How can I start this post? The words really do escape me on several levels! Let’s try ‘Wow’!!

Like any good story, lets start at the beginning. Well when I say the beginning I mean the beginning of the weekend, after all if I was to step back to when I first got involved in Paracon UK we would be heading back several months. Then we would have to navigate through those months on the run up to Paracon UK, through the changes, the tough days, the negativity and fear of failure. However, as you all now know, all that was insignificant as the weekend has come and gone now! Paracon UK was without doubt a massive success, I have not encountered one individual with something negative to say about the weekend. The team delivered a professional event which created a definitive platform for the paranormal. It’s for this reason the Paracon UK Team can take breath and pat themselves on the back for the hard work they have done for charity and the paranormal community.

My weekend was supposed to start on Saturday morning, but as an individual passionate about paranormal unity and the Paracon UK platform I offered my assistance early to Matt Hall, heading up to Derby on Friday night.

I think I managed to arrive around ten o’clock thanks to the traffic, but literally walked through the doors bumped into some friends from Swanage that I have worked with before, my weekend was off and running. I spent the next half hour or so discussing some aspects of my presentation and general spiritually related elements of the paranormal over-nice beverage, thank you to the guys from the Royal Oak, Swanage.

It wasn’t long before I found Matt, Randy, Anthony and the team. They were already setting up and working at military efficiency. In fact it was pretty amazing to watch and I was beginning to feel a loose end! However it wasn’t long before myself, Viv and the RAPS guys created a very important assembly line which had us busy for hours.

Suffice to say we continued to help Matt and the US Military guys all the way to 4am when we went to bed, but at this point Matt was still going. In fact I am not entirely sure if Matt did sleep over the weekend?

We were back on the floor just before 7am and some final touches as the doors opened to the Vendors.

With that and an announcement from Matt Hall, Day One was well under way. Paracon UK began to bustle, individuals and groups began to speak to converse on their favourite subjects and the Guest Speakers began to share. This wasn’t just about a bunch of people interested in the paranormal, it was more than that, it was a true community beginning to form.

My Saturday was taken up with varied tasks. I had many friends attending Paracon, from mediums to researchers, which had me engaging in various conversations regarding the paranormal, far too many even mention here. I did have a stall in the Vendor area, the one with the weird Box thing.

Which reminds me, in regards to the Box, if you have any ideas about the Box fire them over please? Still the stall was opposite the RSVP UK stall which had a cool Date Logger they are developing on it, give them a shout to know more. There were so many more stalls too, Sage Paranormal, RAPS, Brian J Cano, Amy Goodwin and Carmen Reed too. The best thing was that Paracon UK wasn’t simply about the spiritual or the scientific, there was a fantastic balance of all approaches. Which also made it an amazing place to simply learn something new or perhaps question something different.

I have to say I enjoyed meeting our US guests and as I am an honest guy, I have to say they each surpass my personal expectations. Thank you guys for making the trip to join us at the first Paracon UK. I hope to see you next year.

To be honest I could probably continue for ages with my account of the Paracon UK event, but time is against me I’m afraid. Let’s take this as an overview and perhaps I will post some more specific posts in the near future.

The weekend brought me and some great friends together, many of which I have worked with before on investigations/experiments. I also managed to meet face to face with many many friends from the vast online world we often meet in. That was something which I thoroughly enjoyed, that weird moment when you manage to shake the hand or hug someone you’ve connected with and discussed so much of the paranormal with.

Saturday night closed with an awesome Paranormal Roundtable, where many various subjects were in the paranormal field were discussed without prejudice. This was an awesome experience for me as I was situated quietly at one end, yes quietly as my slightly polite-ness got in the way of any relevant interjection. Still the roundtable covered some quite interesting topics, some possibly a little borderline, but still they were challenged.

The roundtable concluded and we all headed for a well deserved drink and the VIP party.

Sunday morning saw my first presentation to the paranormal community, bright and early at 10am. Which was after the late night of the paranormal VIP party. Although some of us were suffering we cracked on into day two with more discussion, presentations and general chat paranormal wise.

My good friend Michael Bryant gave a Trance Mediumship demonstration following my presentation in the main theatre which was very interesting to watch. I have personally seen this amazing style of spiritual communication a few times down in his home town of Swanage at his local the Royal Oak, but this would be the first time I had seen him attempt it away from there.

I caught David Parry’s excellent presentation in the main theatre which from an audience point of view was very engaging; ‘the paranormal is normal’ and learnt a couple of new things during that session too. David also announced the hope that we would be working together in 2015 too, something I am looking forward to. Also, something we need to discuss further David?

Following David Parry I caught Carmen Reed’s presentation in the main theatre, which was an amazing story and not exactly as the film had portrayed. Carmen’s account of the events which occurred to her and her family were shocking and an insight into the darker side of the paranormal. An account which reminds us to approach certain situations with perhaps a different frame of mind. Although many of us have started investigating with the mindset that we were searching for evidence, we may often forget some of the finer details that effect individuals within these situations. We may often forget the very fear that families endure whilst dealing with a manifestation such as Carmen did.

I would also like to say a massive thank you to Carmen for an insight into an area of the paranormal which I find interesting, the lack of vocabulary between individuals that are haunted and the response of the medical sciences to this situation. This includes a lack of after care too. Perhaps that’s something we can change together.

Richard Felix stepped on to the main stage for the final presentation of Day two and Paracon UK 2014, which was very interesting and packed full of Richard’s energy and passion. I wont go into detail, but I liked the science linked to the Stone Tape Theory. The history was awesome too. Silica eh?

Matt Hall closed Paracon UK with wise words, thanks and introduced the founders of TroopAid. They advised us of what we were raising money for and it is such a worthy course. Helping these troops as they return from action is imperative to enable them to have the very basic care and items they should indeed be entitled to. I am so glad to have been a part of it all.

 

As the guests headed home, the vendors packed up their stalls, Matt Hall and his excellent team packed up and Paracon UK began to close down for 2014. However what followed the event itself was an abundance of thanks to Matt and his team, a surge of excitement for the next Paracon UK event and perhaps the glimmer of unity within the community.

Before I head off, I would like to say a personal thank you to all that made Paracon UK possible; Matt Hall, Randy Gus, the US Military Team, The PR Team, the charities, those that donated, those with stalls, Derby Conference centre, the guest speakers, the US guests and of course all those that came. What a fantastic event for the paranormal community and what a future we now have because of it.

I would also like to thank Elizabeth Koert for allowing me to use some of her photo’s in this post. So, here’s one of me, MJ, Uncle Norm and Elizabeth.