I’m not one to whinge.
So I am not describing this year’s Gresham Society annual bash as “long” because the formalities took longer than promised.
But in truth, deploying the sort of barefaced nerve that might even make our current Prime Minister blush at the missed timescale, Tim Connell’s perennial boast that he would keep the AGM to within five minutes (or die in a ditch attempting it?) was blown once again this year by more-than-doubling the time to 11-and-a-half minutes.
No, the reason this evening should be remembered by all Gresham Society folk as The Long AGM & Dinner is because Ray Long CB was the guest speaker.
I am certainly not suggesting that the formal elements of the dinner were too long. The grace, toasts and Ray Long’s address were all delightfully short and well-directed. Ray, who is currently Master of the Information Technologists’ Company and a Past-President of BCS, spoke in part about artificial intelligence (AI), outlining the potential risks but also the monumental benefits that such technologies might bring.
Did Ray use AI to help compose and edit his charming address? We can only guess. Perhaps Ray himself doesn’t even know for sure; that would be spooky.
Yes, most of the evening was spent eating, drinking and enjoying conviviality, as always.
The Gresham Society crowd and their guests are such a warm and friendly bunch; this event is a great opportunity to catch up with Gresham friends. I always go home from such evenings feeling happy and uplifted.
As last year, Iain Sutherland again brought Bobbie Scully with him, which added some 1980s reminiscing to the 2020 conviviality. Bobbie admitted remembering little about a fight breaking out in the theatre when we were watching Long Day’s Journey Into Night several decades ago, but apparently such minor theatrical spats are small beer these days; the Royal Opera House is a better place to see bare-knuckle fighting.
Meanwhile, Basil was keen to introduce me to visiting music professor, Jeremy Summerly, as he thought that the good professor might appreciate knowing more about my Gresham Society soirée antics, e.g. the bash a couple of months ago:
As it turns out, fortunately, Jeremy Summerly is an early music expert with a sense of humour and a sense that there is no such thing as poor performance – in common with my early music teacher, Ian Pittaway:
Anyway, the point is, Jeremy Summerly and I had enough time chatting to realise that there should be some early music fun to be had at the next soirée, not least with a little “piece” I already have up my sleeve in readiness.
Basil also, very kindly, tipped me off to Jeremy Summerly’s superb guest lectures, the first two of which I missed but both of which are now available on YouTube (copyright issues having been overcome, it seems), so I passed a couple of very enjoyable and informative hours the next evening watching those:
I have also made a diary note to attend the next one on 2 April.
Another noteworthy element of the evening was the wine. I tried the white, a Bacchus from New Hall Vineyards in Essex, more in hope than in expectation, but I thought it really very good; as did Bobbie, who spent quite some time trying to persuade Iain to try it. The La Linda Malbec was also excellent – we should consider it for Z/Yen events, especially when our Linda (Cook) is organising them.
I’m rambling – and in danger of making this piece the only exceptionally long aspect of the event.
It was a lovely evening, as always with Gresham Society.