Sunday afternoon, the Vabel Conference was held at GRIPS. The organizer was Mr. Kim, an energetic young man whom I wrote about in my recent blog posting.
The audience was mostly students. The speakers, Mr. Nanjo, Dr. Ishikura, Ms. Hayashi, Dr. Saito, myself, and Dr. Mogi were all experienced speakers. Since most of the participants were young, everything they talked was full of energy and very moving. Dr. Yoko Ishikura explains this in detail in her blog, so please take a look.
Presentations and Q&As – everything was in English. Somebody wrote on twitter:(#vabel ) ‘I felt it strange at first that they spoke English in spite of almost all of the participants being Japanese, but eventually I got used to it.’ Yes, getting used to it, and acquiring the right atmosphere is important.
There were some twists and turns, some mishaps, as Mr. Kim was creating this idea and working on it all by himself. However, at any rate, we all did it. Ustream, however, did not work properly as I anticipated, which was a pity. Since I belong to GRIPS, I was helping him as the host to develop programs, coordinate with the speakers, give advice, and arrange for the venue. So it was a great relief to me that all the guests and audience seemed to enjoy the conference.
I would like to thank several staff members at GRIPS for their great support in making this conference a success. It was a very lively afternoon.
Regardning the word Pari Pari: it’s meaning is explained in this article. Enjoy!