This was the first time I attended a Pop and Jazz Platform meeting of the AEC. My involvement with AEC goes back for some time now. My first experience dates from 20 years ago, when I witnessed Yehudi Menuhin standing on a staircase addressing the delegates of the AEC Conference in Brussels. I think at that conference the number of delegates was lower than the 170 people that have been present these two days. The AEC has grown. The number of pop, jazz, world and folk music schools and departments has grown. Its importance within the sector has grown. And that shows in this meeting.