Over the years, the GA has had some dalliances with alternative locations for the GA Presidential dinner at Conference, and tried different formats. It has become a buffet affair in the last few years. I've only attended one such event, and ended up on the top table as a friend had a spare ticket.
The image below was sent to me by former President Richard Daugherty, who has contributed a number of other blog posts to the project as well.
Richard told me:
At the 1990 Annual Conference the President’s Evening dinner broke with convention by being held on a Thames river boat that cruised down river to the Thames Barrier and back. This photo shows that year’s GA President, Richard Daugherty, making what must have been one of the shortest ever after dinner speeches at the event.
Unable to make himself heard on the boat’s PA system Richard soon gave up which was no doubt good news for everyone else, happily enjoying the food and drink on offer. The expression on the face of the other person in the photo Denys Brunsden, GA President in 1986-7, makes clear what he felt about it all.
Two years later, Eleanor Rawling tried a similar cruise which ended up having to cancel its plans to sail to the Isle of Wight because of bad weather, and there was a previous trip some decades ago to the Isles of Scilly which apparently nearly ended in disaster when bad weather struck.
Any other memories of these events, or other Presidential dinners past? Good speeches? Long speeches? I remember Sheila Jones saying she stopped talking at one event as she was aware of a sweepstake on how long she would talk for...
Image courtesy of Richard Daugherty
