Lowel MA. Convention, Plenty of Empty Seats

by RESPECTFUL OBSERVER 22 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  blondie

  I have seen the WTS close off some sections for various reasons, not so spread out, "staff" to clean or for attendants, less required; optic reasons perhaps for jws pictures; views from that location not so good. I can't imagine that the WTS overestimates attendance due to cost concerns, renting/leasing a facility that is too large would undermine the bottom line; attendance is notoriously poor on weekdays and swell on the weekend and/or the day of the drama (sic).

  When the circuit assembly hall I attended saw dropping attendance, they readjusted from A,B,C circuit assemblies to only A,B segments. Once again though, seats were hard to find. Local halls do the same, remodeling and taking seats out (too many from the pre-1975 days).
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  tiki

  I just can't wrap my head around them having "conventions" in Lowell....back in the day it was typically the civic center in providence...then they used Amherst a lot too.... Do people still get rooms and stay over or do they all commute? But Lowell as a city is just such a sordid place.....yeah I'm a snob.
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  eyeuse2badub

  Conventions ain't what they use to be! Too many and too often. Use to be very "special" occasions for jw's. Today, not so much. Very boring symposium after symposium without any real 'meaty' parts. So as a result, lots of empty seats and more on the way!

  just saying!
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  loneranger

  4th of July weekend...many JWs are on "vacation" and will maybe make up the missed time at the convention another weekend somewhere else.(or watch it on You Tube) A family I know in a congregation near Salem Ma was doing just that. They told me of some others with the same plan. Even though we're in the "last minutes of the last hours" before this system implodes, JW vacation time trumps the convention for many.
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  Anna Marina

  I feel encouraged.
  
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  redvip2000

  Hm interesting, i see they did it at the UMASS arena it seems?

  Whatever happened to the convention hall in Lowell? I wonder if they sold it. I remember going there
• 

  EverApostate

  Send my love and greetings to the Brothers and sisters who never attended.
• 

  I believe in overlapping

  Half of the attendance was the NAMBLA Organization. They heard that Watchtower treats them nice and two witnesses are needed for all accusations.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2lYp_OqC5c
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  RubaDub

  Not to pee on the parade, but I really cannot see the relevance between the RC and empty seats (and for that matter, the relevance between baptisms and attendance).

  When you analyze if attendance was "good" or "not so good", the key factor is how many were "invited." If 100 congregations were assigned and each had exactly 100 publishers, then 10,000 were invited. Results of the event would then be based on that number.

  For example, at the International Convention in Atlanta GA, about 45,000 attended in the football stadium that holds upwards of 70,000. In fact, the entire upper deck was closed off.

  They were expecting somewhere in the range of 42,000 to 46,000.

  Were the attendance numbers "good?" Again, it all depends on what a person considers good and how many were assigned there.

  Rub a Dub
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  eyeuse2badub

  Rub a dub you have a point---------but, it's the visual affect of seeing an enormous amount of 'empty' seats that is so interesting. It's like being invited to Trump's inauguration. Kind of embarrassing for the 'true believers' even if they don't say it!

  just saying!