Goodbye Lisbon. Hello Edinburgh and Vancouver
Karl Neumann, MD, FAAP
One of the more important take-away messages at the recently completed CISTM9 in Lisbon, Portugal is: if you're interested in travel medicine, start planning immediately to attend Edinburgh in June `06 and Vancouver in '07.
Yes, Lisbon was a total success educationally, socially, and culturally, likely, the best ISTM meeting ever. Yet, according to veteran ISTM meeting goers _ of whom there are legions, many having attended virtually all past meetings _ every successive meeting, somehow, is more fulfilling than the previous one. Apparently, even the best can be improved upon. Our Society, in its short 20-year history, has developed _ to the envy of most other societies _ the ability to orchestrate memorable conferences by blending exotic locations with travel medicine significance, state of the art conference facilities, able speakers, a large audience, and unforgettable social events.
CISTM9 Lisbon attracted more than 2,000 ISTM members, exhibitors, invited guests and other individuals from over 100 countries, both ISTM records. The opening get-together, this year's (as in previous years) "best ever", "never-to-be-forgotten", "never-to-be surpassed" gala, was held at the ancient Castelo de São Jorge, called the "Crown of Lisbon", located on a dominant hilltop overlooking the city, its harbor and the River Tagus. Here you can gaze down on the area where, over the centuries, the Portuguese helped develop the science of navigation, enabling their ships and their crews to set sail to travel and play a prominent role in discovering and exploring the world.
The conference itself took place at an efficient and roomy convention facility on the shores of the river Tagus, a busy waterway with large oceangoing ships coming from or heading out to ports everywhere. This facility is, literally, in the shadow of the great bridge that spans the river, one of the longest suspension bridges in the world.
But true to ISTM conference tradition, and a credit to the diligence and character of our members, neither perfect weather, nor the historic sights in the old town, nor the sidewalk cafes, nor the museums and the art galleries, were able to entice our attendees to stray from the sessions. They came to Lisbon to learn travel medicine, and so they did. Many a member stayed a few extra days to "do" the City, or made plans to return to see the sights that they had to pass up.
At the conference, attendees selected from the usual smorgasbord of plenary sessions, symposia, free communications, poster viewings, debates, local history lectures, electronic interactive workshops, meet the professor gatherings, satellite sessions, and industry exhibits, and all the other accouterments that are now standard fare at successful assemblages.
If historical precedence and tradition continue, and all indications are that they will, Edinburgh and Vancouver will only further raise the bar of ISTM meeting excellence. Already, our Scottish friends have engaged the venerable Royal Museum of Scotland for their opening get-together, a "best ever", "never-to-be-forgotten", "never to-be surpassed" social event. And that is just the beginning. Watch this space in the upcoming months for details...
