The Salon on the Future of the Australian-American Relationship, hosted by the Australian Fulbright Alumni Association (AFAA), was very successful. The event was held between 10am and 12pm on Friday March 1, in the Common Room, University House, Australian National University, Canberra. The event was supported by the Australian-American Fulbright Commission along with the United States Embassy Canberra and was attended by Fulbright scholars and alumni as well as ANU students and the general public.

The Salon included three high calibre guest speakers, each of whom spoke about a different aspect of the Australian-American relationship:

•  Prof Brian Schmidt AC, Vice-Chancellor, Australian National University
• Focus: Australian-American research and education collaboration
•  Alex Oliver, Director of Research, Lowy Institute
• Focus: Australian public opinion and diplomacy
• Prof James Curran, Professor, Department of History, University of Sydney
• Focus: Australian-American strategic relationship.

Opening remarks were provided by AFAA President Iain Butterworth and US Embassy Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, Michael Heath. AFAA Committee Member Daniel McNamara was the event MC. The event included an audience question and answer session.

AFAA engaged publicist Karen Conrad to promote the event. This resulted in the event being promoted on a radio interview with Prof James Curran being featured on 2CC, a major commercial radio station in Canberra.