2024 – Year Of Retirement

Well, it’s been a long time coming (officially 10 years staffing) and this has been a topic that has been on the back burner for me over the past year or so. I started volunteering for MNFurs back in mid to late 2012 and one of my first volunteering opportunities was with ZooBoo. This was a fun family event that happened over Halloween and MNFurs had a section where those in fursuits interacted with families and other attendees when they walked by us. This is where I started to get the itch to volunteer more and received some praise from higher-up staff, so that boosted my confidence…Now time for some pieces of history on when I started my journey up to the present time. This will be broken up in chunks, so apologies if there is a lot of jumping around.

As we proceed closer to 2013 and this was before MNFurs was a 501c3 non-profit, a steering committee was started, and small divisions (departments) were formed. I got to assist in a Research Division which looked at venues for possible events and communicating with any staff if some possibilities came up. We also had a Volunteers and some form of small HR-like division too. The Research Division was starting to dry up for me and then I started to look for something else to do.

Later in 2013 and leading into 2014, I joined the Events team and back then consisted of Yarrick…This is where I found my niche in MNFurs. Once I got to know Yarrick more and familiarize myself with the department, I assisted in co-heading events. From there we formed some documentation to look at improving the department. Lastly, as 2014 went full steam ahead, MNFurs becomes a non-profit.

Looking ahead at 2015 and beyond, the Events Department is handed over to me and while I led the department, I had Vulan as my co-head. Both of us led the department for years before we started to expand and recruit others to join the department. With that, I started putting together documentation for staffers coming on board and other paperwork to familiarize with Events. Once the department was solidly formed and roles assigned to our department, a new co-head was recruited. Alli Coyote wanted to step up and take on a bigger role. With other shifting roles and tasks, I slowly started to think of some more avenues to look at and take an adventure with.

Looking around in 2021 after lockdown from the pandemic, I am still with Events, but I decided to staff the MNFurs Photography Department. Since I do a lot of photography at events, I figured, why not, let’s do this. At this point, I am quietly looking at other avenues for staffing within MNFurs.

Jumping into the end of 2021 and into 2022, I have made Alli the department head of Events. This is when the organization was looking at forming an HR Department and I took an interest in this. These efforts were led by Kinger Riteski and I was brought on board starting out as recruiting staffer and assisting with onboarding interviews when community members wanted to volunteer. Later I wanted to try out other avenues within HR and eventually role switched to an HR Generalist. Unfortunately, the HR Department dissolved going into 2023 and when this happened, I went back into the Events Department and took up the co-head position as it was not filled yet as well as still in the Photography Department.  As 2023 plays out, I join MWF (Midwinter Frolic) as a staff photographer and this has been a joy, so I decide to stay on board with this winter event staff.

We are at the end of 2023 and into 2024…It’s been a long time coming as I mentioned at the start of this. I have done a lot for this lovely community, and I have made a lot of changes throughout my adventures within. It’s time for me to put in my notice if you will and go back to just being a community member. This has been a wonderful journey within MNFurs from when I first joined back in 2012. That said, the 2024 Spring Picnic is my last hurrah hosting this with Dirge.

Many have asked me if I plan to still be around? Of course! I am not going anywhere, and I will still be seen at events taking photos and being everywhere at events. I may not attend as many events as I used to as I need to figure out what else I want to do outside of furry, but I will still be active and host events every now and then. Oh! Some last things I will put below!

– MNFurs –

– Retiring from staffing after the Spring Picnic

– Cutting back on how many events I attend

– Furry Migration –

– Last year staffing and retiring from FM and any other convention staffing (10 years officially)

– Midwinter Frolic –

– Will continue to volunteer for MWF for a bit longer as it is still a commitment I enjoy

– Past Endeavors –

– I was an MNFurs board member twice

– Part of an MNFurs Elections Committee twice

– Part of an MNFurs Non-Profit Anniversary Committee

~ Drake M.