Let Thy Words Be Few

Abstract

Those venturesome magnetikers who made the trek west found Phoenix with the perfect weather of the winter southwest: clear skies and invigorating air. For this the local Chamber of Commerce can thank their formidable ally C. L. Hogan who persuasively guided the Conference party to a very civilized frontier indeed. And now, as every year, the many who worked to make the Conference interesting and lively have asked themselves, “Was it a good meeting; was all the work worthwhile?” This is something that those attending the Conference must decide, but in this case many are both witness and jury as a large portion of those attending the meeting also participated in some part of the program machinery. A reasonable estimate would be that more than 150 people were required to ready the Conference, including nearly 100 referees. As this meeting is run by volunteers (some in the army sense), it is a many-body system whose state is briefly observable but once a year. Although this sometimes seems like organizational anarchy, it is in fact just this wide participation each year of new groups with fresh points of view that keep the Conference lively.