Hi Selma There really is absolutely nothing to be apologetic about re "the premature" anticipation of the Convention in London. Your genuine keenness to have contributed to it is clearly well intentioned and worthy of note.
I now present a few further reflections on the Toronto Convention--and hopefully my last on this theme. I suggest that several comments so far have interpreted the word "Convention" as an expectation that there would perhaps be hundreds attending. Instead, a member of the organising team told me over the first lunch that, only about 80 were expected and appropriate catering, and other facilities were therefore made for that number. In other words, it does seem that hundreds of Torontonians were not expected to attend this particular Convention. Therefore, in this context, the question "where have all the Canadians gone?" becomes a bit academic perhaps. I am relieved the Goan Convention will not take place in London in 2009. In a big place like London, a lead time of two years becomes essential as venues get booked up very early. Unless there was access to pots of money, a Goan Convention in London in 2009 would be a potential disaster waiting to happen in my humble opinion. Why do I feel this way? Well, since 1981, I have been directly and indirectly involved, following my establishment with an English university colleague, Colin Mably, of the 'Googleable 'International Society for Teacher Education (ISTE), of 27 annual international conferences around the world. In these I have been variously, a keynote speaker, the convener, co-convener, committee member or adviser in running a conference model that we preferred to call a Seminar for numbers between 80 to 100 and running with full board and accommodation for a week on a non profit basis. Besides about 5 keynotes, all attendees do a 10/15 minute summary presentation of their prepared paper to a 'paper group' of about 12. Copies of each paper are submitted previously for reading. This is a virtually finished academic paper for critical comment from the 'paper group'. The aim is that each paper will take on board many comments and suggestions and be 'polished' soon after for publication. The Seminar is therefore a working Seminar. OK, this is more of a professional Seminar with a parallel social programme, but as no fellow Goan has ever been to one of our highly successful ISTE Seminars, this is hoping that they may turn up in Salt Lake City in 2009, Porto Alegre, Brasil, in 2010, and Bangkok in 2011 all around Easter time. They would definitely not be disappointed! Nor do we receive adverse comments! The model designed in 1981 for a one-off Seminar has been closely adhered to with only very minor modifications to suit different venues and countries. I had sent Kevin some thoughts/suggestions on the way the Toronto Convention could run and I am aware that these and many other ideas were explored for the final programme by him and his team. I am very pleased that the Goans in Sydney will host the 2009 Convention. Sydney is great for such an event and I wish the organising group there much luck and success in the limited preparatory time available to them. By way of a bit of a summary, from my perspective, the Toronto Convention, was a great success. a) huge numbers were not intended and the premises booked reflected this view. b)in my experience, local people tend not to attend an international Convention as they prefer a more 'exotic' location well away from home and where they can combine attendance with a short holiday. For instance, I could invariably get people attending our ISTE Seminars in London, from distant Johannesburg or Fiji then from across the road and in walking distance to the event! c) Having said this however, I understand that the 1988 Toronto Convention was extremely well attended by local people. This may well have been true in 1988 and designed/planned for large numbers. c)in 2008 in Toronto I have now discovered that there were many potential scores to be settled by some. The scene was therefore not very different from weddings and funerals where things get bottled up, boil up to the surface and explode to an intrigued unsuspecting audience! I was however further saddened to learn on my return to London, that relations among some Goans in Toronto are not terribly cordial. Apart from competing interest groups, I have been informed from reliable sources that the caste issue that, so upset Victor Rangel Ribeiro in Lisbon last year, does seem to simmer under the surface among Toronto Goans. This is of course, the great Goan export that tends to get swept under the carpet among Catholic Goans rather readily. If this aspect of what I have heard is not true, I hope Eugene Correia and any others will throw more light on this and other issues. Despite the substantial criticism from just one attendee, I say well done to Kevin and his team for much success in difficult circumstances. Although unaware of the local Goan political scene before I attended the Convention in Toronto I can now disclose some further strong supporting elements in Kevin's favour. Kevin whom I had not met before, had on email explored with me the possibility of having a keynote on Religion and Caste among the Catholic Goans, a topic about which I had written extensively on Goanet. He expressed his concern that he would not like it to be said that the issue of caste was swept under the carpet at a Goan Convention. At this point, I indicated that I would be willing to do a non-provocative keynote on 'The Enigma of Caste among the Catholic Goans'. However, for a variety of reasons, my attendance at the Convention was very tentative and I therefore requested Kevin not to include me as a keynote speaker at the Toronto Convention-- assuming this was a possibility as some on his committee had expressed reservations on Goanet about caste featuring at the Convention. Therefore, to be fair to Kevin, I take my hat off to him for wanting to address a range of topics including the one on caste that has been the bane of Catholic Goan society for so long. He was prepared to take this risk even though he was mindful that it was clearly not a welcome proposition to some of those in his own planning committee. Finally let me explain that my attendance was due to a phone call from my daughter Joanna from Florida in May where she attended a major professional Convention at Fort Lauderdale with some 9000 people attending. As must be obvious, such a huge gathering can be entirely impersonal and even alienating. It was this I believe that, prompted her to ask if I would be willing to join her in Toronto where she hoped to have a much more satisfying experience of a small Convention among a friendly Goan crowd although none were known to her. This arrangement worked very well for her and for me. I was somewhat apprehensive how she might find the Goan Convention but we were truly delighted with our experience. We did not have huge expectations but were grateful for the enormous effort put in by Kevin and his team. Indeed, Joanna unexpectedly suggested on hearing Dean de Cruz in his keynote presentation, that she would readily volunteer to work as an eye surgeon in Goa and travel there and back at her own cost. If this is not an illustration of a positive 'outcome' arising from the Convention in Toronto, then I don't know what is. I too felt that, not to be outdone by Joanna, I would volunteer to teach at a College or university at least for a short duration if this could be arranged. Hopefully, supporters of the Toronto Convention and its critics will now have said enough to help those in Sydney come up with an exciting programme in 2009 whilst fully recognising what a substantial risky task they are taking on. To finally, sum up re the Toronto Convention and in the light of my extensive experience of ISTE (above): a) the issue of identity was much discussed without the expectation that we would arrive at a ready answer about this topic that we all know is a bit of a chimera. Yet, it was well worth exploring identity as it arose in different discussions at this Convention. Indeed, the Convention prompted me to think more clearly about the deconstruction of Hindu identity and construction of a 'distinctive' Goan identity as a result of conversion, and new mores under Portuguese rule etc. In particular what problems were created in this process and how, especially among the middle classes, Konkani was jettisoned to our very great loss. b) Yes definitely, networking was achieved for many and more than groundwork was laid for this as others have spelt out. c) the camaraderie was excellent at this Convention. New friendships and contacts were generated particularly as the event was small. Small is still beautiful in my thinking and Joanna's too! d) many professionals attended this Convention and their contribution to commentary and discussion was of a high standard. e) There was excellent attendance when events took place outside working hours. This might suggest that at least a few more would have attended if they were free to do so outside the call of work, family obligations, holidays etc in late July. f) No workshops can be perfect for all participants but the ones I attended were excellent. Even though I write a lot, the writer's workshop, in particular, gave me much food for thought. Perhaps from what Eugene said about the one he attended and did not enjoy, he could have left and joined us instead. This would have been quite easy to do and his contribution as a journalist would have been welcomed by our group of 12 making him the lucky thirteenth person with us! g) I enjoyed all the keynotes and asked questions when opportunities arose. The one about the person working for a Masters and emphasising that food clearly identifies us most as Goans was not in the least bit appetising to Eugene but even now, I am left with an idea and its ramifications running in my head that I had not considered before. Isn't this what a good convention does to those attending? The responses to the speaker from the floor were themselves pretty illuminating in this instance. h) Dear Eugene has been the main critic of the Convention and it was entirely right that he had his say. There have been detailed criticisms of his criticisms and it is not necessary for me to go over some of them. However, I have posed the following question for myself re Eugene: was his criticism, fair, reasonable, constructive, specific to the Convention, and objective rather than personal? On all these criteria, I think Eugene went rather overboard and could have separated the underbelly of 'kitchen politics' on the Toronto scene and confined himself to the outcomes of the Convention as planned and not as he had imagined it would be. So my answers to the above are as follows: a) fair? not quite! b) reasonable? a bit short on this. c) constructive? a long way short! d) specific to the Convention? Rather wanting! d) objective rather than personal? Definitely not! I honestly think Eugene had too much of an axe to grind and this was a bit unfortunate as he has often been excellent on Goanet. So, goodbye to Toronto and a warm welcome to Sydney for the next Goan Convention. I hope many of us will make it there before Gabe organises one in Timbuktu that I would not miss for anything in the world! Cornel DaCosta, London, UK. --- Carvalho <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Dear Cornel and Gabe, > I'm relieved that it was not me who was the > disseminater of this information. I did happen to > make a premature post on Goanet, which I thought > might have led to a misunderstanding. Whether we > have all been premature or not, remains to be seen > and should become clear within a couple of days. > With all the acrimony we have had from Toronto, I > don't know whether we will be missing an opportunity > or dodging the bullet if it doesn't come to London. > If it does come to London, we'll have to work > together to make it a success. > best, > selma