Australian General Semantics Society Inc. (AGS)

First National Conference 27-29 August 2010

Melbourne, Australia

A Brief Report

Background

For more than 20 years, a small group of GS student/practitioners have maintained a monthly 1-day seminar programme in Sydney, plus informal meetings and correspondence. In this time we have had a very small turnover of membership, despite some “highlight events” such as conferences with visits from Gregg and Pauline Hoffman and Milton Dawes.

In the last two years, our evolving website has attracted quite a few enquiries from around Australia and elsewhere, culminating in meetings in Melbourne and Newcastle. The Melbourne folk have formed an “AGS Victorian Chapter” to formalise the relationship. They expressed some excitement at the prospect of a “National Conference” to bring together AGS members from afar, to share experiences, ideas and insights.

This vision became focussed into a plan when Marty Levinson invited AGS to represent the Institute at the United Nations Department of Public Information Non-Government Organisation (UNDPINGO) Conference in Melbourne from 30 August to 1 September. We happily acceded to this request, and organised our conference for the three days preceding the UN event, to utilise some economies of scale and maintain the momentum of our enthusiasm. It was, indeed, a convenient confluence of conferences, because the UN was immediately followed by a Science Fiction writers’ conference, of great interest to Dr Earl Livings our AGS presenter on A.E. van Vogt and Nexialism!

The Setting

We conferred at “Armagh”, the Australasian headquarters of Initiatives of Change (IofC) – a stately mansion in leafy Toorak, Melbourne. Some of us have a long and happy working relationship with the Armagh community, which offered us magnificent small-scale conference facilities, as well as accommodation for the interstate travellers. The property is convenient for road, rail and tram transport. The IofC community is somewhat familiar with the GS discipline and some of our members, and they hosted our conference as guests of the IofC community on a most congenial basis.

The Proceedings

Friday evening was spent “meeting, greeting and settling” as we converged from various directions, dined with the “IofC community, and prepared for the rigours of the morrow. Some of the Sydney people had not met our Melbourne members, so it was a special experience for them to put new faces to the familiar email addresses!

Each day at 7:30am, we offered a half-hour “quiet time” of meditation on variations around the theme “Reflections on our Dreams and the Art of Listening”. This was generally not popular, perhaps because of the early start!

Saturday morning, started with an “Official Welcome” to guests, introductions of each other’s background and interests, and particularly of Laurie Cox as AGS Founder and half-century Master Practitioner of GS. The founding of the Victorian Chapter of AGS was commemorated, and we outlined some practicalities of living in the Armagh community.

You can read President Emeritus Pauline’s address on our website at ags.org.au, under “News and Events - AGS National Conference”.

We presented “telegrams” (emails and messages) from around the world, congratulating us on our Conference initiative, and wishing us well – Thank you to all those responsible!

Laurie delivered his “Keynote Address”, which you can see here on YouTube!

We continued with presentations from:
Tom Valcanis:“Overcoming Conservative Characteristics - Self, Society and Sanity”
andDr Earl Livings:“Null-A, Nexialism and A E van Vogt”

These were a great introduction to our Melbourne members, and an insight into their subject-matter understanding. We thank them for their excellent presentations, which can be viewed via our website at ags.org.au.

On Saturday afternoon and evening, we had some “public” sessions, with non-AGS members and “non-technical” subject matter, which attempted an introduction to GS:
David Hewson:“Happiness Formula Update”,
Robert James:“Sense of Purpose and Living Well”,
Tom Valcanis:“Literature Review”,
David Hewson:“Problem-Solving with GS”,
andChris and Team: "A Dramatic Expo of GS Distinctions” (after dinner).

These presentations, in a wide variety of styles, and including components from multiple people, presented GS theory and practice from in some novel and surprising forms! You can see details on the website.

Sunday morning rolled on with presentations from
Dave Hewson:"Identity, non identity and then what?"
andDr Earl Livings:“Earl: "Creativity and creative problem solving"

Sunday afternoon was spent on a pleasant Yarra River cruise with plenty of time for one-to-one discussion, and registering for the UN Conference to start the next day. On Sunday evening, we had some debriefing, reflections and planning for the UN Conference - See Dave Hewson’s separate report.

A highlight for me was the Monday night “Music, Poetry and Song” event in the gracious Armagh Reception Room. This was something a little different for our group (Yes – details on the website!). We knew that Earl was an accomplished poet but this was a special opportunity to hear his work first-hand.

The inevitable “Conference Photo”: David, Tom, Pauline, Earl, Laurie, Jeanne and Robert.

Outcome and Reflections

We “all” agreed that the AGS First National Conference was a great success in bringing GS practitioners together from various states to share experience, knowledge and ideas. We got to know each other quite well, in the supportive and convivial environment of the IofC community. I learnt a great deal from the presentations and exchanges offered by this event.

There were a variety of opinions on the wisdom of the “public” events on Saturday afternoon and evening, and the appropriateness of including “recreational and cultural” items in the agenda. Some wanted a more “full-on GS training” programme, while others loved the social and community element. Some considered that the “public” events should be presented in a “more public” venue, while others thought the “Armagh Community” space to be perfectly suitable.

Future Plans

With the coming together of our disparate groups from Sydney Canberra and Melbourne, we forged a greatly increased sense of unity and support. The Melbourne group will continue to meet independently, seeking to interest others and build membership. Communication among all groups will be maintained via email, telephone, internet facilities and visits.

Future conferences and other events will be announced in due course.

I am grateful for the support of the Institute for our conference, and in promoting our access to the UN Conference. It was most rewarding experience to work with my colleagues from Sydney and Melbourne, and to share in their excellent presentations at the Conference.

I look forward to further AGS learning and outreach activities, and to a fruitful partnership with our friends at the Institute.

Robert James,
Conference Manager.