Outgoing IJA president Bill Barr handed over the club-shaped meeting gavel to incoming president Bill Giduz with confidence in the future. He said, "The IJA seems to have a life of its own. It oscillates but something protects the organization through its ups and downs."

Reelected officers included Rich Chamberlin as secretary, Glenn Ceponis as vice president, Giduz as publications director, Holly Greeley as championships director, Ginny Rose as treasurer and Alan Howard as director. Also elected directors are Dale Jones, St. Louis , Missouri , Alan Howard of Cleveland, Ohio , and 1986 convention co-chairman Barry Bakalor of San Jose, California.

The spirit of volunteerism in the bosom  of their juggling family led scores of members to teach juggling lessons to businessmen and bums at noon daily in a central city park. Other conventioneers performed in the annual Benefit Show for patients at Georgia Mental Health Institute, judged championships, taught workshops or gave a pint of blood for the first cooperative venture between the IJA and the Red Cross.

Ro Lutz-Nagey of Baltimore kept conventioneers informed of the latest "news, changes, warnings, gossip, and arbitrary declarations" through his late-night, lighthearted editorship of the daily convention newsletter, The Peach Pit Passer.

More than two dozen workshops on various skills challenged participants to learn new material. About a dozen people got together, chose Alan Tilove of Seattle as their coordinator, and committed themselves to helping the IJA expand and improve its efforts in juggling education in the future.

The most unique workshop featured NASA astronaut Donald E. Williams, who showed videotape of his historic first juggling attempt in space aboard the shuttle Discovery on April 15, 1985. During the days before he arrived, conventioneers signed 15-feet worth of their autographs on an scroll acknowledging Williams' feat that they presented to him during the final evening's Extravaganza Variety Show.

 Cafeteria food kept most jugglers fueled, and two unique meals provided some amusement as well. The Tuesday evening barbecue was used as the site of a live evening television show spot, which  ended up with the local host in the middle of the traditional "club sandwich." Later in the week, the Renegade Jugglers hosted a seafood gumbo banquet for all comers.

Those who weren't at the convention took note of the fun in media reports from ABC­TV, Cable News Network, WTBS, United Press International, The Washington Post, the Atlanta Journal/Constitution and local media.

Video night on the big screen featured the hour-long film, "Juggling," by Strider Productions. Partners Bob Crossley and Kim Hoeg wove together footage introduced by Shields and Yarnell of heros from Rastelli to Dick Franco. A magnificent scene shot at the 1980 IJA Fargo convention by a skateboard rider under along line of club passers was finally seen by many of those passers.

Also on the big screen were clips assembled by IJA video coordinator Barry Bakalor of people who were not at the convention to be seen personally, such as David Lee, Wal­ly Eastwood, Michael Davis and Anthony Gatto.

The weeks activities culminated in grand style, as the spacious beauty of Symphony Hall provided a fitting venue for an Extravaganza Show that was hailed by jugglers as the best in recent memory. Non­juggling entertainment included Michael Marlin's comedy, Johnny Fox's sword swallowing ("It's gross, but you'll watch!' '), precise unicycling by champions Sem Abraham and Teresa Hemminger, and the illusions of noted area magician Dan Garrett.