Dublin Paranormal Convention 2008

6th

Ok folks its time to announce a project that Stoner, monkeyfudge, Grimes, O'Donnell and myself have been working on for the last 6 months!

The 11th of October 2008 will see the 1st DUBLIN PARA CON held at Clontarf Castle in the Grand Hall.

We still have a lot to sort out but the venue is booked as well as several elements of the days events.

It will run from about 2pm on Saturday the 11th with stalls etc where its open to anyone, then at about 7pm there will be 4 speakers giving talks on a number of subjects - the talks are limited to about 240 people.

After that its into the bar for drinks and some finger food ..... mmmmm, fooood!

Anyway alot of details still to be sort but if anyone has any questions or suggestions then just as and I'm sure myself or one of the guys will chime in with some info

The website is still under construction but you can view it at http://www.dublinparacon.com

Cheers

6th

Btw this is a huge undertaking for us but hopefully we can pull this off, make it a great event and do it every year.

monkeyfudge

Yep. These things certainly take a lot of planning to get right.


But it should turn out to be a good little event. It's a great location and we should have plenty of interesting stuff in store.

But yes... suggestions would definitely be welcome.

6th

Yeah the location is fantastic, the place got a make over a couple of years back and its a great setting for this sort of event. Even if it is northside!

Stoner

hey northside rocks.

Should be a bit of fun anyway,

Anyone know anything about cryptozoology, as in being almost an expert?

monkeyfudge

Stoner wrote: »

Anyone know anything about cryptozoology, as in being almost an expert?

Being an expert on shunkeys doesn't count apparently...

Stoner

well its a start

6th

What do you want to know? I'm fairly well up.

Slow Motion

Stoner wrote: »

hey northside rocks.

Should be a bit of fun anyway,

Anyone know anything about cryptozoology, as in being almost an expert?

I know a little bit too, and have an interest in such things as you and anyone else here can find out by clicking the link in my sig;) (Shameless pimping alert).

Sounds good 6th will there be any such (b)fortean / crypto elements to the con? Are there admission fees? Booking in advance requirements?

6th

There will be a UFO element, definately, but I dont think there will be a crypto side to it this year due to there not being much of a scene here.

There are plans to extand the topcs covered in the future and I am in contact with some BIG CAT groups etc. This year is about looking at the mechanics of it and building a base.

Tickets etc are being looked at but we're paying for all this ourselves so might need to cover our costs etc. Seats are also limited for the lectures but if we fill 250 seats we'll be doing well

Nevyn

There is a bus that goes from abbey street and drops right outside the place.

What are the times and ticket prices and what events are on ?

6th

At the moment details are sketchy but I'll try answer. The first part will be about €5 and will be stalls etc for readings and we are inviting groups to have their own spots. There will be demonstrations at some stalls and I'm planning for there to be one were an experiemnt will be carried out - something simple like a quick zener card bit so people dont get bored. If we can get enough people together for this we might as well try getting a little something out of it with regards to an experiment.

The talks will start about 7pm and that will be a ticketed event limited to approx 240 people (we have to look at the cost as its just to cover us). There will be 4 speakers with the opportunity to ask them questions directly. After that the bar will be open and there will be platters of grub.

Its more a chance to get people together with common interests, hence having a social element afterwards. I've been to talks that once they end everyone just goes home.

There will be more details on who the speakers are once we get it all confirmed.

Any suggestions of what people would like to see? We might not be able to accommadate but it gives us something to aim for.

GuanYin

Lent isn't over!!! Banned for angering a deity!! WB.

6th

I know but all your PMs pleading with me to come back were just too much

kshiel

Well done boys, I hope it all goes well for ye and it turns into a very large annual event. I have never been to one of these conventions before so hopefully I can pop up and show a little support. I am interested to hear who and what the topics on the speakers will be. Will it be a sperate fee in to the speakers or is it all covered at the door entry fee. Will the stalls/ speakers have a mixture to suit both sides of the coin as in science and psychic. I think an interesting experiement would be, bare with me now but you know how aura photos are done, well if you take a person and take the photo and then try change their mood slightly (as in if they are happy, ask them to think of a sad memory) and take a second shot and see if the aura colour changes. But the interesting side would be how much would it change and what colours were represented in them etc etc.

GOOD LUCK BOYS

6th

The fee at the door into the day event will only be about €5 and we can take as many (or as few) who turn up. The evening talks are seperate as its a seated event with tickets about €20/€25 and a maximum of about 240 people.

For the day event we have readings being done by The Tarot Academy (Louise Kings & the Sandman of EastCoast radio). We will have a number of otehr stands but are open to suggestions of what else people would like and if anyne would like to have a stand there too then just give me a shout and we'll see what we can do.

If anyone is travelling up to Dublin for this and wants to stay in Clontarf Castle then let me know and I'll see what I can do about getting a special rate.

Aura Photography is an interesting one (though expensive) so I'll look into that in the next couple of weeks.

DANNY22XX

great idea keep us posted on up and coming events for the convention,

Well done lads,,

Stoner

kshiel wrote: »

I think an interesting experiement would be, bare with me now but you know how aura photos are done, well if you take a person and take the photo and then try change their mood slightly (as in if they are happy, ask them to think of a sad memory) and take a second shot and see if the aura colour changes.

Good idea kshiels, got me thinking, we could take a pic of the blokes, then i could come over and show them the biggest arms in Cabra, we could take a pic again.

Now I'm not psychic but I bet the auras will all be green.

DJ_Spider

Seeing as I am only just up the road from Clontarf, this will be excellent for me! I am looking to get into the vigils you guys organise, so maybe I will have some experiences to discuss. Oh and will be nice to see young 6th again while not wearing my sugar plum fairy dress! :eek:

6th

The quotes from me arent actually my words but what the hell ... no such thing as bad publicity! The new site is up btw http://www.dublinparacon.com

monkeyfudge

6th wrote: »

The quotes from me arent actually my words but what the hell ...

Yeah. There's less swearing...

stormkeeper

I might make an appearance here, if you're lucky

6th

Loads more news for this but I'll let Dre tell the best bit seeing as its all down to him.

Gonna be great to have you over Andy

I havnt been reading boards for a few days so i just came across this. Ok basically i was out to lunch this weekend with Barry Fitzgerald from Ghost Hunters International. He was delighted to be asked to be a speaker at the convention. So he has agreed and will be one of the guest speakers at the convention .
He is waiting for his schedual for season 3 of GHI, and there is a small possability he will be filming on the day.But he will pull out all the stops to make it to give a talk and answer your questons.

faceman

Havent read this thread in a while, im looking forward to this, well done lads on putting it all together.

stormkeeper

6th wrote: »

Gonna be great to have you over Andy

I should should still be able to make this, given I think I won't be working around the 9th-16th, or at least I'll make sure I'm free then. It'll be great to be over

GuanYin

Couple of questions, out of interest (I dunno how much you're allowed say)......

1. How much is the conference costing to host
2. Do you have sponsors or funding? (10 Euro seems very little)
3. How are sales.
4. Do you have any news agencies set to cover this?
5. Why doesn't boards.ie get a mention of this thread get a forum link?

6th

GuanYin wrote: »

Couple of questions, out of interest (I dunno how much you're allowed say)......

We want to be as open about this as possible so questions are more than welcome.

GuanYin wrote: »

1. How much is the conference costing to host

Well costs are adding up on a daily basis. The actually location is only €3,500 to rent for the full day but they are doing us a favour on that. Normally people only rent it for a day event or a night event - we're doing both.

Of course thats just the price of the hall with stand hire, printing, accommodation for guests, plus lots more its looking to be about €10,000 in total .... thats a rough figure.

GuanYin wrote: »

2. Do you have sponsors or funding? (10 Euro seems very little)

We are funding it ourselves and while its a big gamble we hope to either break even or at least not end up on the streets.

Btw thats €10 for the day event (stalls etc), €20 for the talks or €25 for a ticket that does the whole thing.

The day event has unlimited capacity (well) so hopefully we get 500/1000 folks in. The talks are limited to about 450 tickets so if you take into account that most people at the talks will be at the day event then its not 500/1000 + 450. If by some miricle it makes money then it goes straight into next years event which will be bigger and better!

GuanYin wrote: »

3. How are sales.

Tickets have just gone on sale yesterday so now we have to start publicizing it ... thats my way of saying that its quiet but we hope for a bust in the next 2 weeks.

GuanYin wrote: »

4. Do you have any news agencies set to cover this?

There is no one set group set to cover it but I deal with newspapers everyday as part of my job - add to that that monkeyfudge works in the broadcasting industry and I think we will have plenty of exposure.

GuanYin wrote: »

5. Why doesn't boards.ie get a mention of this thread get a forum link?

For the article above I did tell the reporter that this whole thing is happening because of the people involved coming together through the paranormal forum of Boards.ie but he left that (plus other information) out. That will be rectified.

Now hopefully i've answered those ok and that the rest of the PIGs dont mind me sharing the info >_>

GuanYin

Thanks for the answers, I really hope that it works out for you guys.

Are you hiring catering yourselves or is the site running that?

6th

Just some extra info on this too:

We have groups from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the Uk and hopefully the US represented at this. Great Speakers like Richard Jones, Barry FitzGerald, one of our very own Forum Posters (who I will wont out right now - its not me!), plus 1 or 2 we have yet to confirm.

Its looking like a few of the investigation groups will carry out experiments on the day with myself doing the zener cards with the hope of getting some good numbers and stats.

We are also due to hit the streets of Dublin doing a paranormal survey, again we hope this will produce some interesting stats.

6th

GuanYin wrote: »

Thanks for the answers, I really hope that it works out for you guys.

Are you hiring catering yourselves or is the site running that?

The hotel are looking after that. We have a private bar for the function with food provided for those who wish to hang around after the talks.

We've also got a decent room rate for the night so hopefully there will be people up in the residents bar til the early hours sharing stories and ideas - our speakers are all staying on site so its a case to pick their brains. This is great for me cos I'm a big fan of Richard Jones (have been for years) and Barry FitzGerald is unquestionably one of the most genuine and respectful Investigators out there .... plus I get to hang with a load of people who I've gotten to know through here.

6th

We're not forgetting the UFO community either, I was talking to Carl Nally about himself and Dermot Butler (authors of "Conspiracy of Silence: UFOs in Ireland") representing the UFO community on the day.


Also if anyone wants some promotional postcards that they can put in areas that will draw attention then give me a shout - all help is appreciated!