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Events are organized by people ... people with views. Generally an organizer does not invite a presenter who is truly out of line with the organizer's views unless they are local and well known. That's one level of maybe unintentional filtering that reduced potential conflict. Once the presenter list and topic list are published and potential attendees see what to expect, they decide whether to go or not. Aside from deliberate hecklers, most people only go if they feel they fit so there's another level of self-filtering. The first event I went to was organized by a "people camp", somewhat "paranormal camp" organizer. The worst behavior I saw was from one "big name" (Jeff Meldrum) presenter making catty remarks from the back of the room during another person's (Thom Powell) presentation. The paying attendees behaved very civilly. That doesn't mean it was a homogeneous woo-proponent hug-fest, I think it just meant everyone there was relieved to be surrounded temporarily by people who didn't roll their eyes in ridicule. There were a few hecklers but they were so outnumbered they tended to make themselves fairly invisible. I think it's worth going to at least one event, more if convenient. I didn't learn anything about the topic but I learned quite a bit about the people, especially some of the more prominent figures in the community. A chance to meet people face to face and "read" them is not wasted. I also finally got to meet a number of folks I'd interacted with on various forums in person. Kinda of a meet-n-greet, kind of a reunion. I recommend it. Time / scheduling permitting, I'll do more. MIB