It was a pleasure to meet you!
 
The Humanists of Greater Portland congratulate the American Humanist Association (our parent organization) on the great success of their national 2007 conference held here in Portland, Oregon from June 7-10 (Thu-Sun), with the largest turn-out of any such conference to date. HGP members were honored to meet the attendees and AHA representatives, as well as to volunteer in various ways, including:
  1. •Before the conference began, HGP’s president was interviewed on KBOO radio, and HGP member “Dr. Don” Baham interviewed AHA’s Fred Edwords on his cable access TV show. HGP’s website offered information on visiting Portland and possible conference activities.
  2. •HGP members helped with registration throughout the conference, and planned, stocked, and hosted the hospitality table next to it, which included selling t-shirts based on the Humanist Manifesto, devising handouts and maps for the hotel and Portland areas, and providing a sign-up sheet for self-scheduled tours as well as a message board.
  3. •HGP members helped to organize and lead a discussion on Children’s Program (Thursday; Pat Burnet), as well as conference programs on SMART Addition Recovery (Thursday; Hank Robb), and “The Hero Within” (Saturday; Robert Sanford).
  4. •HGP members worked with Chris Lindstrom to help organize the Children’s Program, and helped with oversight and transportation for that program during the conference.
  5. •HGP hosted the Friday evening reception, and after dinner, HGP member (and Oregon State Representative) Carolyn Tomei read the greeting letter from Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and the Day of Reason proclamation (which, itself, was originally declared in Portland in 2001 through the efforts of HGP member/founder Gerry Gage).  HGP members Paul and Pete Barkett provided the musical entertainment during the Saturday banquet, as well as for some other conference events.
  6. •An HGP member, in conjunction with Tualatin Valley Community Television (www.TVCTV.org), managed video recording of most sessions during the conference, and will be involved in editing and televising those recordings.
  7. •HGP proposed and led arrangements for the wine tour that took place on Sunday afternoon.  HGP also offered other tours, and when those didn’t achieve the necessary numbers for bus rental, HGP members individually offered their own time and resources to personally guide attendees to sites such as Multnomah Falls, Mt. Hood, and Powell’s City of Books.
  8. •As ambassadors for Portland, HGP members wore identifying rose insignias throughout the conference, and some offered carpool and home stay services to attendees.
  9. •HGP members stepped up to fill other roles as necessary, such as preparing conference materials, contacting potential speakers, introducing speakers, setting up rooms, providing printing facilities and projection services (such as for the Humanist Video Theater), running errands, and of course, organizing these other volunteers and activities.
In all, over 50 HGP members volunteered their help on-site with the conference, and we hope (and expect!) that another 15 years will not pass before we see the AHA conference in Portland again. In addition to recognizing the hard work and friendliness of the staff and board of the AHA, we also want to thank the estate of Bill Boyer for providing his books to be offered for free at HGP’s chapter table, and Dr. Stephen Uhl for offering some copies of his wonderful book “Imagine No Superstition” to HGP volunteers in recognition of their contributions.
 
2007 AHA Conference