IAN CONGER, Ouija Board Applicant

From Ian

Hi Kramer,

I'm glad I waited to talk to Ted before I sent the email I had prepared. After reading the email from him, and then your reply to him I was livid!

You see, I had no knowledge of the changes Ted had proposed on his "protocol document" whatsoever, let alone having authored them, as you seem to think I did. Nor at any time did I think, or suggest that a final test, if my team even passes the preliminary test, would be held anywhere but in Florida.

Most important, is the fact that I in no way, shape or form, had any concept of this "sender must believe" business. However, upon talking to Ted, I did come to understand where his concept arose from. You see, Ted hasn't been following along with this thread and didn't understand that the "sender" is one of the members of the team, not somebody he chooses and brings into the equation.

So, I think he was trying to do his job the best he could given the misunderstanding he had.

When I talked to him on the phone though, a couple of good points did come up that should be detailed in the protocol.

Namely:

1. The target word pool... You state, that it must be known to both parties before hand... If you mean that Ted and you must know the pool of words, I agree fully. But if you mean that Ted, and my group should know the pool of words, I must object as there is no reason whatsoever why anyone on my team should need to know any of the words.

2. The Record Sheet... In the room with the sender and the skeptic, it will be the skeptic who will shake the dice and choose the word from the 10x10 grid of words, and then immediately scotch tape it to the record sheet, and place the record sheet in front of the sender. So, the sender will never even touch the record sheet.

Lastly, in the conversation Ted and I had, he told me that what he had done is to create a "protocol document" because he sees part of his role is to make sure that you and I are on the same page Kramer. While he was creating this document though, he had some ideas and included them in it without explaining that these were changes he was proposing, and that I had no knowledge of them!

After Ted and I got off the phone, I re-re-read the emails, and the applicant thread; and it seems to me that You and I were pretty much on the same page already Kramer, and that it was Ted that was off track a little bit. So although his intentions of creating and controlling the "protocol document" are good, I must stand firm in the assertion I made to him that I control the protocol document to avoid further confusion.

In closing, if there are any changes that Ted suggested in his document you think we ought to include, let me know, and I'll put them in to a 3rd draft of the protocol and send it back to you tomorrow.

Talk to you soon, Ian


==============================================

OK, Ian. I have no problem with any of this. But, it's not a question of who is "in control". It's a question of mutual agreement, and although we got a bit confused, I think we're all on the same page now. I'm quite certain that Ted was not trying to "control" anything. He was simply trying to DOCUMENT matters.

Let's be clear that neither party "controls" the protocol document. This is precisely why the Challenge rules clearly state that the protocol must be designed and agreed to mutually by the applicant and the JREF (in this case, our designated associate, Ted Clay). MUTUAL: 50/50.

So...Let's set a test date.
 
From Ian

Hi guys,

Point 1. I would expect nothing less from Randi.

Point 2. Absolutely agreed. If the target word were "LUCK", then *UCK would not cut it. The spelling must be correct for a hit.

Point 3. We seem to have some slight bit of confusion here. You are mentioning a "Referee", and an "Observer". At this point Ted is the only person coming up that I'm aware of. However, when we talked on the phone Monday night, I did ask him if there was any possibility he could bring another skeptic with him. This way, there would be an "observer" in each location. He said he'd try to arrange this.

This would also answer the question as to who's going to hold the video camera in the Ouija board room since we're not going to use tripods.

Point 4. Not quite yet... The group was supposed to meet this week for the first time and enlist the aid of a "6th volunteer", but 2 of our team, (a married couple) had to go out of town on business. So we're shooting for next week as out 1st meeting. Given no trouble getting a 6th team member, then early October should be a go. Ted suggested the 5th, & that's good for me, but everybody elses schedules have to fit also.

-Ian Conger
 
From Ian...

Hi Ted,

Hope you had a nice vacation. I was just down your way today & was wondering when you were going to get back.

I've had a pretty big setback. Two of the members of the team, that had gone on a business trip about the time you were leaving, came back to town and the husband announced that he had just accepted a job 300 miles away and will be unable to continue with the project as he has to wrap up his business here, sell one house here, buy another there, and all those other not-so-fun aspects of relocating. So as of yet we haven't even been able to conduct an initial trial.

I've been trying to find some people to participate in the experiment. But it hasn't been my top priority for these two weeks. I'm on the board of a local non-profit & we've been having some structural upheavals that have been taking too much of my time & energy. This next week should end that distraction and I will resume rebuilding the team.

My apologies for the delay.

Ian
 
Hello?

Hello Ian,

Long time no speak. The last I heard, we had determined a test location, and we were on the verge of determining an actual test date, making you only the 3rd claim to be tested during all of 2005. Or would it be the 4th? The facts escape me.

Regardless, our hope is that the delay is only temporary. Please let me know ASAP as to the status of the forthcoming test.
 
Hi Kramer,

Yes, it's been a while. As you know, we lost two of our team the week before we were going to have our initial meeting, (to try & recruit a 6th volunteer), due to a job offer our friend and his wife couldn't refuse. Since that happened, I've been distracted by several other of life's loose-ends that have been pretty well wrapped up. I've got a list of people I plan to ask if they'd like to get involved with this project, but I haven't asked any of them as of yet.

I hope to have good news for you soon. Then we can at least get back to the task of getting a 6th volunteer........ and then we can run the actual preliminary test with Ted.

-Ian
 
Hi Ted & Kramer,

Just wanted to let you know I've gained 2 more participants, another married couple, but lost one more due to current engagements in the limelight. Still, we'll get there soon.


=========================================================

OK, Ian. Keep us informed. We're ready to go on this end.
 
Hi Kramer, Ted, and company,

We finally were able to get around a table yesterday and put our heads together, or at least our hands.

This initial contact was extremely slow moving and a very poor speller.

However, we'll be back at it next week & will update you as to our progress, or lack thereof as the case may be.

Ian


=================================================================

OK, Ian. Let us know when the spirits start cooperating.

-Kramer, JREF
 
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Hi Kramer & Ted,

Just an FYI.

We had our 2nd meeting yesterday. The movement was quite a bit more pronounced, but the spelling was still pretty bad.

Ian


===================================================================

Ian,

I think maybe we should close this file and you can re-apply when you actually have something to show us.

We have spent a great deal of time on your application, as has the investigator assigned to your file many months ago, and it seems clear to us that your "phenomenon" is sketchy, at best, and quite likely to be the result of something that is NOT paranormal at all.

Please feel free to re-apply at a future date, if you have something we can actually investigate.

-Kramer, JREF
 
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Time...

Hi Kramer,

Let's give this a little time. I've just FINALLY gotten a team together after several false-starts, and we've only met twice to try to get this ball rolling so far. We've scheduled weekly meetings to see if we can get this thing from point A to point B, so let's not abandon the project quite yet okay?

I'll tell you what..... Let's compromise. My application was received by you on or about August 16, 2005, and if I'm not mistaken that application remains open for one year unless some major procedural or behavioral breach is committed by an applicant. To the best of my knowledge I have not indulged in either of these activities. At this point, there are eight months and seven days left before that year is up. What do you say we split the difference? That would take us to April 12th, 2006. If we can't produce some results by that date we'll call it a day.

Sound fair to you?

- Ian


=====================================================

OK, Ian. I shall now patiently await your next email.

-Kramer, JREF
 
Hi Kramer,

If you don't want to post the updates that I send you, that's fine with me. I'm just sending them to you because it's what you requested.

Anyway, we had our weekly meeting last night and some progress was finally made. Almost at the end of our session, the movement changed from painfully slow, with spelling being so poor as to be akin to random letters; to a movement that was VERY FAST, with seemingly flawless spelling that said its name was Nancy.

Hopefully this progress will continue next time!!!

Have a good weekend,

Ian


=======================================================

Ian, these little emails detailing the nuances of your meetings are not what I was hoping to receive when I asked you to keep us informed.

All we really want at this point is to someday receive an email stating that you are ready to follow through with a demonstration of your claim.

The incremental "progress" you are celebrating is not a matter you need to share with us. Just let us know when you're good to go.

Thanks for your continued interest.

KRAMER, JREF Paranormal Claims Dept.
 
Now you tell me....(kidding). Sounds like a plan. Thank you for the clarification.

By the way, we never did get the final detail or 2 agreed upon for the test protocol.

I'll revise the doc that I have to include the last suggestions that I received from you & Ted, and get that off to you in a few hours.

Ian


========================================================

Hello Ian,

Isn't that a bit premature? Or have the spirits suddenly improved their spelling...

We'll pick up the test protocol negotiations when you can conclusively state that you are ready to be tested.

Really, Ian, your file is almost an inch thick now. I feel that both the JREF and Ted Clay have put more than enough effort into this, and I can't in good conscience contribute any more until you have a claim that is ready to be tested. So let us know.

-Kramer, JREF
 
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