During that February meeting, the program of the conference was decided upon. Very soon afterwards, a pamphlet announcing the conference was distributed across the country, to reach unions, teachers, federal and provincial public servants; then, private enterprises and non-government community organizations. In the spring, local conferences were held to prepare for the national meeting. (In fact, there was little relation between these meetings and the national event, except that several women participated in both, bringing with them ideas expressed locally. Certain suggestions and resolutions from the local meetings were given to the organizers and included by the strategy coordinators in the Sunday morning plenary session.)

Conference Format

As we have seen, the conference was structured around five distinct themes:

• Changing Employment Patterns.
• Health and Safety.
• Education.
• Training and Retraining.
• Information Access and Control.

In addition to the introductory remarks of the well known author, Heather Menzies, four types of activities were held on each theme, and they are introduced in this report in the following order:

• First, a major thematic presentation in plenary session for each of the five themes.

• Second, a variety of workshops dealing with different aspects of the subject and directions for action (Friday and Saturday).

• Third, a presentation in plenary session of a summary of the proceedings, by a strategy coordinator responsible for the theme (Sunday morning).

• Fourth, a session devoted to the elaboration of strategies, the results of which were communicated to a plenary session on Sunday afternoon.

Participants had the choice of concentrating on a single theme, or a combination of themes. At their request, a workshop on networking was organized on Sunday morning, along with the sessions elaborating strategies. During this workshop, a national network of exchange and information was discussed, to ensure follow-up of the conference.³

Demonstration workshops were held during the conference and the exhibition room allowed participants to examine the latest equipment. Films and book exhibits completed the practical aspects of the weekend (see Appendix for details).

³See Appendix for the list of participants in that network. We know that the residents of the Montreal area met twice, in September and October, and hope to organize a study group entitled "The Impact of Women on Microtechnology." (E.N. Finally, the world is being set straight.)