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 Abducted by Aliens
Or How I Learned to Cope With High Strangeness, Government Harassment, and My Mother (a True Story)by Chuck Weiss
Available as a FREE e-Book at AbductionSite.com.368 Pages, Color Photos & Fully Indexed
Contact Chuck at AlienAbductionTheBlog@mail.com.
161: UFO Conventions
Long ago, the only conventions were of the trade variety. You know the stereotype, the salesman awayfrom the wife and family parting it up at the hotel and telling off color jokes. Well, now days there areconventions for everyone’s taste. In addition to the trade conventions, there are Comic Book conventions, Science Fiction conventions and, of course, UFO conventions. While the first two arestrictly about fantasies, UFO conventions are focused on a real phenomenon that most of the world believes to be fantasy.I’ve been attending UFO conventions off and on for sixteen years. In the beginning, some UFO relatedlectures were added to the roster of events at new age gatherings like the Whole Life Expo. They became so popular that entrepreneurs soon started promoting weekend events specifically tailored for the UFO community.Behind the scenes, conventions are all organized in the same way. It’s only the subject matter thatchanges. There’s always a list of featured “guests,” people prominent in the field often carrying their latest book to sell. As a draw for the event, the guests are expected to give free lectures (with the priceof admission) on their topic of expertise. In addition to any up front fee they may receive, they’reusually offered the opportunity to make a little extra money by giving a special “workshop” that requiresthe purchase of an additional ticket, of which the guest gets a portion of the proceeds.There is usually also a “dealers” room, where merchandise is offered for sale, books, DVDs, refrigerator magnets, etc. I used to be intimately acquainted with this end of the business. In the mid-1970s, Iowned (with a partner) a specialty store devoted to the television show,
Star Trek 
called, The FederationTrading Post. I would travel the
Star Trek 
convention circuit and sell my wares, which included posters,uniforms, phasers and, of course, Tribbles . . . but I digress.Recently, because of the economic situation, attendance at UFO conventions has been way down.People just can’t afford the costs involve, especially if nothing new is being offered. But even thoughthey’ve fallen on hard times recently, UFO conventions still serve an important function for almosteveryone concerned.
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