I have been sent the link to this chat discussion by friends who thought I might like to add my four penn'orth. It's nearly thirty years ago and my memory isn't what it was, but this is SOME info that may throw light on a series of events which I still feel deeply privileged to have been involved in.
In 1980, Dick Gaughan's discussion document was given print space in one of Karl Dallas' folk publications; Dick suggested that it was time the WHOLE folk scene got together to discuss where it was going. Dick received sackfuls of letters, most of them containing donations to help get an inaugural meeting going.
Having read the article, I went up to Leith and listened to Dick explain his vision of a meeting to provide a forum. He talked almost non-stop for a whole weekend.
At the end of it, I said "Okay - I'm in. What can I do to help?".
He paused, sniffed, and said "Organise it".
Gulp.

He had offers of assistance from many of the movers and shakers in the folk scene in the British Isles, and a small contingent from Western Europe - a very vocal one from the Netherlands - and North America. Those people became the steering committee who helped set up the first conference.

I recall a first get-together of the steering committee in early January, 1981, organised by Allan Taylor, in Angelina's Cantina, a Mexican restaurant in Leeds; many of us were suffering from the flu. One abiding memory was of Dick handing over to me two black bin bags of letters, which he had read and replaced in their envelopes. The Conference being in less than two months' time, most of my waking hours [when not teaching], was spent writing back to those correspondents. I didn't own - couldn't afford - a computer and much of this was done by hand.

The first get-together was at Cecil Sharp House, the EFDSS HQ in London, over the last weekend in February, 1981. It was intended to be a forum for the whole 'scene' to discuss where it was going - and, co-incidentally, as Anne Lister says, to try to bring the EFDSS into the 20th century. There were over 600 delegates from all over the British Isles, the Netherlands and North America, at what began to be referred to as the inaugural PERFORM conference. It was a major logistical exercise.
Dick didn't want anyone to be out of pocket for attending, and the proceeds of the two legendary concerts there that Saturday evening helped to pay for people's transport to the conference. Mel McLeod, the London area rep, co-ordinated accommodation and her mighty efforts for that amazing weekend will never be forgotten. (The effort of doing it nearly killed me - I ended up with double pneumonia and pleurisy, and was bedridden for six weeks. It did make me give up smoking, though...)

The conference decided that it wanted an organisation for the performance and enhancement of folk and other related musics; it wanted a forum where people could come together to air views. [The North American Folk Alliance sprang from this same idea].

In hindsight, what it did NOT do was give that organisation clear direction or appropriate funding to fulfil those aims. We waited for 'the scene' to tell us what it wanted us to do - but there was no precedent and there were no clear cut objectives, other than to provide that annual forum, provide a contact and information service and do what we, collectively, could do to further the good ideas that came out of having the 'movers and shakers' all together to talk.

Our wonderful area representatives co-ordinated transport and accommodation in 1981 and supported regional projects and ideas [like Eddie Upton's 'Folk South West'] latterly, but the 'organisation' was comprised of a handful of willing, unpaid volunteers, all of whom worked their socks off to the best of their abilities, while running full time jobs and lives - and often folk clubs! - elsewhere. All praise to Richard Thompstone, our press / publicity officer; to John Guy, our Treasurer, to the late David Brindley and the late Matt Armour for chairing the organisation after Dick resigned.
The charming, diplomatic and urbane Jim Lloyd, Mike Harding's predecessor at BBC Radio's 'Folk On 2' played a very important guiding role - my personal thanks to him for all that he did.

It is indeed correct that the second conference was held in 1982 at the Midland Hotel in Manchester. The evening concert was at the Free Trade Hall.
This weekend was overshadowed by the news of Nic Jones' dreadful accident, made even more immediate as Nic had been playing in the Glossop Folk Club, run by Will Williams, who did so much to help organise the weekend. Will had pleaded with Nic to stay, as Nic had intended to come to the Conference, but was determined to travel home to Julia, his wife. He fell asleep at the wheel and put his car head on into a lorry.
The conference served as a platform to help raise funds to support Julia and family in the traumatic months that lay ahead - from my faltering memory, John Guy administered something in the region of £15,000 to enable the Jones' to rebuild their lives. In Nic's case, 'rebuild' is probably the correct term to describe what the surgeons did for his shattered body. It is a miracle that he survived. I am so glad that the scene immediately pulled together to support such a worthy common cause.

However, the year's relief effort eclipsed what was the intention of the second conference - to get a clear remit, a plan, for action from the delegates. However, the spotlight thrown on the more conservative elements of the EFDSS did promote a rethink; all aspects of the folk scene did achieve a higher media profile... by the osmosis of hard graft, some of the ideas behind the original meeting did happen.

The final conference was held in Edinburgh in 1983.

Perhaps I should write that book which my sons keep telling me I ought - but I would need a lot of help in recalling the details!

Yours aye, as Dick would say.

Susie