as condemn failure) to assist artists and clients resolve business problems, if only by assisting them to get in contact with each other. Advice on related matters (a set of standard terms and conditions for commission work? "Things That Go Wrong With Auctions, And How To Avoid Them"?) shouldn't be too difficult to compile, and would be very useful.