The conferences were very different in nature, each being valuable in its own way. The first brought together many people from all parts of the world making it possible to gain an overall view on the state of the art in the growing field of computational linguistics, and provided a forum for the interchange of ideas, and also enabled those who are new to such research to benefit from communication with those who are acknowledged leaders in the field. The LIE colloquium was more akin to a working group of experts who had been invited to participate in the LIE project to ensure the end product is of the highest possible standard by consultation and planning of a type that can only be achieved under such “interactive” conditions. Communication was two-way to the mutual benefit of all who attended.