The last name sounds familiar. It could very well be.
Dark hair ...at one time anyway.
Dark hair ...at one time anyway.
freethinker
Controversial
Was he a skinny guy who wore glasses and talked fast? That's Alan Klebanoff
Yep, that's him. Thank you both!!!!
Looking back with 20-20 vision, Boston Scientology exposed me to high energy people who knew how to focus but were also a lot of fun. The notion of making the "able more able" is terrific. Inspiring! The comm cycles were priceless and the closeness one feels with other members was great. Scientology's focus on reading comprehension and the disdain of lower emotions changed my life in a good way. I knew many people who felt the same way. We loved doing TR's or word clearing and some of the auditing sessions were great.
So what happened?
It stopped being fun.
And then fun became a crime.
And then participation became mandatory.
And punishments became the norm.
And the orgs got smaller and smaller until the only viable org was FLAG--folks who somehow got a bunch of money being served by Eastern Europeans, 2nd gens and the ancient.
And the downfall was all Hubbard. Not Mayo, not Miscavige, and not the psychs. Hubs nutty insistence on massive bureaucracies, impossible pricing, and slavelike devotion was bad enough. The imaginary benefits signalled the journey's end.
A handful of the people in the 50th anniversary photos were giants in the old days. These were people who could FILL the Academy or FILL the Comm Course or who audited 50 hours weekly for years or who ran staffs of over 50 or who were top reges or top cramming officers for years. No more. And there were 100's more all gone now.
Twas fun for a while.
So what happened?
It stopped being fun.
And then fun became a crime.
And then participation became mandatory.
And punishments became the norm.
And the orgs got smaller and smaller until the only viable org was FLAG--folks who somehow got a bunch of money being served by Eastern Europeans, 2nd gens and the ancient.
And the downfall was all Hubbard. Not Mayo, not Miscavige, and not the psychs. Hubs nutty insistence on massive bureaucracies, impossible pricing, and slavelike devotion was bad enough. The imaginary benefits signalled the journey's end.
A handful of the people in the 50th anniversary photos were giants in the old days. These were people who could FILL the Academy or FILL the Comm Course or who audited 50 hours weekly for years or who ran staffs of over 50 or who were top reges or top cramming officers for years. No more. And there were 100's more all gone now.
Twas fun for a while.
Not that I can recall. I suspect you need someone who was before my time. Oddly, I've seen no one pop up who was around during the command teams visit. in ?? '74.
You might recall a "Boom Boston"event that I believe was in '81. Diana Hubbard was there and a zillion other upper level people. I think they flew in a number of Class VIII's to repair or recover the field. The org was in a frenzy the night before trying spruce the place up by carpeting the downstairs and polishing anything that could be polished. The big "Why" that was presented was "lack of targeting tech". (OMG--of course! How silly of us not to use targeting tech. Brilliant deduction. I'll just set a target to bring in 200 people and they'll show up. NOT!) So...for the next few days the field was contacted and after the event we trained maybe 50 people, maybe 20, I can't recall the numbers, on a targeing mini course. The Boom Boston people left and within a few days the org was just as quiet as previously with a new carpet. Looking back, Scientology was very hard to sell. If you can dress it up with beautiful people or great musicians or famous actors or unrealistic promises of greatness, it looks better and maybe you can trick some folks into doing services.
Type4_PTS
Well-known member
I was definitely not around during the time of the command teams visit, and from stories I've heard I'm glad I wasn't around back then. LOL
Nancy Many was around during that time though, wasn't she? And she used to post occasionally back on ESMB.
It's very strange as I was on staff in '81 but don't recall this event or any visit from Diana Hubbard. I was down at Miami Org for a bit when TTC members were being sent there, so maybe it was during that time.
On second thought, I think it was 1980 and not 1981. Definitely after 78 and before 82. I have to tip my hat at all the people and their valiant efforts. IIYC we rented out Fanieul Hall! I think it was that event. I may be blurring events. For the amount of people involved in Scientology, they (we) certainly created a lot of hype. Too bad they couldn't deliver.
Type4_PTS
Well-known member
I had to be down in Miami around that time. I love Fanieul Hall and would definitely have remembered an event there!
I never met or have ever been around Diana. Was she friendly towards staff at all?
IIFC her exposure to the rank and file was extremely limited. I believe she had dinner at the Crossroads with a few of the site leaders. She did give a talk but I don't recall any real mingling. She was the one who delivered the "Why" as lack of targetting tech being use. (I still shake my head thinking of the profound idiocy of the conclusion, method, and acceptance of that idea). As you know, being on staff one is ALWAYS busy doing whatever you can to raise your stats--Diana Hubbard or not--get to work. Yes, she could have done much more.
I would add that Diana spoke well and looked totally gorgeous. At least at that time, she was model gorgeous with a good figure.
This reminds me of another pet peave I nursed while in. Why couldn't the Scieno celebs visit the CLIV orgs or missions? The orgs were dying and if a Chick Corea or Diana or David Mayo or John Travolta or Kirsti could have stopped in every few months, it would have helped immensely. Just for one night. By the early 80's the Boston Org was starved for new blood and the only help from above was "you guys need to do the targets mini-course." The Incredible String Band did come in in'78 for a short but fantastic concert. We needed more of that.
Another bit of stupid in a long line of stupid.
Type4_PTS
Well-known member
I also don't recall Scientology celebs coming to visit at Boston Org, with one exception, and he wasn't an A-list celeb by any means. It was Jon Batson, a singer-songwriter who came by for some days after the Portland Crusade.
I'm not really sure why he came there to Boston but he hung out there for some days at the org, and played some music while there. He was very friendly.
This is a link with a sample to some of his songs:
Theta Sound Coffee House Live by Jon Batson
This is a link to a couple songs he did during the Portland Religious Freedom Crusade. I believe that Bud Clark was the Mayor of Portland at that time.
Jon Batson - Hey , Bud Clark
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1985 Vinyl release of "Hey , Bud Clark" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com
Xenu Xenu Xenu
Well-known member
I remember when I was in that every time Chick Corea came to give a concert in our town, that he would never pop into our center to visit. Such things would have been great for our org.
Nowadays I think it was great that he never came to our org.
We did get Mickey McNeil, the last drummer for Three Dog Night in our org once but who cares!
Chick Corea came and performed at the Boston Org once sometime in the early '80's. I have vague memory of him giving a chat to staff & public (I was public) in the basic course room on the 2nd floor. That evening I definitely remember him performing in the auditorium in the basement with some of the other staff musicians. BTW, many staff were decent musicians since Berklee College was just a few blocks away and had been plucked off the street by body routers.
I remember that Diana visit in the early '80's -- going to see her give a talk at Faneuil Hall. The one thing she said that has stuck in my head all these years: She said her father (LRH) said that if you went to some show (theatre) and really liked it then you might as well go back and see it again. My thought at the time was wondering how anyone on staff could get the time off to see a show even once let alone have the money to pay for a ticket.
Operating Wog
Member
No, but she was from some EUS org. I forget which one. But I got to know her pretty well one time at the CLO in NY.
I was there from Boston org for routine cramming, ethics, whatever. She was there being recruited from some other EUS org for the SO. She didn't want to join so they were putting her through some kind of ethics cycle. They had me twin with her to do a confusion formula. So we went outside to do a locational. We wound up just walking around NYC together for several hours. I think it was her first time there, so I just showed her around the city. We talked about all kinds of stuff. It was probably one of my best memories of New York during the time I was a Scio.
Eventually we went back, expecting to be in huge trouble. But nothing happened. In fact, I think someone thanked me for being so thorough in helping her on her confusion formula. I'm pretty sure that she got out of joining the SO during that particular trip and went back to her org, which made me happy. I never saw her again in person.
Reyne Mayer
Pansexual Revolutionary
i posted some pics from that event on the general thread about orgs at https://exscn2.net/threads/the-org-information-center.5148/post-139619
as i wrote there, i suspect Boston has shrunk significantly. i stuck my head in their previous 'temporary' location once and there didn't seem to be much going on, though it was hard to tell. and i see very few traces of activity, which usually indicates a small org. does anyone know what their trajectory has been in the last couple of decades? did they really shrink from being a relatively large org, to a rather small one?
in 2011 they had a holiday event that seemed to attract about the same number of people as the more recent one, i'd say 50 to 60 which i assume probably represents about the number who are really actively involved:
Operating Wog
Member
I was driving through Allston the other day and noticed a new (to me at least) Scientology storefront at 1105 Comm Ave. Looked to be just a testing center / book sales outlet. I assume they still have the place in Quincy. What happened to the other building in Allston?
Reyne Mayer
Pansexual Revolutionary
they left Quincy for what appears to be a fairly large (and in Boston's market, expensive) walkup space over storefronts in Packard's Corner:
and then still own, but have done nothing with, the second property they bought to make 'ideal' in Allston:
Operating Wog
Member
yeah, the first one is what I saw last week. I didn't know they had the upstairs. I just saw the storefront. Had the same thought on the expense of that space. Well, after years of harassing MIT and Berklee students, now they can go after the BU crowd.
Reyne Mayer
Pansexual Revolutionary
i didn't realize they had a storefront. are you sure it's not just the stairwell lobby? from what i can tell they took over the space of the defunct Target International Student Center on the 2nd floor, which had just a display window in that first floor lobby:
