I just returned from the TOC Summer Seminar. www.objectivistcenter.org/event...04.asp I missed last year and was only able to attend a couple of days of the 2002 seminar. It was great to be back for the full week.

People who attend the seminar generally appreciate the community that is formed within it. Many of the same people come each year, so there is continuity in relationships, though with 12 month gaps if you don't stay in touch between seminars. I know for myself that it is one of the main reasons I attend the seminars regularly.

Here are some of the characteristics of the community that is formed within the annual seminar:

- Attendees must invest significant money to come -- for the seminar, room and transportation
- Some attendees are first-timers, and their name badges indicate this so "regulars" can make a point of welcoming them
- Some attendees are students attending on scholarships which are funded by contributions for other attendees
- (Nearly) Everyone stays on campus and shares meals together in the dining hall
- The quality of the talks is being judged by the attendees. Some say they don't attend in years when the talks listed look weak.
- The Common Room is a focal point of the social aspect of the seminar. Each night a no-host bar is opened in a room where attendees can gather and talk.
- By the end of the week, "clusters", "clumps" or cliques seem to form -- people with whom you find yourself talking more than others.

What can we learn from this?

1. Building a community requires investment by its members

2. Objectivists love the intellectual AND social aspects of their community

3. A high quality community requires effort by its members to maintain it -- both in its programs and in "quality control"

4. Selectivity happens. Deal with it.

Steve