The CSPP has met in 15 major Canadian cities, in every province except Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, and twice in the United States of America (Table 2). Of the past 24 meetings, 12 were held solo and the other 12 were held together with one or more other societies or organizations. So the Society has had a number of "affairs" with other societies, but has firmly resisted the temptation to give up its independence permanently. The Society’s image was pretty well submerged at some of these joint meetings. However, at the more successful ones "Canadian" and "Plant Physiologists" came through loud and clear, in spite of the size and organizational machine that characterized some of our partners.

The CSPP carried on a flirtation with the Canadian Federation of Biological Societies for a number of years. The Society has always been ambivalent about belonging to such an umbrella organization. Benefits include a large and effective meeting schedule and organization, the opportunity of meeting with colleagues in related sciences, and the capability of exerting real political clout by belonging to a larger, more powerful group. On the negative side stand such issues as the loss of identity, the impersonality of a huge, structured meeting, and the pleasure and camaraderie of meeting in a small, cohesive group. The Society approached this issue very cautiously: in 1962 the CSPP met sequentially with the CFBS, and mounted a joint symposium. The reaction to this experience was not strongly positive, and a large-scale experiment was not tried until 1974 when the CSPP met with the CFBS in a fully integrated meeting. While this was undoubtedly a fine scientific meeting, a majority of the members agreed that the interests and objectives of the CSPP would be served better if the society retained the option of meeting by itself or with other societies on an ad hoc basis. The biggest problem was the loss of autonomy and identity suffered in the large, fully integrated CFBS meeting. Not everyone agreed, but it was felt by many plant physiologists that the sheer size of CFBS meetings make them less enjoyable and less conducive to effective scientific and social exchange. The Society voted to remain independent, but friendly.

The CSPP has held joint meetings with two other Canadian Societies: The Canadian Botanical Association and the Canadian Phytopathology Society, either together or independently. These joint meetings have always enhanced the scientific program, making possible joint symposia, special lectures, and interactions at every level. Such joint meetings will undoubtedly continue to be an important, if occasional, feature of the CSPP.

The CSPP has also taken part in international meetings. Its first appearance on the scientific scene was in 1959, when it held its Business Meeting at the IX^th International Botanic Congress in Montreal. Although no formal Scientific Meeting was held that year, many Canadian plant physiologists took an active part in the Congress. The procedure was repeated 10 years later, when the CSPP deferred to the XI^th International Botanical Congress held in Seattle, Washington, and again held no Scientific Meeting. It was felt that the majority of Canadian physiologists could not afford, in those lean years, to go to two meetings in one summer. However, in an International Congress the members are individuals, and societies or associations are not recognized as such. Recognition was much more satisfactory when the CSPP held a joint meeting with the International Association for Plant Physiology at Calgary in 1980. The program was fully integrated, many distinguished members of the IAPP attended from England, Europe, Australia, USA, and other distant countries, and two most effective international symposia were held.

We saved the best bit for the last! In 1970 the late Dr. W.S. Hillman, then Secretary of the American Society of Plant Physiologists, wrote to the CSPP executive suggesting a joint meeting of the two societies. The suggestion was enthusiastically supported by the Executive and later by the Society, and the first joint meeting was held in 1973 in Calgary. The local committee produced a superb meeting: Calgary is a beautiful city, we were treated to a society banquet that outdid anything before or since (more on that in the next Chapter), and the weather cooperated so well that one local plant physiologist was suspected of employing witchcraft or communing with the gods from the top of the nearby Rocky Mountains! The scientific aspect of the meeting was no less enjoyable and profitable, and it was universally agreed that this experiment should be repeated.

The next joint CSPP-ASPP meeting took place four years later at the University of Wisconsin, and the most recent was at Université Laval, Quebec in 1981. It is now a firmly established tradition that the two societies will meet together at four-year intervals, alternating between Canadian and USA locations. This form of joint venture appears to be the best possible level of cooperative association between the two societies, allowing the Canadian society its full independence and individuality, but permitting it the pleasure of a large, wide-ranging meeting at intervals. Furthermore, this kind of cooperation does not prevent the Society from undertaking joint meetings with other groups or societies as the occasion arises.