A Balaton Retrospective

Here is something the late Donella Meadows wrote about the 18^th Balaton Group meeting, in 1999. Comparing it who what I wrote while attending this year’s meetings provides an illustration of how members – old and new – have been able to sustain this unique professional-personal culture.

Imagine being together with 40 of your best friends; imagine that they are not only brilliant but dedicated to making the world a better place; imagine they come from Botswana and New Zealand and India, and for all these reasons have an enormous amount to teach you, on many levels. Some of those you’ve known for decades; some you’ve just met, but the newcomers magically fit in. You can watch them visibly relax, let go and realize that this is somehow both a stellar professional meeting and a gathering of friends, who bring each other love, respect and mutual support.