Goodbye Baltimore and see you all in Montpellier, 2015

The ICCB2013 congress in Baltimore was the second largest global meeting of the SCB with more than 1500 participants.  The scientific programme was rather intense – ten parallel sessions, plenaries, lunch break workshops and evening meetings from 8am till 7pm – not too much time left for aimless wandering. The conference went really smoothly, with more than 1000 presentations and several further training opportunities...a huge congratulation to the organizers.

Section Booth Day in ICCB2012 at the SCB booth

Majority of the congress participants came from the US (1100 out of 1500), there were also larger groups from the UK, Canada, Australia. 

As Europe Section members, we found it challenging to spot any Europeans. However, in Tuesday we managed to gather some of them for a short Section briefing. Tuesday was also the day for the Section booth  presentations, when each regional  SCB section had an opportunity to meet congress attendees and SCB members at the SCB central booth.

SCB Chapters Committee managed to raise awareness and funds for chapters as one of the most important "legs" of the society. Finishing her highly productive term, Adina Merenlander, former chair of the Chapter Committee said an emotional goodbye and new chair, Çağan Şekerçioğlu from Turkey (and the US) was greeted  by the committee members. During the numerous chapter events in the ICCB it became clear, that the roles and potentials of SCB  chapters vary in the different countries and continents, and incorporating local/regional perspectives is very important for SCB chapter developments.

Coffee break at the exhibition area

The invitation for the 2015 Montpellier ECCB-ICCB meeting was presented by our Section President, András Báldi: a glamorous short video on French landscapes, red wine tasting, food and historical monuments made a long-lasting impression - we even had people coming to sign up for the meeting in advance...

This vibrant week provided more messages to be taken home - check out for the next blog entries on different issues covered!