Confurence was the first, original furry convention, held every year in southern California from 1989 to 2003. Confurence arose out of the large furry presence at the BayCon science fiction convention in the late 80's, instigated by Mark Merlino and Rod O'Riley, who originally held "furry parties" in their house. This lead to the test gathering in 1989, Confurence Zero.

While attendance for this first serious attempt to create a "funny animal fandom" convention was sparse at 65 persons, it was enough to encourage the Californians to attempt a full fledge furry convention next year. Attendance was doubled for the first official Confurence convention in January 1990 to 130, proving them right. For the last year, 2003, attendance was down to 470, due to competition from other regional furry conventions, but at the height of popularity, Confurence boasted the then-largest furry convention attendance of 1250.

Confurence also created the mold by which other furry conventions were to follow, with the sucessful art show, a masquerade and an emphasis on fan-created content and Guests. Currently, there are over a dozen furry conventions and many more meets and gatherings, all around the world, due to this first experement.

The name Confurence is a registered trademark of the Confurence Group. It is NOT a generic term for a furry convention, but as the original furry convention, many later cons took similar sounding names, such as the now defunct Confurence East, and the current Eurofurence.