Private and Public Perspectives

We are all set for the APABIS annual conference on 4&5 November 2010 in
Tokyo and it promises to be an exciting and innovative event which will
attract attention from people in the Asia Pacific region and around the
world.

After a period of great foundation-building work on the
ground in Tokyo by Dylan Scudder, Ray Bremner, Yasu Sato, Masaru Yarime,
Vesselin Popovski and Nick Turner, for which many thanks, we are now
ready to proceed at top speed with all those things that make for a
great event. This is a mixture three things: attention to detail,
managing the theme and ensuring coherence, and delighting in the
unexpected - it always happens.

There are many people and organisations that want to be involved and over
the next seven months we will pull them together.

Some principles:

The conference theme is serious and we want to examine the differences in
decision-making, and the commonalities, around some of the crises that
currently present themselves in climate change, global finance, in
population, in security issues, and in peace and conflict. What partnerships
and new organisational forms are emerging to deal with these issues and
where does the world need to think again? What do the dominant economies in
the Asia Pacific region have to offer for the future? How can the conference
contribute to thinking around the APEC meeting in Yokohama in the same
month?

These conferences address a common theme from different perspectives which
means platforms and positions which cross boundaries and bring together
people who might not normally meet. We are concerned with intelligent
thought - from business, academia and other sectors. APABIS is an
'Academy' but this is not exclusive to scholars - intelligent thought
comes from all sections of society.

The conference partners -

APABIS, UNU, Todai, Unilever - together offer a mix of great facilities,
support and diversity, and thank you all. I have specialised in running CSR
conferences which bring disparate voices together starting at
Warwick Business School in the 1990's which led to the creation of EABIS and
the first UN Global Compact Leaders conference and have included events for
the UN, the UK and Norwegian governments, BP, Shell, Unilever and many other
companies as well as leaders in enlightened business schools. The idea is to
create debate and discussion and surprise through unusual conversation.

We have great facilities but a very tight budget, at the moment, so there
will be a strict control of expenditure.

I expect to liaise with the man-on-the-ground Dylan Scudder on a daily basis
and to consult and report to the two Teams - Tokyo and Academic - on a
regular basis. I know from past experience that this will consume at least 2
hours a day as well as me spending at least three weeks in Tokyo prior to
the conference. I look forward to being in Tokyo 12 - 19 May and in between
shaping the programme, arranging the speakers and attending to the
comfort factors. On 1 May the call for papers closes, but may get extended.
So far we have one applicant - please encourage people from all sectors to
send abstracts.

I am supported by a great team at Griffith Business
School, fully supported by Michael Powell, Dean and PVC, and Karen
Brindley, the centre's new business manager; Brett Sharman, the centre's new

communications, research and website guru; Dr Tapan Sarker, who
studied at UNU in Tokyo for his MA; Dr Jem Bendell, our adjunct public
intellectual; and a host of doctoral and honours students and other
committed staff.

I look forward to working with you all to make a great event in Tokyo 4 & 5
November.

Malcolm
Conference
Chair