In its second year in El Reno, Para-Con organizers said the event exceeded all expectations, as well as shattering last year's records for attendance.
The paranormal conference, held last weekend at the El Reno Elks Lodge, gathered together a wide array of attendees, from teams of paranormal investigators to people “just interested in a good old ghost story,” organizer Tonya Hacker said.
Hacker said this year's theme – the ghost story – appealed to a larger spectrum of people. While she and co-organizer Tammy Wilson were happy with the turnout and reception to Para-Con 2008, which was geared more specifically to paranormal investigators, Hacker said the duo wanted to tap into a more “mainstream” audience this year.
“We wanted to have people attend who normally wouldn't come to this type of event,” she said. “We were looking for skeptics and just anyone who enjoyed learning about ghosts and the supernatural. This is more about entertainment than education, which was really the focus last year.”
The program change paid off, Hacker said, with a 30 percent increase in attendance over last year's numbers. Almost 200 people attended the one-day conference, she said, with attendees traveling from all over the country, including Florida and California.
Not only were attendance numbers up, the range and number of Para-Con's speakers increased. Returning speakers Patrick Burns, Brian Young and Troy Taylor were joined by Teri French and Russell White of Tulsa, Georgia ghost hunter Bob Hunnicutt, “paranormal diver” Lee Ehrlich, storyteller Marilyn Hudson and “resident skeptic” Dr. Bryan Farha.
Punctuated by humor, speakers related tales about “haunted” locations across the state, while Hunnicutt talked about investigations he and his team have undertaken across his home state. Drawing laughs and gasps from the crowd, Hunnicutt showed several videos of activity that he said could be paranormal activity.
“I'm not going to say that's what it is – it's up to the individual to make that interpretation,” he said. “It's not my job to sell someone on what is there, but I do know what I believe.”
Ehrlich, the leader of Ghost Pros International, the “world's only underwater paranormal investigation team,” talked about his encounters with the mystical “devil fish” in the waters surrounding Catalina Island, located just off the California coast.
Young, also known as “Dr. Fear,” gave a presentation about ghosts in the movies. Young, a college professor who holds a master's degree in Celtic languages, also hosts a radio show and produces features through “The Mysterious Lab of Dr. Fear.”
Para-Con attendees wrapped up the conference portion of the event late Saturday night, when many of them traveled to the Canadian County Historical Museum for a reception, tour and trolley ride that lasted until about midnight, Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Gene Stroman said.
“It was a long day and a long night, but it was a great experience, and I think the people attending Para-Con had a positive impression of El Reno,” he said.
Hacker agreed, saying she and Wilson “were really, really happy” with the way the conference turned out.
“El Reno is a great location, and we have been so fortunate to work with Gene Stroman and others who have been so easy to deal with and so friendly. We couldn't be happier with how this year's Para-Con went,” she said. “We're already talking with Gene about next year's event.”