PATCON AAR

I received the following email this morning: How was the conference?

The word that comes to mind is surreal. I have several metrics on how to measure the success of an event which I outlined in my talk. They were all met and I now have even more for future metrics.

  1. If people stay after the event and do not want to leave, it is a success. The new metric: do people come early before the event even starts? The impromptu meeting on Friday night with TL Davis, Robert Gore, Concerned American, Alan Kay and several others for several hours was the first sign that this PATCON would be a success. Unfortunately, there is no video of Friday night.
  2. Were people engaged? Not only were people engaged by the speakers, you could see “the wheels” grinding and speakers were asked questions about their topics after their talks and the Q&A portions were concluded.
  3. People used “meat space” to make new contacts. This was an unqualified success and I am grateful for the new friends.
  4. People helped. The attendees understood the purpose of the PATCON and made new contacts as I pointed out. Throughout the event, people asked how they could help in any way: serving food, cleaning up or even directing traffic. When the event ended on Sunday, everyone helped clean and reorganize the community center for over an hour.
  5. The end response of people to me personally: thank you for putting on this event for the effort required to organize it.
  6. The most prevalent question at the conclusion: when is the next event? What would be a better measurement of success?
  7. I have 71 GB of video to process into movies which will take several weeks. I do not think viewers will be disappointed.
  8. I think it was also successful based on the number of people who are now considering moving to this area because of this event and its information.
  9. Most of the attendees commented that they wished their friends had come since they knew they would have enjoyed it. Word of mouth is the best means to succeed in the future.
  10. After our first large town hall in Raleigh, a good friend who is very frugal with his words came to me and said: Good Party. This was a good party and I could feel the hand of God on my shoulder.

Although I will be personally thanking all of the speakers, I want to extend my sincere appreciation to them here. For those who attended the conference, please add your comments or thoughts below. Make sure that you include the food served by Rib Country, the bucolic setting and the weather.

Sincerely,

David DeGerolamo

      
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Gary Forehand
Gary Forehand
5 years ago

David and Lucy, thanks so much for hosting this amazing event! It was our first, and the comraderie, dedication and expertise of all the presenters was astounding. Being there among these new friends was a revelation and truly an honor. Gary & Deborra Forehand

Shane
Shane
5 years ago

While I could only stay for Saturday let me tell you, y’all knocked it out of the park!!! Unbelievable lineup with incredible timeliness. I’m already waiting for the next one. I will make sure I’m free for all of it!!!!!

173d Viet Vet
173d Viet Vet
5 years ago

“This was a good party and I could feel the hand of God on my shoulder.”

David, when we stand for the right, we are never alone……

Sorry I could not attend. Perhaps next year.

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James Allen
James Allen
5 years ago

This was my first PATCON and Good Lord willing it won’t be my last! How was PATCON?

The event location was top notch! The facilities a continuous “work in progress,” by David are spacious, multi-functional, well planned, constructed and maintained. Opportunities for onsite camping is a big asset! I was able to attend the Friday afternoon “Winter Survival,” instruction by Alan Kay (a don’t pass up opportunity) unable to attend Saturday due to a family emergency but made the Sunday programs.

The presentations were awesome with current and relevant material! It is easy to maintain attention and “get drawn into,” the presentation when you have the right people covering the right material! The presenters were committed to provide information making certain that everyone who wanted to ask questions and sometime add personal experience to the program were allowed to do so! There was much interaction by them and the attendees at breaks and meal time. Speaking of meal time, as David said the “Rib Country,” not only delicious but quite substantial!

I got to meet several folks who I had followed and interacted with on social media as well as make several new acquaintances. The shared concern for our country and people permeated the atmosphere and I sincerely believe that all left with a new sense of awareness, urgency and stronger bonds of fellowship!

We are the “stewards,” of our family, country and groups. As such we are charged with a mighty serious job and PATCON served us well in this role! Thank you David, presenters and all who worked behind the scenes to make this program possible. I look forward to future events.

nancyccta
5 years ago

The venue was great, the food was great, the speakers were great, and the people were great. Just can’t see how it could have been better.

Hans
Hans
5 years ago

David -- thanks for this AAR

As I was driving home, I relaxed at several “Rest Stops” on I40. A couple of people I spoke to will be browsing NCRenegade to watch the videos from the presentations.

Could you please make a small data table in the “static area” at the top of the NCRenegade home page? (where you have the flag and link to Hand Signals) …

… a list of the PATCON presentation topics, with links to the pages you plan to create for the videos and Powerpoints from the speakers, would be a convenient index to help the casual NCRenegade reader who wants to find out what occurred last weekend.

Thanks again, David -- you hosted a great event.

Carol Lee
Carol Lee
5 years ago

This was our first PATCON meeting and it was a weekend filled with so much timely information and what an impressive line
up of authors and speakers. Great to meet and connect with others and we have a lot of great information to share with others. You have a wonderful Meeting Center and everything went so smoothly. Thank you David and Lucy and we can’t wait for the next gathering!

Phillip Ley
Phillip Ley
5 years ago

It was, after the weekends where I met and married my wife, the most transformative time of my life.

Rusty
Rusty
5 years ago

How does one go about learning more about these events, and about attending?

Grenadier1
Grenadier1
5 years ago

It was a great event. It’s always good to see people face to face, some I have not seen for a good while. Meeting new people and making new connections is the biggest benefit from these types of events and I was glad to be able to do so. The speakers were all excellent and you could see the level of commitment that they made to their respective topics.

After digesting it for a few days I want to say that if anything could be better it would be to end on a positive note. That’s not to say that we should present something unrealistic, but let’s face it the future that we face is a dark and foreboding one. I am not sure that people left that event feeling a sense of hope and optimism. It can be very easy to shut down and withdraw inward when facing the monumental tasks before us. The last thing that we need right now is people coming to the conclusion that there is nothing they can do and giving up.

I hope that people took away a different message from the event. I hope that they came away understanding that they are not alone. That there are far more people like them out there. That many more are out there that just need to be shown that something is going to happen. That unless we organize and suppress our fears we will be consumed by it. So take away from the event that the last thing that you need to be doing is disappearing into a spider hole. This is the time to be seen and be heard and to take every opportunity to let the bad people know that they will pay a price when they do what they plan to do.

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Charley
5 years ago

Thank you David for the opportunity to join and speak at the event. I met a lot of great people and more importantly, people who are dedicated to becoming more informed and self reliant. The venue was perfect, the hospitality amazing and the BBQ was awesome. Everyone seemed completely engaged and I saw a lot of notes being scribbled as fast as the hands could write. To anyone who was unable to attend, I urge you to make the trip next time and enjoy some “meatspace” among some great people.

I look forward to the opportunity to present and learn with so many genuine people again in the near future.
Thanks again,
Charley Hogwood