Jeff Crowell
Paranormal Annoyance
Admittedly I'm not all the way through this episode, yet, but wanted to chime in on a few things, and start the thread, I suppose.
I think that one thing that needs to be understood is the differences between a conference, a festival, and a convention. At a UFO festival, as the name implies, you're trying to rake in cash and popularity, so you need a mix of the serious element, the fun-factor, and the woo-woo folks. Agreeing with Mr. Balthaser, however, I would say this ratio needs to be about 60/30/10 for a festival. You WANT to draw in the family crowd, here.
At a convention, you may be looking at about 75/5/20 for the ratio of serious element/fun factor/woo-woo since you're trying to be more serious about the topic, and at a conference, well that all depends on who's putting on the conference. As Dennis indicated in the episode, the woo-woo folks are going to have their own agendas to discuss so they may put on their own conference. Let them discuss whatever they wish, but if the conference is put on in a more serious manner with more serious guests (Mr. Friedman, for instance) then you'll want little-to-no of the woo-woo folks.
In the end it's all a matter of intent for the function. Roswell's trying to pull in cold, hard cash at the Roswell festival. It's their version of "Black Friday", literally, for the whole town. Take the event/crash out of the town of Roswell and there's no more Roswell, so the festival needs to be setup to ensure it brings in a mix of all levels of interest. That's not to say you can't have a conference or convention at Roswell later on in the year that's a bit more specific (serious or woo-woo) but yes, I believe they need to be segregated to the intended audience.
One last point: Dennis mentioned that the mayor of Roswell turned over full control of this years festival to the museum. This may or may not be a good idea. The mayor best realize, as I said above, that the festival is their bread-and-butter, and that his little town in the desert will melt away if he/she doesn't keep milking that festival for all it's worth. He/she needs to take lessons from Disney in providing entertainment, AND serious discussion, AND woo-woo events, and do so in a fashion that is pleasing and enjoyable by all of these interest groups. Separate them within the town, sure. Keep the woo-woos away from the more serious element and so-forth but have a mix for all. In other words, keep the circus away from the research discussions. Only by appealing to all during the festival will it be a success.
Peace.
Jeff.
I think that one thing that needs to be understood is the differences between a conference, a festival, and a convention. At a UFO festival, as the name implies, you're trying to rake in cash and popularity, so you need a mix of the serious element, the fun-factor, and the woo-woo folks. Agreeing with Mr. Balthaser, however, I would say this ratio needs to be about 60/30/10 for a festival. You WANT to draw in the family crowd, here.
At a convention, you may be looking at about 75/5/20 for the ratio of serious element/fun factor/woo-woo since you're trying to be more serious about the topic, and at a conference, well that all depends on who's putting on the conference. As Dennis indicated in the episode, the woo-woo folks are going to have their own agendas to discuss so they may put on their own conference. Let them discuss whatever they wish, but if the conference is put on in a more serious manner with more serious guests (Mr. Friedman, for instance) then you'll want little-to-no of the woo-woo folks.
In the end it's all a matter of intent for the function. Roswell's trying to pull in cold, hard cash at the Roswell festival. It's their version of "Black Friday", literally, for the whole town. Take the event/crash out of the town of Roswell and there's no more Roswell, so the festival needs to be setup to ensure it brings in a mix of all levels of interest. That's not to say you can't have a conference or convention at Roswell later on in the year that's a bit more specific (serious or woo-woo) but yes, I believe they need to be segregated to the intended audience.
One last point: Dennis mentioned that the mayor of Roswell turned over full control of this years festival to the museum. This may or may not be a good idea. The mayor best realize, as I said above, that the festival is their bread-and-butter, and that his little town in the desert will melt away if he/she doesn't keep milking that festival for all it's worth. He/she needs to take lessons from Disney in providing entertainment, AND serious discussion, AND woo-woo events, and do so in a fashion that is pleasing and enjoyable by all of these interest groups. Separate them within the town, sure. Keep the woo-woos away from the more serious element and so-forth but have a mix for all. In other words, keep the circus away from the research discussions. Only by appealing to all during the festival will it be a success.
Peace.
Jeff.
