Further proof 2015 has been a year that sucked donkey balls*, the organizers of Paradigm Symposium, the event which I’ve religiously attended to for the last 3 years, has been postponed and moved to either May or June of 2016. To say this is a personal disappointment for me is an understatement the size of the freaking Death Star…
2015 began with promise for the Paradigm Symposium; however, we have experienced numerous setbacks throughout the year, while still operating under full confidence that the Symposium would successfully come off as planned. It was only in the last week that we reached the final decision that moving the date and location had now become a necessity.
Over the last few months, we have experienced setbacks and budget cuts from nearly all of our sources sponsorship, along with having experienced issues coordinating our needs with the hotel venue. Again, it was while moving forward within these last weeks that it became clear that the Symposium would need to be rescheduled.
On Thursday of last week, that final decision to reorganize and move things to a future date became finalized. We felt it much more prudent and wise to make this necessary change.
Scotty Roberts and John Ward, the main organizer of Paradigm, assure attendees that all tickets purchased in 2015 will be honored for next year. That of course will be of little comfort for those who, like me, ended up with non-refundable plane tickets…
It’s also still uncertain whether the current lineup of speakers will be maintained either –I was just listening to Richard Dolan’s radio show on KGRA a few minutes ago, and currently he does not know whether his schedule will permit him to speak at the symposium as it was intended.
Will Paradigm be able to overcome this HUGE blow? I sure hope so. I cannot deny how incredibly rewarding and nourishing attending this eclectic event has been for me; it’s not just a question of hanging out with my buds, but being around like-minded people in a rich environment where ideas can be explored, and personal high-strangeness experiences shared, without the usual fear of ridicule.
Regardless of the situations and/or decisions which led to this kerfuffle, Paradigm deserves to endure.
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(*) Please God, *PLEASE* don’t let 2015’s bad juju jinx Episode VII, too!!
