ABSTRACT
R esearch in category theory and its applications has been encouraged by annual international conferences where experts from many countries convene to discuss current results and
problems. For example, there was a splendid conference in 1990 at Lake Como in Italy that assembled experts from all over. There were stimulating talks, as well as some that were hard to understand (sometimes because too many words were crowded into transparencies and presented at high speed, a familiar problem). There was also a splendid cruise with dinner on Lake Como. The 1997 conference was held in Vancouver, Canada, with many fine talks.
