Due to legal threats by the original venue for "tapscon", my opinions about them regarding the event situation have been removed. This does not mean I don't stand behind my previous statements though, because I CERTAINLY do. I obviously just cannot post them.

I wanted to take some time and address some of the accusations, rumors and questions surrounding the event in general. The first thing I want to address, is the topic of ownership and responsibility of the event.

I myself, solely am the only and sole propriator of the event "tapscon". I made all the decisions (operational and financial) on my own. The event had no partners in legal ownership whatsoever. There are unsubstantiated rumors circulating that TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) had some involvement in the running and funding of "tapscon". This is absolutely 100% false. Neither party have ever claimed the other way. The Atlantic Paranormal Society or its Founders has absolutely nothing to due with the event. They were merely guests, in which the entire team, were asked and appeared at the event. I alone, negotiated and signed the contract with the hotel.

Again..

TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) has nothing to do with anything.

Back in November 0f 2007, myself and Wendy Deblinger of the hotel group sales and catering department, traded emails back and forth, trying to finalize the initial contract draft. Initially, Wendy had (innocently but errornously) put the TAPS name on the contract, because of my (then) association with them.

In the below email from myself to Wendy, you can see I corrected her and demanded that I could not sign any contract with the hotel, that included the name "The Atlantic Paranormal Society". Wendy acknowledged it and made the proper corrections to the 2nd draft of the contract, leaving me the (appropriate) the signer of the contract and responsible party. Again, "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" was not on the contract and their organization had nothing to do with anything revolving around the contract, operations or finances.

Here is the relevant portion of and email from myself to the hotel representative who prepared the contract, regarding involvement of TAPS with the event. It was sent when I was merely a member of the organization but you will clearly see, I made sure the hotel knew that they had nothing to do with it:

Again, the hotel corrected the error appropriately and "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" name, was never involved beyond this. I am the sole responsible person for this event. To the folks that will inevitably claim that the above email is fake, ask the above referenced hotel for a copy of this. It is real.

The second thing I would like to address, is the circulating document distributed by a source at the Belleview Biltmore Attorney. This document is a PDF format file, reflecting a balance "due" breakdown chart from the 2008 event. These are the charges that the Biltmore specified that I "owe" (more on that later) and the reason why I initially retained an attorney in the first place.

This document has the name "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" specifically, listed in the upper left hand corner of it. Some people are asking why, if TAPS had nothing to do with the event, does their name appear? First, its an absolute error and should not be listed as such. The email above constitutes evidence that I demanded that their name not be on anything. And it wasnt.

However, in defense of the hotel, I don't believe this was listed on this document by any ill means. I believe that they grew comfortable with associating the event with "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" verbally and amongst the staff. Everyone at the hotel was excited at the hotel that TAPS was appearing there and it became quite a conversation piece around the hotel according to those I worked with there for the event.

This breakdown chart that is circulating was made shortly after the event in 2008 and just before I started questioning the charges listed. I believe the hotel was simply comfortable with the events guest line up and near relevance to TAPS. I don't think they included "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" document with ill intent. However, it should not be posted on anything relating to the hotel, event or anything in between. My above referenced email to the hotel, executes that demand and it stands.

Another rumor I need to address is a rediculous claim that a large sum of money was exchanged between myself and "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" founder Jason Hawes. This is an absolute, unfounded peice of heresay, which will never see the light of day. Whoever started this rumor is a flat out liar and only wants to add fuel to the fire. I'm going to say this officially once and right here: No money (whatsoever) was EVER exchanged between myself and anyone at "The Atlantic Paranormal Society". The specific rumor is that I either gave or was given eighty-thousand dollars, to or from Jason Hawes. This is absolute, false, unfouded horse shit and heresay. I'm still scratching my head as to where (or why) this particular rumor even started. Its simply rediculous and not true.

No money was exchanged between myself and TAPS Founders!

In fact, when the "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" Founders attended last year, they paid for their travel and such on their own accord and received no pay for the event appearance. They attended the event on their own dime and agreed to appear in order to meet the fans! This is in exception to a few of those guests from "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" that required contracts before attending, in which everything was prearranged appropriately through their agent.

I've also been accused of "fraudulently" using the name "tapscon" and that I "stole" the likeness of them for the event. In a past MySpace blog by Jason Hawes, he himself admits that while the name selection for the event was probably unwise, I did nothing wrong by using the name. I agreed with Jason that we should have called it something different, as "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" had nothing to do with it. However, to those who accuse me from "Stealing" it, know that the "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" team including its two Founders, attended last years event labeled as "tapscon", with no issues, disputes or problems from them. It just SHOULDN'T have been used. I did not violate the law by using it. If there was ever a problem with me using the name, it would have be nipped in the bud a long time ago. Again, it was just a dumb idea to use it.

TAPS founders simply originally agreed to attend an event at the hotel, designed to bring together members of the "TAPS Family", which is nothing more than a listing of links on the TAPS web site, of paranormal groups that the organization feels are reputable. The Founders of TAPS simply agreed to attend the originally planned agenda and over the course of a couple months in the fall of 2007, it developed into public interest. I chose the name "tapscon" to brand the conference, no differently than a label for Star Trek event would be labeled closely to the topic it centered around. TAPS simply had nothing to do with the planning or running of anything. However I just wanted to clear the air about how the name was used and developed.

The process of planning, developing and preparing to host a postponement event is a pretty incredible task in itself. On top of that, the issuing of refunds to the people that did not want to attend the postponement event, is slow and trying. I'm doing my best people.

Oh and to the people that I've issued a refund check to a short while back, that shortly after cashing my check, filed a chargeback reversal through their credit card company anyway: Much love to you. You know who you are. Now I won't and can't dispute any credit/debit card reversals (even from purchases a year ago) but I would at least hope that people wouldn't do this even AFTER I sent a check to them. Its all I can to do already to take care of folks, wade through the rumors and threats, all while trying to put on the postponement event.

If you have asked me for a refund, know that I have received your request. Know that refunds ARE being given as well. I am doing my best to take care of everyone and I appreciate and thank you for your patience in allowing me to work through this.

Brent Fair