The conference

I’ve been a member of the World Future Society, headquartered in Maryland, since the late 1970’s, and, all along, I have attended several of their conference and general assemblies over the past years.

WFS general session

I remember fondly the first one I participated in in 1980, which also took place in Toronto, as it was this year.  That one, however, has remained unsurpassed for number of attendees from all over the world (almost 5000), and concurrent sessions (over 300).  This year we were about 1,000 people, from 34 different countries, and, for the first time, I noticed a much larger number of young Asians, especially from South Korea. The oldest participant was a 94 year old man!  

I have always enjoyed attending these events, which, for me, represented an invigorating mental exercise due to the variety of arguments and subjects available at the same time, in a common place, where one can choose what to hear, react to, or even participate in, with ongoing conversations with participants and speakers for a period of three full days, from early morning until late evening.

During my employment I have been an active and very involved member of many professional societies, related to the fields that I worked in, but gave up these memberships when I official retired. One I maintained, however, is with the above society, which is a clearinghouse for ideas about the future and its members come from all walks of life.

I am a firm believer that the future is what we make of it, and nothing just happens. We, as individuals, with our actions or inactions, forge what will come, and every one of us has the power to make it good or bad, interesting or dull, constructive or destructive, rational or irrational, better or worst not only for us, but for everyone else on the crust of this earth.  It’s in this frame of mind that I have always enjoyed listening to whomever has chosen to study how we can affect our future, what are the possibilities of making a better world for ourselves and the society we live in, and I marvel when I realize that the forecasts of years ago, are the realties of today, and that all that happens that might seem bad, is really not to make things necessarily worst.  

There is a learning process that is part of the school of life and, as students, we choose our destiny and involvement, while, to cope with them, we must adapt to the constant changes and transformations that, meanwhile, are occurring in this world.  Thus, in Toronto again this year, I immersed myself in several sessions for 3 days, updated my knowledge, and reinvigorated my spirit!

My return home went smoothly, and even better than I expected.  At Toronto’s airport I was offered the possibilities of an earlier flight, which I took. It was a new experience for me to use a smaller aircraft by American Eagle, which, was perfectly comfortable. I was so relaxed that I even took out my camera for some pictures. As we left the gate, a larger sister plane was pulling in, while the hot temperature was soaring.  

A flight assistant on the ground taking cover in the wing's shade

At the gate of American Airlines

We flew over Canadian suburban areas with their peaceful patterned environment, the great Ontario lake, beautifully green NY state, and finally approached La Guardia surrounded by the NY coastal area and its small harbors.

Canadian country

Westchester County NY

Approaching La Guardia

Upon landing, there was an enormous amount of people waiting for transportation into the city, and a mile long line for cabs.  I luckily made it into a SuperShuttle within 5 minutes, and was the first one to be let out once in town. Thus, I reached home a couple of hours ahead of what I originally planned, happy for a safe and interesting trip!