Washington report (November 1, 1960)

PRESIDENT'S COLUMN A century and a quarter ago Alexis de Tocqueville observed that Americans were an association-minded people, that they had a passion for getting together. Percep¬ tive as he was, the scholarly Frenchman hardly could have foreseen that today in this country there would be some 20,000 "getting togethers" with an annual attendance estimated at 10 million. Almost anyone in the U.S. can attend some kind of convention, whether he be hod carrier, teacher, lawyer, or candlestick maker. The conventions vary greatly in pur¬ pose, size and usefulness. At one extreme is the raucous jamboree where horse-play and revelry overshadow more serious aims; at the other, are the sedate gatherings of various learned societies and scientific organizations. Why do professional people spend time and money to attend conventions? The Washington Post recently categorized the people who had come to the American Bar Association convention as: lawyers who look upon the ABA as a trade association to promote their interests and protect their bread and butter; politicians who are con¬ cerned with power, with who is elected to office, with who makes policy; craftsmen who come to learn, who listen to panels on highly technical subjects, and gather in¬ formation to help them in their private practice, and socialists , who come to see their old buddies, to tell tales, to live it up. Were these same types present at the NAEB convention at San Francisco? Yes, to some extent, and these disparate approaches pose a major problem, i.e., planning an ^-agenda to satisfy a wide variety of expectations and interests. Should the program be planned to provide a lavish banquet of many morsels or with a few main courses and several special side dishes? Should people be stuffed with a continuous diet of raw meat or have a little light wine and an opportunity to relax occasionally between servings? Does our convention fit the needs of a varied membership as individuals as well as the purposes of the conposite membership which is the association? Is it serving a genuine purpose or is it merely a social convention? Answers to these questions depend upon what one conceives to be the purposes of a NAEB convention. Among other things, I suggest it should attempt to: 1. Advance the general aims of the association: improving the professional qualifications of educational broadcasters and the quality of educational and gen¬ eral broadcasting; working "to the end that the educational, cultural and technical benefits of broadcasting may be extended to all." The agenda should be planned ac¬ cordingly, since its parts take on added force as they are perceived to be relevant to these purposes. 2. Chart new courses. This is the opportunity for setting new directions, accelerating recent moves, adding momentum to current projects, reinforcing, re¬ focusing, or revising policies. While adhering to the general purposes, specific goals need to be set and particular approaches selected. The convention is our only opportunity for group "brain-storming." It provides an environment for face-to-face two-way flow of ideas in which vexing issues can be mutually explored, varied experi¬ ences brought to bear on the clarification of problems, and cooperative determinations made as to desired destinations. 3. Provide a reverberation chamber. For these three days out of 365 the mem¬ bers are in group milieu that makes them highly attuned to NAEB concerns both as ^ receptors and stimulators. The convention should create a sort of cyclic-response mechanism by which officers and members interact with one another. The administra¬ tor should stimulate the audience with his conception of how and what is to be done; the audience should, through its reactions, stimulate him, and, in turn, the admin¬ istrator restimulate the members through his sensitive response to their wishes and feelings.