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What Would a Paracast UFO/Paranormal Conference Look Like?

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I trust that a Paracast conference would be the one to surpass all others. I would personally go for a more paranormal conference with a heavy dose of the crypto crowd since I'm not a big UFO geek, but I'd still love some presenters on subjects I'm not as familiar with...like UFO's. My list pretty much copycats a lot of others here...
Nick Redfern
Stan Gordon
Chris O'Brien
Jeff Meldrum
Loren Coleman
Stan Freidman (I was lucky enough to attend a lecture of his at the University of Tennessee way back in 1996 and it even had my super skeptic boyfriend intrigued.)
Ardy Sixkiller Clarke (I LOVED her interview on the Paracast, even though it wasn't so popular with most folks)
And then how about a couple of good skeptics to keep it lively?! :)
 
We will probably have to establish a Kickstarter campaign to raise capital for such a venture. This won't be cheap. We need to fund proper lecture facilities, and pay the speakers a decent fee for their services, plus travel and lodging. And there needs to be a few extra bucks left for Chris and me. So if anyone can help us draw up a proposal, let's move on it.

I would not consider just asking people to send donations. The chances we get enough are not high, but once we have something in place, we'll want to build a large audience of Paracast listeners plus other people.
 
Gene Steinberg said:
We will probably have to establish a Kickstarter campaign to raise capital for such a venture. This won't be cheap. We need to fund proper lecture facilities, and pay the speakers a decent fee for their services, plus travel and lodging. And there needs to be a few extra bucks left for Chris and me. So if anyone can help us draw up a proposal, let's move on it.

I would not consider just asking people to send donations. The chances we get enough are not high, but once we have something in place, we'll want to build a large audience of Paracast listeners plus other people.
Click to expand...

I have experience in organizing nerdy history symposiums, teacher workshops and arts/history festivals, but sadly nothing of the paranormal realm...although, I'm happy to lend a hand to help in whatever way I can. This needs to happen! Preferably close to Tennessee and not in the summer. ;)
 
Ah yes, date and location. Summer makes sense since more people can plan vacations around the event, but I understand your point. But remember that Tennessee is a long distance from me and Chris. :)

Please open a private conversation with me so we can discuss how to make up a Kickstarter presentation.
 
Gene Steinberg said:
Ah yes, date and location. Summer makes sense since more people can plan vacations around the event, but I understand your point. But remember that Tennessee is a long distance from me and Chris. :)

Please open a private conversation with me so we can discuss how to make up a Kickstarter presentation.
Click to expand...

Oh, I wouldn't mind traveling out West for a Paracast conference just joking about the Tennessee part...but, that is a question as to what would be the best location? Summer of course is better for most people...but, in my world I'm knee-deep in camp ALL summer long so I probably couldn't go. :(
 
What *would* it look like... I'm picturing a vast convention hall, and everyone in it looks just like "Exidor" from "Mork and Mindy"... "Don't push, there's plenty of room for all of us!". Of course, *you* may have direct experience of UFO/Paranormal individuals who in no way resemble him...
 
The paranormal group I used to manage a few years back had the idea of having a paranormal conference/seminar here, locally. Mostly it was a fund-raiser idea but also as a merging of ideas and a forum for open discussion. However, during my research in doing this type of thing I spoke to some local group-owners who had done this type of thing and realized the size of project doing a conference was.

One of the first things I realized was that it takes about 3 years of reliable running for a conference to become successful in just about any regard. What I mean by this is that for the first 2 years (just like a business), you'll probably lose money and have a low turn out. After the 3rd year you may start to see the interest you're hoping to garner in your conference. This is assuming you have the conference near the same geographical location and with compatible speakers. In other words you're establishing consistency.

Perhaps the second most-daunting task was insurance and an emergency infrastructure. You need to worry about things like having a police or security presence (see Polterwurst's first post), having an emergency medical presence, and ensuring the environment is a safe one for your presenters and guests.

Add these considerations to the start-up revenue and venue considerations and we backed out of the idea pretty quickly. This isn't to say that the Paracast and her resources couldn't pull it off but you may want to hire a senior project manager and supporting staff who do nothing other than plan and coordinate. Just off-the-cuff you'll need a staff like a small business, including a CPA and a lawyer on-hand.

My 2 cents.

J.
 
Jeff, the only way we could build revenue would be for a Kickstarter project. If someone was willing to help us draw up something attractive to investors, it would be worth it.
 
Well, the first thing you'd need to determine is what would investors 'get' out of it? You'll have to make it profitable for them and they'll take notice. Estimating the number of attendants is an obvious draw; if you can say that you'll put their company logo where it's readily visible to, say, 500 attendants at your convention, that may convince them to toss in some start-up. Alternately you can lure them with the option of a free vendor both space, or even presentation time where they can sell their product. Of course you'll need to be careful about seeming like you're playing favorites there, but by just giving them equal time to others can stem those criticisms.

Non-commercial investors may be tempted if they have an interest in the subject matter as long as they know their funding does not imply they have control over the convention or it's presenters. For instance if you approached "Mr. Big", we'll call him, you'd need to make it clear that he won't be able to control who does or does not present at The ParaCon, but he will get a mention as a major contributor on, say, a plaque displayed during the con.

At times just presenting an organized business plan (complete and professionally done) to potential investors can get them to buy-in, surprising. If you show you're serious and that you'll have a 'black bottom line' or a return on their investment in some way, many will jump on board, too. It would be a bit of work (business plans can be complex if properly done), but I think it's a good start.
 
Well....I haven't done one since my small-business class I took about three years ago. I'll have to revisit that but I may be able to draft something up.
 
So, a few basic questions that would need incorporated into a proposal; where would it be and when would it be? The Southwest is always a good choice, say Phoenix, Flagstaff, or any other venue where there's a hotel with a convention hall and ample parking. Alternately we could take a poll here, on the forums, about where people are from and plot that out on a map of the United States. The location most people herald from may be where we want to shift the conference to. From there we can start to work on budget, from how much it would cost to rent the venue and such. As far as 'when' a target-date would need to be set regarding time-of-year and at least a year to a year and a half projected out. Setting the time frame will keep all stake holders motivated and on-track. That always helps. :).

The executive summary would start out something like this; "The purpose of this project is to fund a public conference focused on discussing the topic of unidentified aerial phenomenon with a host of qualified researchers and speakers."

Thoughts?
 
To all Paracast Forum posters...

.....what would you pay for a ticket to such an event? If ticket offerings were for 1-day, 3-day, and VIP entrance, and assuming the guest list looked something like this... (this list was compiled by previous posts to this thread.)

Aaron Kaplan
Antonio Huneuus
Carl Jung
Christopher O´Brien
Clas Svahn
Colm Kelleher
David Perkins
Don and Vicki Ecker
George Knapp
Greg Bishop
Jacques Vallee
James Mcdonald
Jaques Vallee
John Alva Keel
Joseph Citro
Karl Pflock
Kevin Randle
Lance Moody
Leslie Kean
Nick Pope
Nick Redfern
Patrick Harpur
Paul Deveraux
Peter davenport
Peter Robbins
Phyllis Budinger
Ray Stanford
Richard Dolan
Richard Sarradet
Robert Hastings
Robert Salas
Ron Regehr
Royce Myers III
Stan Gordon
Stanton Friedman
Terrence Mckenna
Timothy Good
 
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