Advances in X-Ray Analysis: Volume 31

The continuing success of the Denver X-Ray Conference is, it seems to me, the consequence of three equally important facets of each meeting. These are: 1) the collegial atmosphere and workshops at which experts and novices mix, talk, and informally share information at many levels; 2) the plenary session at which information is presented that intentionally brings new ideas to attendees to broaden the scope of the field; and 3) the traditional sessions in which interesting reports on current research and applications are presented in a timely and professional way. The first and last of these are discussed separately by Paul Predecki and are organized (no small task!) by the entire advisory board. This requires much more than deciding whether yet another workshop on specimen preparation is needed and whom to prevail upon to organize and present it. In fact, few attendees at these workshops ever appreciate the level of effort that Paul and his staff expend to make sure everything comes off smoothly, even when hundreds of copies of handouts need to be whipped off at the last moment, travel problems arise, or unusual audio­ visual aids are suddenly needed. But my topic here is the second of the three facets listed above - the plenary session. Organizing this falls to a single individual, on the theory that one person can then approach enough others as speakers to put together a unified and yet diverse program of related and interesting review papers.