ICR 2007 Conference Cairns

Conference Program Report

By Wil ten Ham (The Netherlands)

The ICR 11^th International Conference took place in the beautiful city of Cairns, Australia.  As this was my first visit to Australia, I decided to also visit Sydney and Brisbane on my way to the conference.  By the time I reached Cairns, I had fallen in love with this wonderful country and its inhabitants.  Everyone was enormously kind and they really touched my heart!

The ICR conferences enable us to leave our footprints in so many different places around the world and at the same time gain extensive knowledge from the interesting speakers at the conferences.  ICR is the international link for exchange of information pertaining to the Reflexology profession.

This conference was attended by more than 150 delegates from 16 different countries, but for those members who were not able to attend we would like to share some information, which hopefully will make you feel as though you were there to experience it first hand.

Thursday

Following an early registration on Thursday, 13^th September, ICR delegates were invited to a cocktail party on the terrace of the Hilton Hotel.  The beautiful surroundings with a view over the river and the mountains, the blue sky and warm temperature provided the perfect setting for an inviting welcome by ICR’s President, Beryl Crane and the Board of Directors. This was an opportunity to meet friends from other conferences and your own country as well as the speakers and the ICR Board members.

Conference Opening

At 10.30am, ICR Director and Master of Ceremonies, Russell McAllister, asked the delegates to stand for the entry of the flags and the ICR Board of Directors.   The Australian National Anthem was played and chanted while the flags were carried in, which was very special and once again brought on that very warm feeling.

The ICR conference video of past conferences was showed followed by Beryl Crane opening the conference.  Beryl’s opening speech was very motivating with emphasis being on ‘Internationalism” – working together and linking reflexologists globally to a shared cause. 

Hanne Marquardt, from Germany, was the keynote speaker and first workshop presenter. She has a delightful sense of humour and deep philosophical as well as anatomical approach to reflexology.  All the speakers and workshops were very interesting and informative and I would recommend that every reflexologist who has the intention to widen his/her knowledge order the conference report as a ‘must have’ for your library. The Conference Report is available in English and in Japanese.

The Gala Dinner

After a second day filled with additional   interesting speakers the Gala Dinner on Saturday Evening was a welcomed chance to play instead of learn. It started with a very tasty buffet dinner with lots of good food. The evening came with live music, and lots of fun leading to most of the delegates dancing later in the evening. 

Closing Ceremony

Sunday morning began with hands-on workshops by some of the speakers. After lunch the final speakers gave their presentations.

The Closing Ceremony took place at 4.30pm on Sunday with Beryl Crane thanking all the delegates and speakers.  The excitement was not over!  We all waited in anticipation for Beryl to announce the next conference location.  And the next conference location will be … LOS ANGELES!

After the song “It’s a Small World”, Beryl wished everyone a safe trip home, the flags were removed and the Board left the conference room to bid farewell to the delegates at the exit doors.  The conference was an extremely well organized event with many thanks to Beryl Crane, Linda Samek and Russell McAllister, as Conference Co-ordinators.  Keep a look out for details of our next conference and the Board looks forward to meeting you all in 2009 in Los Angeles.