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Seeing a lot of “why do only celebrity ghost/ufo/cryptid researchers get invited to conferences”, and in my experience, that’s either an oversimplification of the issue or just plain not true. Are there cliques? Absolutely. Do tv people get the bulk of speaking gigs? Yes. But..
At nearly every event I’ve ever been to or spoken at, there are tons of local experts, intelligent authors, and emerging creative talent. The issue is they aren’t advertised because most people who actually buy tickets want to meet that guy from a tv show. That’s the truth.
The best events are ones that leverage celebrity speakers to introduce new voices to people who only get their knowledge about the subject matter from tv. Good event bookers do this all the time, and I’ve seen entire careers built by eager unknowns who lean into that role.
“But wouldn’t it be great if there were conferences dedicated just to hard-working researchers of the paranormal instead of tv celebrities?” Guess what? They have those. They’re put on by parapsychology foundations every year. They’re filled with the smartest people in weird.
“So why don’t more paranormal events book actual parapsychologists to speak?” As someone who was recently introduced to the joys of booking events, I can say this: they’re the hardest people to book because they are always working on important things, usually for universities.
Sometimes parapsychologists also just don’t want to do paranormal events because they’re afraid that sharing a stage with “Bill the Deep South Demonologist” might hurt their credibility as a scientist. I totally get it. I talk about Bigfoot ghosts and that turns *me* off too.
Back to the original issue: paranormal conventions. If you’re just frustrated because you aren’t seeing more “real research” discussed among your peers, what you need is a book club, not a convention. You wouldn’t have fun at a convention to begin with.
If you’re just frustrated because you’re a researcher who isn’t being invited to speak at conferences, consider that it’s *not* the bookers who are to blame here, and it’s *definitely* not the people on tv. Their job is to sell tickets. That’s why they’re paid to be there.
If all else fails: host your own conference and invite anyone you think deserves a chance to speak. It’s easier than ever to do it. Either you will be pleasantly surprised or you’ll discover the hardest lesson there is in ANY field: it’s hard to get people to pay attention.
