I came away from Liverpool feeling that the 29th International Systemic Functional Congress had been one of the most satisfying conferences I could remember. Looking at the list of participants (and a special thanks to the organisers for giving out that list at the beginning of the conference, rather than at the end, or not at all), I found I had spoken personally to more than a hundred of those present: an indication not only of the relaxed and friendly atmosphere but also of how easy it was to move around and find a place to sit and talk. And since I wasn’t presenting a paper myself, I had leisure for listening to others; I heard all the plenaries, and a good number of sectional papers as well.