Yesterday, around 30 (mostly) humanists gathered for an all-day conference to launch the Free Society Institute (photographs). The event was, to my mind, a qualified success – we experienced plenty of enthusiasm and robust debate, which unfortunately sometimes needed to be curtailed due to what was perhaps too packed a programme. There are legitimate concerns regarding some of the presentations, but you will be able to make up your own minds about that as they become available for download here – a process which is already underway, and which you can follow by visiting the 2009 conference page. Be sure to check back there in a week or so, when I hope to have all the papers available. It will take a while longer to have videos of the talks available, but they are coming too, as are photographs from the day’s proceedings.
If you were there, what were your impressions? Let us know by commenting here or on our forums. For those who couldn’t make it, the speakers would no doubt appreciate your feedback on their presentations, so please comment once you’ve had a chance to read those.