This year's 36th annual International Mr. Leather conference drew a diverse contingency of leathermen and leatherwomen to the city of Chicago.
After all, just because an event is unlikely doesn't mean we can be dismissive of the possibility; this is why we buy insurance and wear seatbelts, it's why we invest in diverse portfolios and countermeasures for rare national defence contingencies, and it's precisely why we should be doing more to tackle climate change.
A dedicated project manager, Beca Jones, was needed to oversee and guide the entire scheme and did a sterling job in keeping us all on schedule, on budget and with every contingency accounted for – and this for a diverse team of scientists, builders, educators, designers, conservators, fund-raisers and artists.
Generals may imagine they can "anticipate all contingencies," but battle is really the result of "a hundred million diverse chances" decided on the moment by unforeseeable circumstances.
Alternative futures, however are not an implementable blueprint for urban development, but rather a tool to create awareness among a diverse range of stakeholders for an impact-oriented, strategic approach that provides for different contingencies at the same time.
The literature on DIF is diverse because there is a wide choice of methodologies that may be employed, including contingency table, item response theory (IRT), structural equation modelling and logistic regression methods.
While the variety of contingency approaches provides IS developers and users with richer insights and greater flexibility to tackle diverse, complex and uncertain ISD situations, to realise the promises and potential benefits of these approaches demands further research on at least three questions: the question of 'which contingency approach', the question of rigor, and the question of cultures.
The contingencies piled up.
