What a venue.....

The London based Institute of Directors set the tone a of a brilliant day.  I first have to describe the building.  As the photo suggests it is rather regal with a number of large paintings in the large foyer areas depicting the Battle of Warterloo and the Battle of Trafalgar.
Both Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington are catptured on two huge portrait paintings on the stairway walls and in the main meeting room, there are paintings of all the monarchs of the  Royal  Family, all through history.

It is spectecular and for a New Zealander who knows colonial history of a couple of hundred years, and Maori history not too much longer than, looking at millennia of history is inspiring.