THE GASAA CONVENTIONS

In this section the terms "annual meeting", "ordinary meeting", "Conference" and "Convention" have been used loosely to describe any form of meeting at which general members of the Association could gather to discuss industry issues at a Federal (or "National") level. The name applied to these meetings depended on the Association's rules at the time and upon the fashion of the period.

Regular "meetings" of members have been a major feature of GASAA activities since the very early days. These meetings have often been given a title or a theme. Sometimes the title has been self explanatory and at other times obscure to say the least.

The titles have included Peace (1929), Equity (1920), Elasticity (1923), Co-operation (1925), Service (1927), Unity (1934), Loyalty (1936), Self Determination (1938), Kanny Goopna (1960), Crossroads (1962), Progress (1964), Surfside '69 (1969), Western Gateway (1963), Federal Jubilee (1973), Surfside '79 (1979) and Centre on Graphics '88 (1988).

The Victorian Association was responsible for the first of these interstate meetings. The Victorian Association had been established in the very early 1900's (the date is not known) and the NSW body in 1908.

On 14/15 May 1915 the first "interstate conference" took place. It was held in conjunction with the Victorian Association's "Dinner". Only NSW and Victorian delegates attended. Whether it took the form of what we would now call a Convention or whether it was merely a "meeting" to discuss common problems is lost in the past. It was the first of a number of "interstate" conferences which became increasingly regular and structured over time.

With the formation of the Federation on 6 April 1923 the "interstate conferences" gave way to "general meetings". Initially, discussions were between the "master process engravers" and centred upon commercial, technical and labour relations problems. As time went by, the practice of having formal addresses by industry members upon specific topics evolved.

At the 1953 Convention in Kiama there were two significant changes to the structure of Conventions. First, the formal business was split into two parts - the "Annual General Meeting" which dealt with the Annual Report and election of officers and the "Convention" at which delegates discussed policy issues.

The second development was to have a "technical session" after the formal closure of the first day of Convention business. On this initial occasion there was only one speaker. He was Bruce Tory who was a recognised authority on lithography, a one-time Head of the School of Graphic Arts in Sydney and the lithographic guru at the printing company of S T Leigh which, amongst other things, printed the cigarette packs for WD & HO Wills. (The Executive generously resolved to reimburse 10 guineas to Mr Tory "to cover his expenses in coming to Kiama").

The ice having been broken, "technical sessions" became a regular feature of the Convention period but until the late 1950's they were invariably presented by members themselves or by independent experts. In the '50s the practice was adopted of inviting the supply houses to present papers upon technical issues. At the time the industry was experiencing the first flush of the huge change in technology which was to sweep through over the next three decades and the membership was thirsty for information.

The pattern was thus set for what proved to be many hugely successful Conventions at which emphasis shifted a little away from policy discussions towards the acquisition of technical knowledge. Policy matters tended to be left increasingly to the Federal Executive.

The industry's supply houses came to play a very important part in GASAA Conventions. Their involvement in State Association activities between Conventions was also stepped up so that those members unable to attend Conventions could gain some insight into the information explosion.

Constitutional requirements imposed upon GASAA by reason of its registration under the Federal Industrial Arbitration laws prevented the supply houses from becoming full voting members. Nevertheless they achieved formal recognition as "Associates". A representative of the Associates was invited as a participating but necessarily non-voting attendee at all meetings of the Executive.

For their part, the supply houses were keen to foster the relationship as the Conventions in particular provided them with a first class opportunity to place their product details directly to the major decision makers. They could also build close personal relationships over a three or four day "live in" period. As most of the suppliers represented overseas principals it was an opportunity for those principals to be invited to come to Australia to gain a closer knowledge of their market and to build stronger ties with their distributors and customers. These overseas principals were only too happy to speak to captive audiences of buyers and the buyers were keen to hear what they had to say.

The effectiveness of these gatherings was further enhanced by the fact that the "buyers" present were for the most part technically qualified and therefore able to understand and assess what was being offered. Further, the capital cost of the new equipment was relatively low compared to today's multi- million dollar items and was within the reach of most companies.

There is no doubt that all participants benefited greatly from the close bonds that ensued. Those benefits are still being enjoyed even though harsher economic times, the cost of technology and the abolition of many processes have reduced the number of players. Members and suppliers still find worthwhile advantages can be gained mutually by co-operating in the sharing of knowledge.

In this period, and for the following 20 years, attendance numbers at Conventions invariably exceeded 100, made up of more-or-less equal numbers of manufacturing and supply house delegates.

A number of members attended many Conventions over a long period of time. Amongst the most assiduous attendees have been:

F A Randle Jnr (34 Conventions 1941 to 1988)
J A Chalk (30 Conventions from 1958 to 1992)
E V Clark (27 Conventions from 1957 to 1988)
J C Parker (25 Conventions from 1954 to 1988)
R H Porter (25 Conventions from 1951 to 1985)
R S McDougall (24 Conventions from 1962 to 1992)
W H Ryan (24 Conventions from 1957 to 1989)
R A Enticott (23 Conventions from 1939 to 1982)
C J Rush (20 Conventions from 1945 to 1969)
R S Robey (20 Conventions from 1964 to 1992)
N L Burston (20 Conventions from 1951 to 1975)
R C Hughes (20 Conventions from 1949 to 1978)

The point should be made that the above figures are based on records which themselves do not claim 100% accuracy.

What about delegates' wives?

In April 1955 the Executive gave attention to possibility of delegates' wives participating in some fashion in the forthcoming Conventions to be held at Mount Eliza. Until that time, Conventions were very much a "men only" affair.

The Executive "noted that all States favoured provision being made for accommodation for the wives of delegates who may wish to accompany their husbands, provided that such accommodation was other than at the site of the actual Convention". The Executive "expressed a view that no organised form of entertainment should be arranged for the ladies as it was felt that they would probably prefer to make their own arrangements".

The organisers of the 1957 Convention at Wrest Point (Tasmania) stated in the Registration material that delegates "who desire to bring their wives to Hobart during Convention Week may arrange accommodation through the Association". Presumably they were not allowed to stay at Wrest Point!

In March 1959, the Executive gave further attention to this vexing problem and decided, in relation to the 1959 Berri Convention, that "members" wives would not be permitted to attend the Convention although arrangements would be made to "entertain them at either Adelaide or Mildura".

Feminine agitation must have continued quietly behind the scenes because at the next Wrest Point Convention ten years later, wives were allowed to stay at Wrest Point itself but not to attend any formal functions.

In March 1968, the Executive pronounced

that wives should be permitted to attend Conventions providing:

• there were suitable accommodations,
• suitable arrangements were made for their entertainment, and
• they attend no social functions with the exception of the opening cocktail party and the free day outing

The latter proviso meant, for example, that wives were not allowed at the Convention Dinner at which, traditionally, much heavy "work" of a masculine character was undertaken. This restriction continued until the 1975 Convention but even on that occasion the President's wife was not allowed to sit at the official table. This was somewhat peculiar because the Guest Speaker was a woman!

Today's wives, of course, are for all practical purposes free to participate in all parts of the Convention. The only snag is they have to pay the appropriate registration fee!

SUMMARY OF CONVENTION LOCATIONS

(For these purposes, "Convention" is taken to mean interstate conferences and annual meetings as well as Conventions as now recognised by the Association).

(Note that there was no Convention in 1966 because the Conventions were then moved from Spring to Autumn. Having a 1966 Convention in Spring 1966 would have meant only a six month period would have elapsed from the 1965 Conventions).