Conference Dinner

Just back from an excellent conference dinner at the New York Bakery at Sovereign Hill. There we were entertained by the gentlemen of the 40th Regiment (well, the corporal and his "tall, dark and 'andsome men". Well, his tall men....), before a performance by Lola Montez. All quite fun, sipping a nice wine in the main street of the town.

But again - what really makes these conferences worthwhile is who you meet. I had the pleasure of discovering that on my right was Anne Rowland, the registrar of the Ballarat Art Gallery - registrar is the professional equivalent of a cataloguer in a community museum. She thought she was possibly the only registrar in the room. What a win for me. (AND her mother was born in Sale, and I had known her aunt).

Then I discovered that Roisin O'Dwyer, editor of Insite, on my left, was a cupboard registrar - or at least had attended their conferences. What a heavenly thought - the next conference is in Auckland - the last was in Melbourne. I was sort of aware of the Melbourne conference, and really wished I had been able to attend. Imagine being in a group as passionate as you were about collection recording.

The Australasian Registrars Committee is "dedicated to encouraging the professional development of members by providing forums for exchanging ideas and expertise between registrars, collection managers and professionals in related fields in museums." My only niggle is that this is one of those organisations that believes volunteers are lesser people than those employed. Yes, we get a cheaper membership fee, but no, we are not eligible to serve on council. We are not "Full Members". As volunteers, we meet this a lot in the museum sector.

It was a wonderful night, in a delightful setting, in good company.

More coming up tomorrow.