Words of Thanks
at the occasion of the
Business Meeting
of the
63rd Annual Meeting of the PIAC
by
It is my pleasure to very warmly thank the Secretary-general, Barbara Kellner-Heinkele, and the President of the PIAC, Professor Bold and his team, on behalf of the participants of this year’s PIAC meeting for the efficient organization of this event and the warm welcome afforded by our friends in Ulaanbaatar. This annual meeting proved to be quite a challenge to all of us, because we had to cope with virtual reality — for the first time in PIAC history. The organizers managed to span many time zones, set up an interesting programme and fixed a convenient schedule, and this is no mean achievement. The participants, on the other hand, were models in sticking to the rules and keep to the schedule. The discussions showed that the true PIAC spirit remained alive even in a virtual environment.
We certainly missed not being together in Ulaanbaatar continuing discussions and talks during breaks and leisure hours. There is the saying that the best part of conferences is the exchange of information during the breaks, as the papers may be looked up later on in the published proceedings. This applies also to the PIAC, of course, and next year, hopefully, we may be able to meet in person again.
Besides the Secretary-General and the President and his team, we also owe gratitude to Oliver Corff who worked hard on the preparation of the proceedings for publication and also acted as a mediator and interpreter between the Secretariat and Ulaanbaatar.
Last not least, I would like to thank you all for your participation. Your interesting contributions alerted us to your individual interests and current studies and gave us ideas and suggestions for our own work.
Thank you again, and see you next year! Take care and stay healthy!