One such, witnessed by me, was the meeting of Ian McKinnon, chancellor of Victoria University, with our deputy mayor, Hamish McDouall, who had been Dr McKinnon's pupil in a former incarnation as headmaster of Collegiate.
Dr McKinnon and I, being of a certain age, could later commiserate over the decline in standards, especially manners, of our youth. It brought to my mind images of ancient Athenians sitting in the Agora with similar bereavements.
The presentations I attended over several days were uniformly succinct, articulate and provocative.
Only one left me confused. I tend to attribute such failure to my difficulty with the local pronunciation but was slightly relieved when several neighbours said they, too, didn't get it.
I won't rehash all the subjects, however, two ideas deserve note.
One was creation of a plastic bag-free city - something eminently possible for Whanganui. The other was a national project to rid us of stoats and rats, creating a predator-free country. In imitation of Oprah, we attendees were invited to find traps and bait material under our seats.
A general conference theme was the necessity for local empowerment, individually or as communities, to solve the economic and environmental problems of the regions. Missing was the 800-pound gorilla of central government or, indeed, any of its active representatives, which made it clear that we needed to marshall our individual and collective talents to make our own future prosperity.
That spirit was most resoundingly heard in the final address by Tariana Turia, who captured the full attention of her audience - no mean feat at 3pm when blood-sugar levels are in decline, drooping individual consciousness.
Moderator Kim Hill reminded of Mrs Turia's role in the 1995 occupation of Moutoa Gardens. Tariana quickly corrected: "That was Pakaitore."
Mrs Turia spoke of this region, of the river that runs through it, providing the heartbeat of the lives of the people. She invoked the lessons learned from her forbears, the auntie who raised her and told her: "If you take care of the river, the river will take care of you."
It was not so long ago that the Whanganui River was so polluted that the young Tariana was discouraged from swimming in it. These days it's in recovery. In those terms, Mrs Turia spoke of the Treaty claims settlement and the ownership of the river. Her emphasis was on the responsibility granted to maintain the river and see to its continuing health.
Her theme was the elaboration for Whanganui of three Es - education, economic development, and the essence of our spiritual centredness in the river and the land.
This speech marked a fitting end to the conference, calling as it did for a partnership between Maori and pakeha in a reconciliation, much as the people of the upper river have reconciled with those of the lower river. A partnership that still celebrates differences and uniqueness of cultures.
In so saying, Mrs Turia demonstrated her own movement from fierce activist of 1995 to the statesman-like lioness in winter she has become.