ILMC 18 - The Introduction

After all these years, being asked to come up with a short overview of an ILMC is a bit like being asked to comment on the orange cream you just devoured half way through your favourite box of chocolates. Was it as good as the lime cordial you just ate - and how did it compare with the nut cluster you started out with? Well, actually, they were all...erm rather nice.

'ILMC=18' was a bit different though. It was something of a milestone - and maybe even something of a turning point for the conference. It was the event's 18th birthday - and that wasn't just an excuse for a few extra laughs and celebrations - it was a something that more than ever before focused our attention on what the ILMC had become, how it was viewed, and where it was headed.

With these weighty questions buzzing around our heads, it's fair to say that most of the organising team approached the conference with more than the usual level of trepidation, and I began the weekend in a fairly combative mood at the Flight Attendant's speech - determined to head off any possible negatives about the conference and defend to the last the lofty principles it was set up to achieve. Two days later at the Autopsy, I knew that most of my concerns were just that - the nagging doubts that creep into your brain when you get too close to any project and which have no basis in reality. 'Professor Hardnock's Academy for Misspent Youths' had attracted a record attendance of around 820 key players from all over the world, the sessions had run almost exactly to the best script we had imagined, and the events we'd laid on had led to a roomful of happy, smiling and suitably knackered faces...

'ILMC=18' was a classic in the ever-lengthening history of this amazing event - and for that I owe everyone involved a big vote of thanks. I don't know if was a chewy caramel or a cherry liqueur - but I hope there's another one on the next layer down!

Martin Hopewell - School Caretaker