“So before this, I travelled to the States, UK and Europe to check with polychaete workers if they would come to Sydney for a conference. The response was positive and we hosted 90 people from 20 countries , and for many, this was the first time they had actually met. I also adopted an Australian tradition of no titles, just names, as I was concerned I would make a mistake with their titles! The format adopted was 2 days of talks, followed by an excursion, and then another 2 days of talks followed by a dinner. The excursion was designed to really allow people to talk to each other, especially students and ECR’s to talk to established workers. In Sydney we visited a vineyard in the Hunter Valley which certainly encouraged people to talk. Hannelore Paxton then hosted a party in the evening at her house. She had worked with Olga Hartman, and her husband John Paxton overlapped with Kristian Fauchald at the Allan Hancock Foundation. Since then, we have had conferences every 3 years (Blake 2011; see past conferences) and the format has not changed, with no concurrent sessions and always a mid-week excursion to really encourage communication.  Sometimes there have been associated field trips or workshops either before or after the conference.

Each conference has followed this format, but each has been unique, reflecting the host country. So, in summary, I am really looking forward to coming to the next polychaete conference and meeting not just the established polychaete workers, but students and the upcoming researchers, and listening to a variety of talks across a range of topics, and then seeing the resultant publication.”

Our History, told by Pat Hutchings past President (1992-95), IPA