At the time of writing, I am in Turku, Finland at the annual meeting of the Scandinavian Society for the Study of Diabetes. As the name says, this is a Scandinavian meeting for physicians and researchers interested in diabetes. The mayor of Turku opened the meeting with an interesting question: Is there anyone who remembers where the meeting was last year, and the two years before? Uncertain responses. But do you remember someone you met at these meetings and what you talked about? Yes, that was something completely different! Of course we remembered meeting old and new acquaintances, exchange og information and ideas for new studies. Even though today we have very effective tools for sharing information through the internet and other types of computer networks, personal meeting with professionals at home and abroad is more important than ever. It maintains existing and opens up new friendships, and provides professional refills. It is possible that a meeting must have something physical to attract attendees, but I am not so sure that it really means so much. Hence, I’m coming back from a meeting full of enthusiasm and new ideas, and I think little about where the meeting actually took place. So, go to meetings, make new friends and learn something new!
Pål
