Sigh...just catching up with this thread and realizing that Denny was really focused during the meeting
Yes, it was deliberate that I had a no drink policy until we were over half way through. Denny and the rest of the AHA GC take their duties seriously, and after 5-6 years of attending (and now moderating and leading) these meeting, it is clear that we need to start with sobriety and deal with some issues first before we move on and have some beer.
It has been an interesting balance, trying to keep the GC focused, yet allow for some fun and antics. The GC is made up of very bright, passionate and caring people who devote their time freely to support the AHA. On the one hand, one member said the meeting was far too long while another said that we didn't have enough time to really finsih what we started.
Fortunatly, we have our emails and monthly conference calls, and we focused on what was really necessary during ourone face-toace meeting.
BTW, I am proud to say that the Flanders Red I served both during the AHA GC meeting and then later floated it in my room was one of my best efforts. You have to bring your "A" game when you are serving to this group, and the response was, shall I say, gratifying.