Abstract
InAugustofthis year l wasoneofthree
Au ti·a lian aviculrurists who attended
the American Federation of Aviculture's
20th Annual Convention in Knoxville,
Tennessee.
As l had attended each of the seven
Australian AFA conven~ i ons 0 980 to
1994) l was looking forward to
Kn o>.'v ille with grea t anticipation because
such events bring together a diverse
and inte resting group of
aviculturists. This was certainly a feature
of the Kn o>.'V ille conve ntio n.
The Australians - Bany Hutchins,
Ruby Hutchins, Warwick Re mington
and l - were most impressed with the
welcome by members of the Tennessee
alley Exotic Bird Club upon our arrival
in Knol\'V ill e. This warmth and friendhip
was a highlight of the convention
and certai nly made us feel '·at home" in
the
The conve ntion was we ll planned,
the range of speake rs were as diver as
they were inte resting, and the theme
'·Down Under and Out of Afri ca" was the
catalyst for the sharing of a lot of useful
avicultural info rmation by all rhe speakers.
The trade exhibit was, for the Australians,
an eye-o pener into the wayaviculture
and the pet bird marker is cater d
for in the US. lt enabled us to ee species
that are not ava ilable in our own country
and that, in itself, was most interesting.
We prefer the American system of
s heduling only o ne sp aker at a time .
The Australian system of having two
speakers both speaking at the same time
(in different lecture rooms) means that
delegates cannot always attend their
preferred lectures.
We missed the mid-morning and
mid-afternoon coffee breaks that are a
feature of Australian conventio ns
which , apart from providing refreshment,
enable the mixing and mingling
of both delegates and speakers. We observed
with interest rhat most of the convention
offi cials \Vere women, in
Australia the reverse applies.
Contracting the speakers to illu strate
the ir lectures with color slide , and having
a theme for the convention , were
notable aspects of the conve ntion planning.
From Australia to Knol\'V ille, Tennessee,
is a lo ng way to attend an avicultural
convention, but it was well wonh the effort involved'
(Editor's Note: Craeme Hyde,
aLong witb Barry Hutchins and W'arwick
Remington, was one of three AustraLians
invited to speak at Ibis AFA
convention)