Second Midwest Conference is Set
SECOND MIDWEST CONFERENCE IS SET
Delegates from 3 States at First Meeting in Enid
So successful was the first Midwest Dianetic-Scientology Conference in Enid October 30-31 that it was decided, during the closing moments, to hold another in January, either the weekend of the 15th and 16th, or the 22nd and 23rd. The same officers -- Norman Fritz as chairman and Agnes Hart as secretary, will preside over the second meeting, which also will be held in Enid.
The January date was selected because it follows the Phoenix Congress to be held December 28 to 31, and it is hoped that a major part of the program can be devoted to a report on and demonstration of any new data or techniques L. Ron Hubbard may reveal at that time.
More than 20 attended the Enid Conference, held in the Hotel Youngblood. The weather was co-operative, and both days found blue skies and ideal light coat temperatures. Politicians, winding up their campaigns for office, provided the only jarring note as their sound trucks paraded past the hotel extolling virtues and promises. On the same floor of the hotel, Alcoholics Anonymous was holding a state convention, but there were only one or two incidents of confusion between the two groups.
The meeting started Saturday afternoon with Chairman Fritz welcoming the delegates and outlining the purposes of the Conference. He also straightwired the planning and development of the Conference idea -- from conception, through incubation, to birth as a reality.
The delegates sat around a long table, and the talks and discussions were recorded on tapes in true Dianetic-Scientology custom by Lee Lockhart.
After each person had introduced him- or herself, John W. Burch went into the history of Dianetics, and traced its development from "The Original Thesis" to "Scientology: 8-80". He mentioned briefly the various Foundations, and the advance in techniques from Engram Running in Book One through Effort and Postulate Processing until even the name of the science was changed from Dianetics to Scientology when Hubbard quit the Wichita organization and moved to Phoenix. Burch paid tribute to Don Purcell for the time and financial support he gave in keeping Dianetics alive at a time when its future seemed rather precarious. Purcell, he said, after returning to Hubbard all the controversial copyrights and Dianetic properties, has shifted his allegiance to Synergetics, an out-growth of Analytical Procedures and sponsored by Art Coulter, M. D.
Nelda Woodring spoke on "Communication", explaining that the term was broad enough to cover "any exchange between ourselves and our environment".
Genevieve Crist followed with an explanation of "Communication Lag", and its relationship to "the know-to-sex-scale". She placed the analytical mind in the upper brackets and the reactive mind in the lower brackets. The auditor, she says, acts as an analytical mind for the low-toned preclear, who is able to use only his reactive mind. To wind up her talk, she acted as group auditor for more than an hour of processing with 8-C Opening Procedure and Opening Procedure by Duplication.
Following a two-hour dinner break, Alphia Hart discussed the publications of Hubbard and others from 1952 to present time. After his talk, the Conference divided into three groups. One, led by Harold Peck, held a discussion and demonstration of Analytical Procedure. Another group, led by Mrs. Woodring, was processed through use of the Group Auditor's Manual, and the third group became a "bull session" for the discussion of exteriorization and healing by persons who know nothing of Scientology.
Sunday's program started with a luncheon in the hotel, spiced by a program of songs and talks arranged by Miss Crist. In a report on group activities in each area, Burch outlined what the Wichita group was doing since the closing of the Foundation. Lee Lockhart said that of the more than 40 in Dianetics in the El Paso area three years ago, only he remained actively interested. He also talked of Concept Therapy, outlining its aims and gains. Jim Lear told of the tribulations in trying to maintain interest in his home town of Tulsa, or stir up interest at Oklahoma University, where he is now a student. Fred Hibbard reported that in the Dodge City area, it was almost impossible to find anyone interested in studying or being processed.
After a few minutes' adjournment for photography
