SGRA PARACON 2007
On June 9th and 10th, the Smoking Gun Research Agency celebrated its 10th anniversary. It's annual Paranormal Conference was held at the Howard Johnson Conference center in Milford, Connecticut. Hosted by its brilliant founding Director, Jon Nowinski, it was a marvelous event. Among the presenters were Jon himself, Stacey Jones, founder of the Central New York Ghost Hunters, Nick Roesler, Andrew Neblett, an exorcist and expert on energy healing as well as a hypnotist, Jill O'Malley of the Paranormal Corner Organization and Diane Bajorinas of the SGRA.
The topics were wide and varied. There were presentations on grounding oneself by Andrew, (I learned a few things there) UFO's by Nick, ghosts and hauntings from Stacey, some of the equipment used by paranormal investigators by Jon, exorcism by Andrew, keeping the proper paperwork on investigations by Jill, Dracula and the legend behind it by Diane, the downing of TWA Flight 800 by Jon, healing and protective stones by Andrew (Yep, learned a few things there too) and a panel discussion in which I was thrilled to sit on.
There was a good turnout and it was surprising to see how many people stayed for the entire series of presentations. As I write this, my office door just closed by itself so maybe I brought someone back with me. I doubt that because those of us who work in the field often have activity in our homes. But back to ParaCon. It was a pleasure listening to the presentations and work shops but it was also great having the opportunity to meet so many of the guests and explain what the FSPP is all about. Having the chance to hear some of their experiences with the paranormal was fun as was giving advice to those who sought it. Additionally, I had the opportunity to sell my book, "A Study Guide To Hauntings" and was quite surprised how well it sold. More importantly, it was great to hear feedback on day 2 from those who bought the book on the first day. Yeah, my ego soared a bit when people complimented me.
This was my first time at a SGRA event and I enjoyed it immensely. More thrilling was Jon's asking me to speak at future conferences as well as at his coffee and discussion groups he does periodically. There goes the ego again. Good thing the room had double doors. Much of the fun came from discussions with other paranormal organizations. Although we all did not agree on everything, the discussions were lively and open-minded. The panel discussion was a thrill too because I love fielding questions from the public.
Next year when Jon holds the next ParaCon, I strongly recommend you come. There is something there for everyone and you will learn while having fun in the process. I cannot thank Jon enough for putting on the conference and the way he ran it. So often when you put a room full of professionals together, the attitude is condescending and the atmosphere stuffy. That was certainly not the case here where members of different groups met and checked their ego's at the door. So much of that is a credit to Jon and the atmosphere he creates. I made some good friends there and I honestly look forward to keeping in touch with them. I also strongly recommend you visit their website. You can do so by clicking on their logo at the top of the page or by clicking on: