Conference Abstracts: SSE/PA Connections, 2021

Abstract

It was my great pleasure to chair the first major online conference presented jointly by the Society for Scientific Exploration and the Parapsychological Association.The conference was held July [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] 2021, in an online forum hosted by HealthySeminars.com, and featured speakers from around the world.In both 2020 and 2021, there were plans to meet for a physical conference hosted by the Rhine Research Center.Though we were not able to meet in person due to world health restrictions, our goal with this event was to take advantage of the flexibility provided by an online forum unconstrained by travel limitations.At the same time, we wanted this event to be more than a bunch of online presentations that you could watch as if they were videos on your computer.The program committee and arrangements chair combined to create a unique and creative event that was designed to accommodate different time zones and provided significant opportunities for participants to continue discussions between sessions and after hours.In an attempt to mimic the best aspects of a live conference experience, speakers were encouraged to interact with attendees in virtual meeting rooms before, during, and after the presentations.There was even a virtual bar for the late-night conversations that often are so productive when we meet for live conferences.The long abstracts that follow were each accepted for presentation at the online conference.Speakers pre-recorded their presentations, and their videos were played according to the conference schedule.Speakers were available after the scheduled video presentation to answer questions and add insight.The videos were also available to conference attendees to view at a later time.This document lists the long abstracts in alphabetical order based on the family name of the first author, with the exception of the Presidential Addresses for the Parapsychological Association and the Society for Scientific Exploration, which are the first two abstracts listed.This is a summary of the presentations at this conference.If you were able to attend or present at this conference, I hope this summary will remind you of the wonderful information that was provided in this combined event by two major organizations studying parapsychology and edge science.The conference was long (9 days total) and packed with a variety of information.The talks had a wide appeal and some great detail from professionals, citizen scientists, and experiencers from around the world.It was a privilege to help define and organize this event, and it would never have happened without the assistance of the program committee, arrangements chair, and conference committee.In addition, numerous volunteers pitched in to make this conference a great success.I hope you enjoy this summary and can use it as a reference in the future.