In response to Q. David Bowers' request [170908 MMDigest] I offer
the following quick summary of the recent MBSI annual meeting in
Morristown, New Jersey.

From the view of an attendee, the meeting was very successful.
About 170 registrants attended, including at least a dozen from
outside the USA.  We had no hurricanes during the meeting, but about
six of our members from the Houston, Texas, area could not attend
because their airport was flooded.

One highlight was the visit to the collection of Arnold Chase in
Hartford, Connecticut.  It was worth the three-hour bus ride each way
-- the collection of mostly large instruments is extensive and our host
was very welcoming and generous.  Another highlight was a special tour
of the Guinness Collection of musical instruments at the Morristown
Museum.

The mart was well stocked with many cylinder and disc music boxes;
Nancy Fratti alone must have displayed over two dozen.

The workshops were diverse and well attended.  For example, I presented
a session on researching all discs produced for the Symphonion 3-disc
Eroica music box.  Marty Persky talked about the underlying details of
sublime harmonie arrangements.  Dwight Porter described restoring a
24-1/2" Komet music box.  Others covered pneumatic instruments and how
to display and/or distribute your collection.

Next labor day the MBSI annual meeting will be in Detroit, Michigan,
and in 2019 it will be here in the Washington DC area.  For 2019 I will
be organizing the workshops for the host National Capital Chapter, so
let me know if you are willing to give a talk on mechanical music
instruments.

Ken Gordon