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StopSylvia email: "Sylvia"

ExMinister said:
I don't dispute that Montel going off the air probably had a major impact on her career.
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Of course. But that raises the question: Did StopSylvia have anything to do with Montel's show going off the air? I think probably little if any, but there is no telling.

Also, I believe that her popularity had begun to wane while that show was still on the air, which, if true, puts paid to the Brattus Theory.

I also agree that in the next several years, age may have had something to do with it too. But, as I have said repeatedly, people in the office said that Sylvia herself was convinced that you had an impact on her waning popularity and loss of business, so she perceived it that way herself, and that is a fact.
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Thanks for bringing this up again, Ex-M!
 
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RSLancastr said:
Of course. But that raises the question: Did StopSylvia have anything to do with Montel's show going off the air? I think probably little if any, but there is no telling.

Also, I believe that her popularity had begun to wane while that show was still on the air, which, if true, puts paid to the Brattus Theory.

<snip>
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If Sylvia was a popular person (as in ratings) then she should have had no problems getting another show. Even if the website was not a factor in the show being cancelled, then once it was cancelled it probably stopped her getting a show somewhere else. Well, she did get shows but they were only on the Internet and preaching only to the converted.
 
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rjh01 said:
If Sylvia was a popular person (as in ratings) then she should have had no problems getting another show. Even if the website was not a factor in the show being cancelled, then once it was cancelled it probably stopped her getting a show somewhere else.
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I agree with this. My thoughts exactly.

And I wonder: Without the web site in place, would the Shawn Hornbeck story have impacted her at all? Would anyone even have made the connection? Because the publicity from that alone seemed to have done some major irreversible damage to her reputation.
 
rjh01 said:
If Sylvia was a popular person (as in ratings) then she should have had no problems getting another show. Even if the website was not a factor in the show being cancelled, then once it was cancelled it probably stopped her getting a show somewhere else. Well, she did get shows but they were only on the Internet and preaching only to the converted.
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And, I believe, those Internet shows were produced by Browne's publisher Hay House, who had a vested interest in bolstering Browne's waning popularity.
 
We all now know how to stop almost any woo. Follow the lead of RSL. Adapt to your own style and situation. RSL has shown the lead. There are a few websites. There needs to be more and directed at specific people.

On the other hand there are not too many people or organisations who have anything like the popularity of Sylvia at her peak.
 
RenaissanceBiker said:
Regarding this statement:


I'm pretty sure Sylvia was worth millions at one time. Does that mean this guy put tens of millions into collection plates?
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I suspect that by anyone the person referred to any single person/individually.

A lot of people sent fundage to the hag.
 
rjh01 said:
We all now know how to stop almost any woo. Follow the lead of RSL.
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You're very kind, rj, but I haven't shown THE way, nor necessarily even the BEST way. I have just shown ONE way. Perhaps the most important thing that I have shown, TWICE now, is that one person CAN make a difference in this sort of effort.

And, that such a person doesn't need to have any special abilities beyond patience, dedication and clear and logical writing. Someone in this forum once referred to me as "the Batman of Skepticism", referring to my not having any "super powers" (I'm not a magician, a scientist, nor any of the other extraordinary things which many of the leaders of Skepticism have been. I'm just, as I have described myself many times, "a guy with a web site", and it works.

Adapt to your own style and situation. RSL has shown the lead. There are a few websites. There needs to be more and directed at specific people.

On the other hand there are not too many people or organisations who have anything like the popularity of Sylvia at her peak.
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RSLancastr said:
You're very kind, rj, but I haven't shown THE way, nor necessarily even the BEST way. I have just shown ONE way. Perhaps the most important thing that I have shown, TWICE now, is that one person CAN make a difference in this sort of effort.

And, that such a person doesn't need to have any special abilities beyond patience, dedication and clear and logical writing. Someone in this forum once referred to me as "the Batman of Skepticism", referring to my not having any "super powers" (I'm not a magician, a scientist, nor any of the other extraordinary things which many of the leaders of Skepticism have been. I'm just, as I have described myself many times, "a guy with a web site", and it works.
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I agree 100% with you. Anyone that wants to do what you achieved has two choices
1. Reinvent the wheel.
2. Do what you did or something similar.

Having a hexagonal wheel may not be the best shape for a wheel but it is a good shape that works. Much better than what happened before.
 
rjh01 said:
I agree 100% with you. Anyone that wants to do what you achieved has two choices
1. Reinvent the wheel.
2. Do what you did or something similar.

Having a hexagonal wheel may not be the best shape for a wheel but it is a good shape that works. Much better than what happened before.
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But, for a "Stop" site, the wheel should be octagonal!
 
And, apparently failed to predict it as she had horror shows already set for dates after she took her leave of this vale of tears.
 
Either failed to predict it, or did not care what needless inconvenience and expense her cancelled shows would cause not only her fans, but the venues.
 
ExMinister said:
I don't dispute that Montel going off the air probably had a major impact on her career. I also agree that in the next several years, age may have had something to do with it too. But, as I have said repeatedly, people in the office said that Sylvia herself was convinced that you had an impact on her waning popularity and loss of business, so she perceived it that way herself, and that is a fact.
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It should, of course, be pointed out that what Sylvia thought was going on and what was actually going on need not be correlated. If her career was going in to a natural decline, it must have been easy to have a bogeyman to blame, regardless of what was true.
 
ExMinister said:
I don't dispute that Montel going off the air probably had a major impact on her career. I also agree that in the next several years, age may have had something to do with it too. But, as I have said repeatedly, people in the office said that Sylvia herself was convinced that you had an impact on her waning popularity and loss of business, so she perceived it that way herself, and that is a fact.
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Did her Vegas stint have anything to do with it? I have to admit, I always kind of considered her Excaliber gig to be somewhat of a joke (wasn't she using the Thunder from Down Under theatre?), but then again, I never took her seriously.

I would think it would be easier for her to make it seem profound with big event shows, but doing it day in and day out, it just makes it look like a routine, like the other entertainers.

BTW, I've mentioned it here in the past, I actually (almost literally) ran into her in the lobby of the Excaliber. I don't actually stop her, but I did, at least, slow her down.

(someone (her son, maybe?) was pushing her in her wheelchair)
 
Squeegee Beckenheim said:
It should, of course, be pointed out that what Sylvia thought was going on and what was actually going on need not be correlated. If her career was going in to a natural decline, it must have been easy to have a bogeyman to blame, regardless of what was true.
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Excellent point, Squeege!
 
Squeegee Beckenheim said:
It should, of course, be pointed out that what Sylvia thought was going on and what was actually going on need not be correlated. If her career was going in to a natural decline, it must have been easy to have a bogeyman to blame, regardless of what was true.
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It is a good point.

pgwenthold said:
Did her Vegas stint have anything to do with it? I have to admit, I always kind of considered her Excaliber gig to be somewhat of a joke (wasn't she using the Thunder from Down Under theatre?), but then again, I never took her seriously.

I would think it would be easier for her to make it seem profound with big event shows, but doing it day in and day out, it just makes it look like a routine, like the other entertainers.

BTW, I've mentioned it here in the past, I actually (almost literally) ran into her in the lobby of the Excaliber. I don't actually stop her, but I did, at least, slow her down.

(someone (her son, maybe?) was pushing her in her wheelchair)
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Who knows, maybe so. My impression was that she was aging in a way that was impacting her lectures anyway: I hadn't gone to any of the shows but from videos I caught here and there, I wondered if she was going a bit deaf, and for awhile, after Montel went off the air and was traveling, doing shows with her, it seemed to me that he was almost covering for her, the way you might do with an elderly grandmother who was about to say something inappropriate, from lack of hearing or early dementia or some other problem, who knows. I did not notice this until AFTER Montel went off the air. I also think losing her weekly spot on Montel probably had an impact, as did the Shawn Hornbeck case.
 
I got the impression that she was having hearing problems.

There were several times on Montel's show towards the end of its run when an audience member would ask her a question and she would look at Montel with a confused expression, and he would repeat the audience member's question to her.
 
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