Sunday, November 11, 2012

ACR Meeting 2012 in Washington - a first appraisal


I've arrived here in Washington D.C. on Friday. The weather has been nice so and still is nice, but I'm going to resist the temptation to leave the meeting. Too many intersting talks and posters etc.
And here it is again: this feeling of connectivity. All around you hear English, and then next to you Chinese, while somewhere behind French is the predominent language.
It really is an international meeting. Let's see how many rheumatologists, health professionals, people of patient organizations, and so on have made it to the annual meeting.
Washington has a lot to offer to see and I have already done some sightseeing. There's always a little spare time to use for this purpose. I'll write a blogpost on this later.
We are living in a time of quick changes and some interesting ideas have already emerged. The meeting is vast and next I'll do a tour around the multitude of posters, missing an interesting talk on bone (Bone wasn't built in a day).
More on Twitter on the spot under the hash tag #ACR2012.
To be continued ... Washington 11.11.2012 10:45 am



After a very good lecture by Clifford Woolf on different pains in rheumatic diseases, I had go out. The sunshine was too good to be missed. Went around the congress center and ended up near a red brick stone catholic church (Immaculate Conception Church - est. 1864) and sat down in the sun. No, I didn't reflect on rheumatology. Relaxed and then came back to the Washington Congress Center. I'll look around the Exhibit Hall and then it's time for our tweetup.
To be continued ... Washington 11.11.2012 15:45 am

Fall and the foliage looks like it. The air caresses with a warm breeze. Then clouds rush in, grey like November, telling about the rain and cold to come tomorrow.
The horn of a train yells across the city. Then the bells of Immaculate Conception Church are adding a conciliating tone. Hasn't the wind gained speed? An ambulance passes, hissing the other cars out of the way.
The ACR meeting is capturing me. I've spent hours with the posters. So many interesting new developments, which I have to digest and then I'll review these results.
To be continued ... Washington 12.11.2012 15:35
Yesterday evening it started raining, but I had joined an evening symposium on rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis, so I didn't get wet. This morning I got wet on the few steps to the bus bringing me to the ACR 2012 meeting. Another day with lots of posters and session to see. And then the sun came out again, but today is definitely cold. The sky has a nice blue colour, but I didn't have much time for sky, sun, foliage, and fresh air. Before my last session today I plan to see the FBI.
To be continued ... Washington 13.11.2012 15:25 am


 

Just made sure to meet some friends from the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation.

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