It never ceases to amaze me, that considering how we pride ourselves on presenting the right image to our public - how we dress, how we behave, the sheer beauty of our work - after a few drinks there's a mad scramble to reduce oneself and one's peers to the lowest form of toilet humour and highest average of four letter words per sentence!

Sort of restore's ones self confidence: if we are all such predictable animals, then it doesn't matter where you think you rate in the industry, your viewpoint will always be valid and valued. And that is the beauty of all of us convening and cohabiting for such a vital pause in our everyday lives.

As for the content of the conference itself, the presentations were of enormous worth. Each and every one of the speakers offered their colleagues a variety of gifts. From my personal viewpoint, the great leveller was the thought process behind the presentation. Given that we all know design is a subjective creature - there is never just one right solution to any problem - I loved the individual way each speaker approached his/her task.

Humphrey McQueen performed fascinating intellectual surgery on his visual subject matter; Lynn Trickett was universally endearing with the warmth, wit and whimsy of her works and words; Gary Emery, whilst not so present as a personality, made a huge contribution with his daring experiment into unfamiliar territory.

David Lancashire unlocked many spiritual doors with his stunning and thought provoking Kakadu interpretations; Lynda Warner gave everything of herself with her willingness to collaborate generously with fellow artisans, to put herself on the line artistically and critically, and to confront her fear of public speaking; Rick Valicenti took us home to sleep over, and then had us doing mental gymnastics understanding and aligning ourselves with his fabulous creations; and John Gollings gave us an informative bird's eye view of the technological shifts in his visual craft.

I would like to thank all of the above for their generosity and efforts. In their own ways, they have given me more of myself to bring home! In the same vein, thank you to Martine and QLD AGDA for facilitating a brilliant show, and exposing AGDA for what it is - well worth the membership!

Finally, to revisit points a) - d):

a) the mythical abyss that separates Perth from the rest of the designing country is considerably decreased - we all have the same basic aspirations, fears, challenges and triumphs, no matter where in Australia we reside.

b) the many years since I have worked as a practising designer, having evolved into a writer for designers, makes not one whit of difference. If designing is a human game, then I'm definitely still on the field, no matter what position I play.

c) The vast leap between lowly delegate and deified speaker (especially those presenters that deign to bestow their magnificence from across the seas) foreshortens into a sidestep - one needs only to be asked, and then to give the matter some thought. Each of us is, after all, the ultimate expert in the matter of our own life and experience!

d) The guilt associated with enjoying oneself where one should ostensibly be serious, learning and learned! Bullshit - if we're not enjoying it, we shouldn't aught to be doing it!

Cheers!