Want to Become FurSquared Staff?

What You'll Get as Staff:

  • Free Sponsor-Level Registration (including all swag!)

  • The opportunity to attend staff-only events throughout the year

  • At-Convention Perks: Special staff-only benefits during the convention

  • Other cool surprises too!

Departments with Open Positions

Current Openings

Art Staff

Art

FurSquared's art team works hard every year to bring about an immersive virtual and physical environment in-theme for the convention.

Tasks carried out by art team:

  • Designing the style guide, logo, and characters to be used with the annual convention theme
  • Digital illustrations to be used on banners, posters, website, con book, pocket guide, and swag
  • Personalized illustrations for the poster tier sponsors
  • Graphic design for the con book, pocket guide, patterns/backgrounds, and swag

Skills desired:

  • Illustration program such as Photoshop, Paint Tools SAI, Clip Studio Paint, etc.
  • Graphic design program such as Illustrator, Canva, etc.
  • Ability to adapt your artistic style & subject matter to integrate the convention theme
  • Communication & delivery of tasks on time
  • Collaborative design & ability to "yes-and"
  • Creative ideas & the initiative to pursue them

If you've got creative ideas and love to work with a team to build something exciting together, we would love to have you!

AV Staff

Audio Visual

  • Set up/take down AV equipment before and after the con
  • Man the controls for lighting, sound, etc. for both Main and Secondary Events
  • Other miscellaneous antics

Charity Staff

Charity

  • Partner with our charity, HAWS, to coordinate fundraising opportunities during the convention
  • Ensure the charity is properly registered and set up on-site
  • Help run our charity events and collect donations

Communications Staff

Communications

  • Manage our social media presences
  • Craft other written content for our website and other publications
  • Assist with communication with our Guest(s) of Honor, both leading up to the con and during the con

Con Suite Staff

Con Suite

  • Set up and tear down the Con Suite
  • Monitor that eligible attendees are allowed access into the Con Suite
  • Clean up and refill the Con Suite offerings as needed

Convention Software Staff

Technology

FurSquared runs differently from other conventions. While others will go with a different off-the-shelf solution every year or publish a Google sheet for their programming schedule or Dealers Den… we opt to make it our own.

Why create our own things?

First of all, it's fun! We can be creative in own way while solving real problems that our attendees and staff have.

Consider how tedious it is to set up a programming schedule over 10+ spreadsheets or to manage and decide on Dealers, Adult Dealers, and so on with just forms and sheets. It is possible, but we can do better. Convention staff are volunteers! We all have a lot of love for the event and for all of you that come, but hair pulling shouldn't be a part of the job description. Good software has made the difference in keeping dedicated people on staff each year. Being on the Technology team means you'll have an impact to every staff member we have, and through them, all the attendees too.

Have you been to a convention with over 10,000 people and their Dealers list is an obtuse spreadsheet that doesn't scroll right in the phone? Or another that has you install a new app every year because they can't settle on one provider or another and the website for the schedule is broken? It should not be so confusing and bothersome to figure out what to do at a convention. Our site and services (and maybe a custom app) can do a better job at providing all the info and affordances attendees need to have a good time.

What we're looking for:

We're looking for web and backend developers that have experience with TypeScript, databases like PostgreSQL / MySQL / SQLite, caches like Redis, and development tools like git, Docker, Dev Containers, and serverless platforms like Cloudflare.

We're also looking for mobile app developers that have developed with Kotlin Multiplatform. This might be our first year with our own app!

And if you're interested in embedded Rust development for an IoT network, we welcome that too! Also infrastructure DevOps and maybe something about a custom Debian linux distribution for our fleet. Not all at once though!

We may also be interested in Telegram Bot and Slack bot integrations.

General Expectations:

Solid convention software gets delivered early and consistently. You'd be committing to a few hours a week for several months. It adds up to around 40-60 hours before the convention — most of it before New Years.

You test your work before handing it off, you nudge your peers for code review, and you confirm it works on the development / staging environment before ever deploying production.

All software contributions and configurations are released to Two Ferrets Co. such that it may continue using said contributions with or without you remaining on staff and it may one day become open source or leased or licensed to operate other events. Also, software that is not currently public may not be shared unless authorized.

Dance Events Staff

Dance Events

  • Assist with prepping all dance events, such as Charity Dance Off, Floor Wars, and Dance Comp
  • Prepare submission forms for events if necessary
  • Coordinate with guest judges for the events

Dealers Den Staff

Dealers Den

  • Assist with selecting our chosen dealers for Dealers Den each year
  • Help set up our Dealers Den and Con Store, and assist with dealer load-in and load-out
  • Run our Con Store
  • Ensure our dealers' needs are met during the convention

HR Staff

Human Resources

The Human Resources Department at FurSquared supports a respectful, inclusive, and accountable volunteer environment by assisting with staff onboarding, workplace concerns, conflict resolution, leadership expectations, and organizational policies. HR works collaboratively with staff, department leadership, and the Board to promote clear communication, fair treatment, confidentiality, and professional conduct while helping ensure FurSquared remains a welcoming and successful community-driven event.

IT / Physical Hardware Lead

Technology

It takes a lot of equipment to run a con and to help other teams do their best work. From printers to networking and the computers in between, we need someone who'll ensure the on-site deployment goes well and if we have to account for a surprise you've got the hardware or configuration in mind to pull it off.

The Technology team is separate from Audio / Visual which rents and configures its own hardware, though we may collaborate from time to time.

We're seeking someone experienced with physical network deployment and its configuration, asset tracked hardware, and linux experience.

As the Physical Hardware Lead you will:

  • Seek out and record the needs of all fellow departments and functions, such as Registration, Video Games, Dealers Den, Con Store, Artist Alley, and more.
  • Thoroughly plan what we can deploy given the wants vs needs and what we have to work with.
  • Escalate hardware requests that we cannot fulfill.
  • Where relevant, identify opportunities to purchase hardware that will satisfy the needs we will have at the next event.
  • Receive, update, and ensure all hardware is configured or otherwise prepared the month before the event. I hope you like updating over 20 chromebooks!
  • Produce a deployment plan for the convention down to the hour with destination, which asset tagged hardware will be deployed, and for how long.
  • Oversee the pack-up and collection of all Technology hardware.
  • Oversee and asset tag all new or unlabeled hardware.

Specific experience that'll make you stand out:

  • Unifi Network configuration
  • Ubiquiti ISP hardware configuration
  • Debian Linux administration

Logistics Staff

Logistics

  • Help to move our inventory from the storage unit to the convention
  • Help to move our inventory from the convention/hotel loading docks to the proper location
  • Then do it all over again, but in reverse :)

Operations Staff

Operations

  • Distribute FurSquared radios to staff as needed
  • Monitor radio communication so issues can be handled promptly
  • Accept charity auction donations

Photography Staff

Photography

  • Plan hardware, props and backdrops for the year's theme
  • Staff our photobooth during the convention
  • Take cool photos during events like Dance Comp, Charity Dance Off and other panels

Programming Staff

Programming

  • Help create our awesome schedule of events
  • Keep an eye on panels: Are they on time/Can we cover? Any panelist no-shows? Other cool observations or feedback?
  • Etc.

Registration Staff

Registration

  • Assist with setup and teardown of the Registration department
  • Manage pre-registration, handing out badges, and distributing swag

Table Top Gaming Staff

Table Top Gaming

  • Set up and take down the gaming inventory from the Table Top Gaming room
  • Monitor borrowed inventory during the convention
  • On occasion, help run games when needed

Video Games Staff

Video Games

  • Staff the Video Games room during open hours
  • Handle console setup, troubleshooting, and takedown before and after con
  • Manage all other inventory (games, controllers, etc.)

Volunteers Staff

Volunteers

  • Assist with pre-convention planning of where volunteers may be needed during the con
  • Run the Volunteers Desk during the convention
  • Coordinate volunteers and direct them to areas of urgent need
  • Assist with volunteer needs as necessary
  • Distribute volunteer swag as thanks for their time