Day 9 Tuesday, August 16 Engaging Communities Conference, Brisbane
I attended a number of sessions today, none of which was particularly interesting or inspiring. Much of the afternoon was spent outside talking with a guy from Toronto who works for Environment Canada on the Great Lakes clean up project. He is quite affable and friendly and we seemed to get along well from the outset. We discussed the conference, aboriginal affairs in both Canada and Australia. I came back to the hotel to try and have a nap before the banquet but was unsuccessful so just read and relaxed for a couple of hours.
Those who know me well will be very surprised to hear, first, that I went to the banquet and, second, that I actually enjoyed myself. Especially one where there were 1,600 people in attendance. It surprised me too believe me. The schedule called for drinks from 7:00 to 7:30 before dinner but I arrived around 7:20 (intentionally) so just had time for one glass of wine.
The reason that I enjoyed myself was that the people who joined me at the table were friendly and interesting and so the meal was relaxing. The fact that the wine (two Chardonnays, a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon) flowed freely probably helped that somewhat. There were seven of us the table and I think we probably went through about eight bottles of wine (it was included and whenever a bottle was emptied a new one appeared and there were always four on the table). The first people to sit down with me were a couple. He works in student support for indigenous students at Catholic University here and she is vice principal at a private girls school so we had plenty of things in common to talk about besides the conference issues. One of the other people runs a seniors' centre so we too had lots to talk about.
The menu:
Pyramid of roast lamb loin with native pepper, roasted vegetables, avocado and corriander chili dressing OR Lemon myrtle cured salmon with citrus and vinaigrette on a bed of mesculin greens, pears and apple.
Macadamia nut crushed corn fed chicken breast with chili mango salsa OR Medallions of fillet of beef with onion and bush tomato jam and sauce bearnaise.
Pavlova, fresh fruit salad and cream with passion fruit coulis. Truffles.
When I went outside for a smoke I met other interesting people, the General Manager of Children's programs at the Centre for the Performing Arts, a professor from Nepal, a New Zealander who works in land claims negotiations, and others of many different origins and walks of life. Fascinating.
Entertainment was provided by a good and not too loud jazz band.
The keynote address was also very good and thought provoking. It dealt with the speaker's (an aboriginal lawyer) perspective on engaging communities. I hope that they post a copy of his paper on the conference web site because I wasn't able to take notes.
Arrived back at the hotel around 11:00 to find no messages or information from the travel agency so my trip is remains somewhat up in the air. Since I heard nothing I am assuming (or trying to) that there are no problems.