August 1, 2013

Finest Hour 122, Spring 2004

Page 22

BY JUDITH MILLS KAMBESTAD, CONFERENCE COORDINATOR

Bermuda is quaint, British, green and lush with white-roofed pastel houses. It also holds a special place in history. The earliest sailing ships traveling to and between England and her American colonies were resupplied here; the South used Bermuda as a weapons depot during die American Civil War; and the Allies used the island as an intelligence gathering location during World War II. Ambience, excellent speakers, tea at Government House and lunch on the lawn overlooking the bay at the Mid Ocean Club created three days that all present will remember.

I want to thank the committee and those responsible for my gift of a Churchill oil painting reproduction, “Bottlescape.” I was floored when the drape was pulled off this beautiful painting, which Jerry and I have admired at Chartwell, where it is one of our favorites.

2024 International Churchill Conference

Join us for the 41st International Churchill Conference. London | October 2024

More

No conference can be run without an experienced, knowledgeable committee and expert volunteers. The success of this conference was owed to the planning done by the initial committee and the later work by all the volunteers. The committee comprised Randy Barber and David Boler, cochairs; John Plumpton, education chairman; and myself as conference manager. Terry and Marlane McGarry handled media relations. Most of the newspaper articles that came out in Bermuda during die conference came from their desks as news releases. I joined them in October 2002 at a site meeting in Hamilton. By that date, the theme of “Churchill, Summitry and the Great Republic” had been selected, academic speakers were confirmed, Randy Barber had the hotel contract, David Boler had the logo and a funding program. John Plumpton had an education program. Plans for Government House and The Mid Ocean Club needed completion. My job was to develop a budget, design, mail and track registrations, and put together all the details and logistics.

After managing two previous conferences, I thought this third one would be a breeze. San Diego was the breeze. In Virginia, registration included rooms and that put us in the hotel business. In Bermuda we had hurricanes, taxis, customs and protocol. For San Diego 2001 we had the tragic 9/11; in Bermuda we had Hurricane Fabian. It closed two major hotels and damaged others, including some at the Hamilton Princess. The hotel was able to guarantee our block of rooms, but had no additional ones. We planned for 150 and had over 200, leaving late registrants scrambling for alternate rooms.

Then there was Bermuda transportation! Imagine moving 200 people by taxi at 20 mph up and down the island—twice. To our relief and thanks to volunteers and the cooperation of all, it actually worked, and it gave people an opportunity to view the lush foliage, beaches, bays, golf courses and quaint buildings in passing.

Conferences require a lot of material—folders, papers, name tags, dinner menus. Upon arrival we learned that items from England were stuck in customs, including the Churchill painting we were presenting to the Governor! Some items were still in customs at mid-conference.

Our seamless progress almost unraveled at the Summit Dinner. One hour before it began I discovered the hotel had changed the numbers with the corresponding place cards on the tables from the master-seating plan. None of the tables was correct. I finished switching the place cards and numbers for the key tables just as the doors opened for guests. I could not get to the other tables and just hoped no one noticed.

What really makes a conference work are volunteers. They ran the show while I dealt with customs, taxis, protocol and seating plans. At the top of the list was Jerry Kambestad. He designed the registration system that was used for the past three conferences to track EVERYTHING. He made folders, stuffed envelopes, made name tags, packed and unpacked boxes. He made all the prep work possible. He was up to the task. Transported from Southern California were our capable local volunteer crew, Paul and Ellen Alkon, Ruth Lavine, and Terry and Marlane McGarry. In May they stuffed all 2300 registration envelopes in one afternoon at our house.

There is another special group of people who have been my support these past three years: Virginia Ives, Ruth Plumpton, Lorraine Horn, Kathleen Utz, and Shirley Hartman. They are experienced and can make any conference look good, stepping in when help is needed with registration, sales, place cards and greeting guests .This year I added a new volunteer to my “A” list—a person who came to me saying, “I have conference management experience—can I help?” I immediately put Gary Garrison in command of the “centre” (registration, coffee, display, sales) and the taxis. His taxi crew included Gary Bonine, Bob Jarvis, Phil Larson and Bond Nichols. They did an excellent job and repeatedly saved the day.

There is one last volunteer group I want to mention: all those who stuffed registration packets, and folded and be-ribboned menus on Wednesday morning before the conference. I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you and keep volunteering!