Joined: Jan 14, 2004 Posts: 1895 Location: Georgia
Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:58 pm Post subject: GhoStock 5 - what worked, what DIDN'T
Now that I’m back from my 10 day road trip out west, I can address some business Re: GhoStock. I know there is another thread discussing feedback, but I’m doing a quick one-shot recap here for simplicities sake…
WHAT WORKED...
*NEW FLASH BASED WEBCAST – couldn’t have been easier (for MOST folks!) There were a few that had trouble seeing it. I suspect they either had an older version of Flash installed, had DNS issues with their ISP or were on dial up / broadband connection was severely bottlenecked (slowed down). All things considered, it worked well and boosted our viewership level into triple digits.
*NEW INVESTIGATIONS, EVIDENCE REVIEWS AND REVEALS SCHEDULE. Investigations Friday night / early Saturday AM… evidence review Saturday AM with a presentation computer standing by for people to upload their evidence to… Reveals panel Saturday night. This worked out better than I had even hoped! Thanks to Audry for spear heading this important change!
* SCARY-OKIE - What a blast! LMAO! Costumes definitely added to the zaniness of the festivities! I agree with the open bar at the front of the room for next time – we of all people tend to flock where the spirits are, after all!
WHAT DIDN'T WORK
*HALLOWEEN WEEKEND – for an event that went more smoothly than ever before, this was my singular disappointment with GhoStock 5. I really thought that holding the event on Halloween weekend would send our attendance thru the stratosphere. Unfortunately our core demographic (paranormal investigators) mostly have other things going on that weekend and our attendance took a bit of a hit from GS4. Halloween weekend clearly does NOT work for us. Oh and whoever said that Halloween weekend in Savannah was like Mardi Gras in New Orleans was full of it! It was no busier than any other weekend we’ve been in Savannah from what I could see. Suffice it to say we probably will NOT hold GhoStock 7 on Halloween weekend next year, unless that is the only available date for us.
*WIRELESS MIC - too prone to dropouts in areas of the room where there is apparently internal wiring. This created ear piercing signal dropouts of static. I should have learned this from GhoStock 4. This POS is GETTING REPLACED before GS6!!! Anyone wanna buy a lightly used wireless MIC that hates EMF fields??
*INVESTIGATION TEAMS BRIEFING FRIDAY AFTERNOON - Friday afternoon was a bad choice for this. A few investigators didn’t make it down till later that night due to traffic. My bad. We'll try and opt for this panel to be as late as possible next time – probably right after Friday’s keynote.
*JAVA CHAT ROOM - I know… it took forever and a day to load - many people gave up on it thinking it had simply timed out. Need a better solution. Also need a separate chat WITHOUT video for people at the conference to join in without eating up all our bandwidth at the hotel, and for those on dial up or slow connections. We might even have an “audio only” link for people to at least listen in who are on slower connections.
*LOCAL PROMOTIONS IN THE SAVANNAH AREA - Even though we flier-ed the hell out of Savannah in the months and weeks leading up to GS5, we hear time and time again that none of the locals knew about it till after it started. Since we did have a few locals attend this time around, we’ll likely tap those of you Hounds local to Savannah to help out with promotions.
*LOCAL MEDIA - A PR strategy starts with the local media. We need to figure out a way to spark more interest in the local press, radio and TV.
*VENDER ROOM LOCATION –Too far away from the Pulaski room and I think a lot of people missed it. I know it felt distant and removed from the rest of the events, and it was, but it was the only space we could get for that weekend. For GS6, Pam and I have discussed getting two of the ball rooms – one for vendor space, one for panels – right next to each other and pass on the Pulaski all together since they aren't that much smaller than Pulaski and we never even came close to max capacity in the Pulaski (yet). We can put the divider between the two rooms to keep sound levels from interfering with each other. I’m also considering another video projector in the vendors room to allow for those stationed at their tables to watch the panels.
These are just a few things that come to mind off the top of my sleep deprived, jet-lagged brain. Feel free to add to this list. _________________ Patrick Burns
Founder and Director, Ghost Hounds
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." - Albert Einstein
Joined: Apr 30, 2006 Posts: 510 Location: Oakland County, Michigan
Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:15 pm Post subject:
I think that April is better than May because then you don't have Mother's day and Memorial Day to contend with, many Hounds maybe don't want to miss Mother's day or may be tapped out funds wise because of a Memorial Day weekend that they want to take somewhere- or both. This next one falls on Mother's day and even with it being over by 11 am on that Sunday, you have a drive or flight home, making it evening before your kids see you or before you can see your own Mom. It's okay, but maybe for the future, something to keep in mind while planning. Thanks for listening and asking for input.
Joined: Jan 14, 2004 Posts: 1895 Location: Georgia
Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:32 pm Post subject:
ghostgalnwga wrote:
I agree with Kristin. I want to attend GhoStock 6 but it is Mother's day weekend and that is my special time with my kids.
yea sorry about the date. I understand that this will be a problem for some, but it unfortunately was the only date available - nothing was available for the month of April, and we don't want to roll any later than early May because of the heat - this IS the south after all, and it starts to become stuffy come mid May in Savannah! Those of us who remember GhoStock 1 in July of 2005 know what I'm talking about!
Besides that, I've already committed to other conferences in May. Hopefully this wont impact our attendance too badly, but we will take it into consideration for GhoStock 8 and beyond.
Thanks for the input, ladies! _________________ Patrick Burns
Founder and Director, Ghost Hounds
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." - Albert Einstein
I would almost be willing to suggest smushing the goodbyes/breakdown into Saturday night just this once to accomodate those who need to get home for families. Heck, even if we didn't get it all done till 1-2am, we could be on the road to our familes or at least get an early start on Sunday AM. We got the breakdown done really quickly this time around.
As an added bonus, it should garner more attendance at the goodbye/feedback session. _________________ "The Lord gave us two ends - one to sit on and the other to think with. Success depends on which one we use the most." - Ann Landers
Joined: Apr 30, 2006 Posts: 510 Location: Oakland County, Michigan
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:56 am Post subject:
I know, Patrick, I figured as much with your schedule etc. And I also thought, no one wants to be there later because it will be hot as hell (at least me, I'm a wuss when it comes to heat). No worries. I just thought, ew, mother's day, how's that going to work? I'm sure you'll still get plenty of attendance anyway. So maybe next spring, not on Mothers Day if it can be helped . If I do come I'll be out of there at the crack of dawn on Sunday or maybe even Saturday night as probably many others will be.
Joined: Aug 26, 2007 Posts: 79 Location: Tampa, FL
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:35 pm Post subject: Re: GhoStock 5 - what worked, what DIDN'T
ghostgeek wrote:
Oh and whoever said that Halloween weekend in Savannah was like Mardi Gras in New Orleans was full of it! It was no busier than any other weekend we’ve been in Savannah from what I could see.
It was pretty dead. Katrina (Wednsday Adams look-a-like)and I were going to get food to take back to the Sorrel-Weed investigation saturday night. She said we would run into alot of drunks. So about 3am heading to the store we ran into a bunch of drunks, was all the Ghost Hounds leaving the bar. Otherwise just a couple drunks in the store. Savannah is a nice place to walk around at night though, very pretty with all the squares.
Joined: Jun 02, 2006 Posts: 416 Location: Douglasville, GA
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:27 pm Post subject:
If I am able to attend GS6 [crossing fingers and toes] I plan on celebrating Mother's Day the Sunday before Ghostock with my kids and taking my mom some flowers to her grave, too.
After all... every day is mother's day to me.
Joined: Dec 14, 2004 Posts: 295 Location: Cumming/Gainesville, Georgia
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:09 am Post subject:
Yep, I am planning on it, barring any unforseen employment issues, lol. As for my Mom, we always leave early Sunday morning so there's plenty of time for her when we get home. Are you going? _________________ ---Sharon Mooney
I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it.
-Albert Einstein
What a caterpillar calls "The End", God calls the Butterfly.
Joined: Feb 05, 2007 Posts: 45 Location: Guntersville, Alabama
Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:13 am Post subject: Re:
I've got to say that it was impressive how smoothly GS5 went off. I like all of the little changes ya'll are thinking of instituting. I hated missing some of the panels while vending. The idea of being next door and being able to see and hear the speakers would totally rock! As for GS6 being on Mother's Day, I agree with Mooney...its my day so if my kids wanna spend it with me they can tag along. As for my mother, she already knows that for Mother's Day '08 she'll be on vacation in beautiful Savannah, Georgia spending time with her only child, moi! Too be honest, she is quite thrilled, she's never been to Savannah so we're coming in a day earlier to spend sightseeing. We may not be staying at the Hilton this time though, she's never stayed in a bed and breakfast and its about time so I'm already researching the closer ones to the event so I can pre-book way ahead of time.
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