MG from Abingdon! Viva (from) Las Vegas!

The character of an INCOSE international symposium
quickly asserted itself. Within two hours of arrival I had
met two other delegates from UK, and two friends from
the US who I had met at previous events and have
continued to correspond with since then. Then we met up
with one of the Australians who had just arrived with his
wife and we immediately recalled the very successful
Melbourne event last year. Many delegates at these
events attend every year and often try to bring their wives
with them. Friendships are established quickly. Partly this
is due to the common interest of Systems Engineering
but, prompted by the friendly reception given by the host
chapters, the atmosphere is invariably friendly and
welcoming.

The Symposium is not just about the technical paper and
panel sessions. A great deal of routine business is
completed when so many INCOSE members are
gathered together in one place. On Sunday, I attended a
meeting of the Chapters Committee with presidents or
representatives from most chapters across the world. We
discussed many issues and worked on a number of ideas
to promote more effective Chapter administration and
exchanged good ideas for running events and recruiting
new members. We also heard of the US initiative to
support and sponsor the National Engineers Week, and
this prompted me to think about how we might do
something similar in UK.