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Previous entries described the initial days of stomping around my old haunt of East Perth, followed by the ACFS National Conference and dinner. Of course, no visit to Perth from yours truly would occur without hosting some opportunity for various old friends to catch up, and this time was a repeat of the visit of almost three years past at the most excellent Bistro Bellavista. There were a few absences on the night, especially by those who had been read the Riot Act from their doctors concerning potential SARS-CoV-2 exposure, but also a few individuals whom I hadn't seen in person for decades, such as Simon S., and Anthony G. Because Anthony L., and Robin M., were present I provided a little speech this time as an innovation, explaining their presence and why I was visiting.
Apart from the dinner, I had the opportunity to see Andrei N and his munchkins and acquired a stack of RuneQuest material from him. Robin, Anthony, and I also took an afternoon off to visit old friend Stefen B., at his bookstore, another person whom I had not seen for decades. He seems very happy in his role as the business owner of classic and genre fiction. Afterward, we went to the Van Gogh Alive Experience which was pretty good, although I must say the Melbourne Lume version of the show was more immersive albeit in a very similar style. Finally, I spent the last day in Perth in the company of Bruce T., which also involved dropping in to see Jean K., another old Murdoch friend whom I hadn't seen since I lived in WA. In my last year in Perth, Jean, Bruce, and I would spend Sunday evenings nattering over a weekly dinner, exploring the finer points of politics, philosophy, and technology; it was rather wonderful to see her again after decades.
The ACFS conference afforded, of course, plenty of business contacts, such is the nature of the organisation where roughly a third of the members are participants primarily because of Chinese family and cultural ties, a third for political reasons, and a third for business reasons, and with plenty of overlap between the three. Outside of the conventional attendances, there was also a very useful meeting with a representative of BGC Concrete, followed up with a chance encounter at a bar with a tour operator which has led to a pending meeting with a Uberbinder representative. It has to be said, for a business that was barely over a week old, it's been a pretty solid start and increasingly we finding ourselves with an even tighter initial focus. I suppose at some stage we should get the website up and running as well - but it does feel rather secondary to establishing the real network over a virtual presence. Like all things in life, one should give priority to those activities and relationships that really matter.
Apart from the dinner, I had the opportunity to see Andrei N and his munchkins and acquired a stack of RuneQuest material from him. Robin, Anthony, and I also took an afternoon off to visit old friend Stefen B., at his bookstore, another person whom I had not seen for decades. He seems very happy in his role as the business owner of classic and genre fiction. Afterward, we went to the Van Gogh Alive Experience which was pretty good, although I must say the Melbourne Lume version of the show was more immersive albeit in a very similar style. Finally, I spent the last day in Perth in the company of Bruce T., which also involved dropping in to see Jean K., another old Murdoch friend whom I hadn't seen since I lived in WA. In my last year in Perth, Jean, Bruce, and I would spend Sunday evenings nattering over a weekly dinner, exploring the finer points of politics, philosophy, and technology; it was rather wonderful to see her again after decades.
The ACFS conference afforded, of course, plenty of business contacts, such is the nature of the organisation where roughly a third of the members are participants primarily because of Chinese family and cultural ties, a third for political reasons, and a third for business reasons, and with plenty of overlap between the three. Outside of the conventional attendances, there was also a very useful meeting with a representative of BGC Concrete, followed up with a chance encounter at a bar with a tour operator which has led to a pending meeting with a Uberbinder representative. It has to be said, for a business that was barely over a week old, it's been a pretty solid start and increasingly we finding ourselves with an even tighter initial focus. I suppose at some stage we should get the website up and running as well - but it does feel rather secondary to establishing the real network over a virtual presence. Like all things in life, one should give priority to those activities and relationships that really matter.
