ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFERENCE 689 



It was emphasized to the panelists that this was to be a "hard" 

 conference. They were not to tarry on philosophical speculation 

 or reaffirmation of the importance of beauty. They were to direct 

 themselves to concrete, specific proposals for action, visionary or 

 immediate. To this end they were asked to boil all their thoughts 

 down to a 5 -minute talk and to submit a preliminary two-page 

 summary of what they intended to say. 



It was fortunate they did submit the summaries. To the con- 

 sternation of practically everyone, the bulk of the initial summaries 

 were woefully short on recommendations and very long on philos- 

 ophy. No matter how fine your people are, it would appear, this 

 is a phase they have to go through before getting to specifics. For- 

 tunately, there was time for this. The conference leadership and 

 the panel chairmen began badgering the panelists unmercifully with 

 telegrams, letters, and phone calls. There was an education for all 

 involved, for the sharpening process called for a lot of homework on 

 current governmental programs and upcoming legislation. The 

 staff men for the panels were especially helpful in rifling pertinent 

 background material. 



The sharpening process continued when the panelists met in Wash- 

 ington in closed sessions the Sunday before the conference. There 

 was a constructive tension; the manifest interest of the President for 

 proposals he could use was an admirable discipline, and the panelists 

 responded in kind. And this in turn stimulated a similar response 

 by the participants in the floor discussions. 



During the conference itself, the panel chairmen, the conference 

 chairman, and the conference directors met at various odd hours 

 and meals to give continuity and direction to the separate panels. 

 A conference headquarters was maintained in offices supplied by 

 the State Department. 



Girls were recruited from the department as pages; additional 

 help was recruited to supplement the registration team headed by 

 Mrs. Blanche Skinner of Interior. Forest and Park Rangers, Boy 

 Scouts, Girl Scouts and 4-H Club members provided security and 

 messenger service and general assistance. 



The organization of the conference in some ways reflected one of 

 the major goals of its substance getting the various Federal agencies 

 to work together. A minor but illustrative example was the task 

 of moving the thousand-odd delegates from the State Department 

 to the White House in 15 minutes. The Army furnished the buses, 



