The Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Seattle from November 30 to December 3, 1999. Trade ministers and other officials from the WTO's 135 member nations met in an unsuccessful attempt to plan negotiations to further deregulate free trade. Tens of thousands of activists for many causes gathered to protest what they saw as the WTO's favoring of corporate interests over social and environmental concerns.

Here, WTO attendees and guests gather in front of a large video screen displaying floating clouds at the Stadium Exhibition Center for the opening reception.

Caption information source: "WTO meets amid real splits", by Michael Paulson, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 30, 1999, page 18.