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The following is Wintermane’s responses to a set of questions given to all candidates by the Minnesota Furs Election Committee. These are the unedited responses given to the committee. The only changes made by the committee was to format them for consistency between the posts.
Tell us about yourself.
Hi, hello, I hope this helps folks get to know me!
I have lived in Minnesota since I was very young, and currently reside in South Minneapolis with several cats and my partner. My current employment is within the (restaurant) food industry and gourmet product sales, which I enjoy very much, but my long-time love is with art. I am an avid painter, and spend most free time with watercolor, drawing, and learning about historical clothing and architecture. My other interests are comics, cooking, and foreign film. Thank you for your consideration!What brought you to the furry fandom?
I took notice of all the quality art coming out of the fandom a long time ago. The furry fandom is one place that the variety of mediums that folks utilize; and support is at a much higher rate than both other fandoms and much of the general art world. I’ve always really admired the work and dedication that folks put into making content that is so specific to individuals and impressed by the amount of creativity that this fandom regularly puts forward. I’ve casually stayed on because it’s fun! I love seeing what folks come up with and the benefit that technology and faster ways of processing and ease of acquisition of materials has really pushed what can be done.
How will you continue to volunteer in the community after being elected to the board?
I would like to continue to be involved with Furry Migration in some way no matter the outcome of this board election. I would also like to take the chance to be an advocate for MNFurs and Furry Migration at additional events, both local and out of town if possible and as time permits.
Is “Furry” an adult group, or an all ages group?
The furry fandom is absolutely an all ages group! I believe that there is a pervasive misconception that being a furry is somehow only an adult group or does not ever cater to a younger crowd. Within every fandom, group of individuals, etc. there is always a time and place for adult content, but it does not have to fully represent us. Keeping our young people safe and educated is of utmost importance, but it is also a great time to help them figure out who they are in the world.
What do you feel are areas where you want to further develop yourself? Why?
I would like to better myself with long term planning and community building. My current profession is a social one and the more time I can get interacting with others, listening to community feedback and concerns, etc. the better for us, and the better for myself. Currently I long term plan for one event at CONvergence (local convention), but I feel like it is a skill that I could always improve upon and having a group of folks relying on me would be a great way to do this!
What do you feel are two of the most pressing issues with MNFurs and what will you do about them?
If elected to be on the MNFurs board, I would like to take more time with inclusivity of new individuals. I believe that no matter how open we are as a populous, that intrinsically we are a difficult fandom to approach. MNFurs is a very prevalent group within the Midwest, and I think it would be fantastic to push that more. I think that if we can go beyond posting just for specialty events and news bulletins and work with folks to promote a better community overall that it would strengthen us both as individuals and as a group. Doing this as a group effort rather than one or two people would allow folks to have a specialty area where we could spotlight different things depending on interests.
In addition to community building through communication and social media, I would like to spend time with community outreach, especially online, having more instances of content like the “Intro to Furry for Parents”, etc. would make us a better resource for folks who are just joining in. There are plenty of folks who are already happily talking about their experiences on the forums, but having time to ask questions of individuals, interview, etc. and making MNFurs a place to approach with genuine concerns/questions/etc. about the furry fandom would be a great benefit to not only our community in Minnesota, but beyond!
What are two things that you would like to see accomplished/improved during your tenure?
I would love to see what we can give back to not only our community but other groups. We already do plenty of outreach, social events, and donating, but how can we do more for others in need? How can we present ourselves as an opportunity for the wellbeing of others through a goal of raising money for a common cause? If sitting on the board this would be something I would be excited to try and accomplish over the course of the year.
The second thing that I would love to help improve is communication between large events (FM), MNF and our fandom overall. I think that too often there is a split, the more transparent and open we are the more folks see MNF less as an event planner and social calendar, etc. and as a way to work along side each other. This could be accomplished with the things I mentioned previously in the above statement.
One goal of MNFurs is to promote education. How do you intend on helping promote educations?
In addition to the previously mentioned items of note, I would like to be able to spend time broadening how we approach being a resource. Special features, artist spotlights, out of town events as well as our local get togethers, etc. How can we make the website more accessible? Forums are a great way to get community feedback, but how can we present information in a clear and updated way that would benefit us overall? Spending time updating and modernizing our approach to be a forerunner in how folks look at fandom would be a great way to help talk about the furry fandom. Let’s put our best paw, hoof, and claw forward to promote inclusivity and looking toward the future!
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