1.   Behind Guo in the ornate conference room was a wall-sized copper, silver and brass image of the Potala, the former residence of the Dalai Lama.

2.   Thomas generally reserves an ornate conference room for the meetings, which can last up to two hours, according to guidance counselor Pat Lynn.

3.   Santer and his fellow future commissioners held a daylong, closed-door meeting in the Egmont Palace, an ornate conference complex in the center of Brussels.

4.   Security police also confiscated statements from civil society groups that were handed out to people entering the ornate conference center, where the talks are being held.