It Was a First!

When you get to my age, I think, all the greater is the feeling of utter satisfaction when something happens, or you record some achievement FOR THE FIRST TIME!  

A few weeks ago when I cooked my tea, for the first time ever, I broke an egg and discovered a double yolk inside.  Of course, something spectacular like that just had to be recorded, didn't it? 

But that incident pales into insignificance when compared to last weekend. Four or five years ago I popped along to Northampton for a few hours to the Liberal Democrats' regional conference, but until May 2022, I'd never been to a real, live, pack-your-bags-and-stay-for-the-weekend Conference.

For the last fifteen months or so I've been working for an organisation called MissionAssist.  Now, when I say 'working', yes, it's doing work, but this charity has no employees.  All of its workers, from the CEO down, whether in their first or thirty-first year with them, wherever they are in the world, are volunteers. It's a big international family. 

So, when the boss's PA sends you an e-mail saying that the Annual Conference will be from 13th to 15th May, it's not a command.  There's no three-line whip dictating that you shall attend, lest some dreadful penalty be extorted.  It's a gentle imparting of news, reaction to which is entirely your choice.

Last year's Conference was held on line, through the good offices of Zoom, and that for 2020 had to be cancelled altogether so, for those who have been part of the MA family for almost any time longer than I have, this offered the opportunity for friends and on-line colleagues to meet each other for a catch-up for the first time for three years.  I'm pleased to say I was far from the only 'newbie' attending and, for all of us it was a chance to fit faces to many who have been no more than names on an e-mail up to now.

Hayes Conference Centre,
Swanwick

I think in excess of a tenth of the total membership attended and, unlike the big conferences that regularly make the news, we didn't have to travel to the seaside.  However, the weather in Derbyshire was exceedingly good, such that a seaside location would have been perfectly acceptable.  

We had an inspirational guest speaker who gave four talks on an appropriate theme, and there were the inevitable reports from departmental managers and workshops to join in, as well as time for casual conversation and to learn what other people's roles consisted of.

And the food was fantastic!  Dinner on Friday evening was welcome after the drive there in late afternoon, but the shock of three cooked meals on Saturday - not to mention coffee and biscuits in the morning and tea and cakes mid-afternoon - was far more than my body is used to, and sleep was not my constant companion that night.  Sunday morning found me by-passing the breakfast buffet and heading for a plate of porridge instead.

At a political conference the last event is the leader's keynote address - remember David Steel's famous 'Go home and prepare for government' line? - and in a way, I suppose our Sunday send-away mirrored that.  Having formally welcomed us after dinner on Friday, and popping up many times between programme items during Saturday, our CEO led us in a service of Holy Communion after the final talk on Sunday morning.

Then it was time for Sunday lunch and departure, some to the nearest train station, others to their cars, and work as usual the next day.  I've already completed two pieces of work this week, and have also expressed my intention to attend next year's Conference.