2010 Jeju Island, Korea Annual Meeting

The 38th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery was held from October 30 to November 4, 2010 in Jeju Island, the famous tourist attraction in Korea.

As a chairman of the ISPN 2010 meeting, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere appreciation to 427 participants from 36 countries. Also, I thank all members of the organizing committee, ISPN officers and the professional convention organizer (The Plan Co.) who dedicated their precious time and effort to make such a successful meeting ever.

The venue of the meeting was “The Shilla Jeju” where is surrounded by blue ocean and Mt. Halla. All meeting programs except outdoor activities and Jeju Night took place at the Shilla Jeju. The majority of the participants stayed at the main venue while others stayed three sub-hotels; Lotte Jeju, Suites Hotel and Hana Hotel. There was no need to waste time to get to the main venue, because all four hotels were located in walking distance.

For this year, the KSPN and WFNS Pediatric Committee organized “Moyamoya Disease Update” as a pre-meeting program on October 30. Twenty invited speakers from Korea, Japan and USA gave presentations on four sub-topics. Sixty participants from fourteen countries attended the MMD symposium even though the extra registration fee was required.

In the evening of the day, the traditional Presidential Dinner was held at the venue. Over seventy invitees and their accompanying persons enjoyed a warm and friendly atmosphere.

There were the ISPN Committee Meetings and ISPN Executive Board meeting on October 31. The executive board meeting started right after the committee meetings and it adjourned late afternoon.

Right before the Welcome Reception, a free workshop sponsored by Medtronic was held.

The Welcome Reception sponsored by Medtronic was started at 18:30. Firstly, I and Dr. Mutluer welcomed all participants. After the welcome speech, Dr. Joon-Ki Kang, advisory board member of the ISPN2010 & the chairman for the ISPN1991 Seoul meeting, and Dr. Hee-Won Jung, the president of the Seoul National University Hospital & the president of the WFNS 2013 World Congress, gave congratulatory remarks. It was a great chance to reunite all friends and colleagues from all over the world.

In the early morning of November 1, the Opening Ceremony of the ISPN2010 was held. The ceremony started with the sand art performance which expresses the Jeju Island by drawing various and unique sceneries of the Jeju Island with original sand of Jeju. It was a very touching performance and attracted the participants’ attention .

The ceremony was followed by the flag ceremony. Dr. J. Gordon McComb, the chairman of the ISPN2009 LA, handed over the ISPN flag, on which logos of ISPN annual meetings from year of 2000 were printed, to me. The flag was displayed until the last day of the meeting.

The scientific program started with “History and Current Status of Pediatric Neurosurgery around the World” session. This was one of the highlighted topics for the ISPN2010 meeting. Seven invited speakers presented the history of pediatric neurosurgery in their countries and continent.

Luncheon seminars were prepared for the first time in ISPN annual meeting’s history. The luncheon seminar I & II were sponsored by Medtronic and Bukwang Pharmaceutical Co., respectively.

Nurse Symposium was concurrently arranged on November 1. The symposium consisted of the invited session and the abstract presentations. At the invited session, four neurosurgeons provided a valuable learning opportunity for the nurses from Korea, USA, Japan and Italy. After the luncheon seminars, abstract presentations processed with active discussion. Simultaneous interpretation was provided during the nurse symposium.

The end of first-day’s scientific program, there was a Cultural Presentation for the international attendees to give an opportunity to learn more about the Korean culture and tradition through video presentations and live demonstration.

The active scientific presentations and discussions were continued on November 2. Especially, there was “Presidential Address” by the president of the ISPN 2009-2010. In addition, Dr. Deopujari, the chairman of the ISPN2011, gave a brief introduction of the ISPN2011 meeting in Goa, India.

After lunch, there was an exciting time for Outdoor Activities. The weather was clear but the Jeju’s typical heavy wind was the only concern. Participants were separated four groups according to their own choice of the tour course. Golf players enjoyed the game at the Jungmun country club. The others had a pleasant time to experience natural beauty of the Jeju Island by taking a boat, trekking and visiting the tourist spots.

All participants gathered at the Haevichi Hotel & Resort Jeju for the Jeju Night after the outdoor activities. Participants shared their experience of the day during the cocktail reception. The Jeju Night was processed in relaxing and comfortable atmosphere. The enthusiastic B-Boy dancing team opened the night. The winners of the golf tournament were awarded during the dinner. With Prof. Il-Woo Lee’s incredible song, the singing contest heated up the night. Dr. Jung-Yul Park (he prefers to be called as ‘JP’), who is also the treasurer of ISPN2010, did a wonderful job of the ‘entertainer of the party’. We all burned the night with our passion.

On November 3, two more luncheon seminars were held in parallel under the sponsorship of B. Braun and Medtronic.

In the afternoon, there was the Cultural Lecture presented by Dr. John Linton (USA) from Yonsei University College of Medicine, Korea. Since he was an American who was born and raised in Korea, he was able to give an interesting lecture on Korea and its culture in combination view of Korean and American.

Korean traditional costume ‘Hanbok’ was very popular at the Gala Dinner. Many Korean and foreign ladies have shown the beauties of the costume by wearing it.

Dr. Seung-Ki Kim and Dr. Ji Yeoun Lee were the MCs for the gala dinner. During the “Poncho Ceremony”, the new president was officially announced. The historical poncho was passed to the new president, Dr. Paul Steinbok.

The dinner has filled with Korean traditional dance and instrument performances. There was a special time to recognize the participants of the ISPN2010 meeting by countries. Thirty-six countries were called with the projection of their national flag on the screen. Attendees stood up and showed up themselves when their country was called. It was the most memorable and valuable time to meet and welcome all participants in person.

On the last day of ISPN2010 meeting, there were Presentation of Scholarship & Trainee Awards and Best Poster Awards. Seventeen winners were awarded.

In total, there were fourteen scientific sessions including two highlighted topics; “History of Pediatric Neurosurgery” and “Pediatric Neurosurgery Patients: Growing into Adulthood”. One hundred and thirty-nine oral presentations and eighty-eight e-posters were presented.

The scientific program was prepared by Dr. John Kestle, the scientific chairman of the ISPN and Dr. Young Shin Ra, the scientific chairman of the ISPN2010. I sincerely appreciate their great effort and congratulate on such a wonderful program.

Thirteen medical & pharmaceutical companies joined our sponsorship program and fifteen companies participated as exhibitors. Without their generous sponsorship, I might have a difficulty to arrange such a proper meeting as it was.

I am sure that the ISPN2010 meeting was successfully completed with all the support from participants, sponsors, exhibitors and all the people who had engaged in preparation of the ISPN 2010 meeting and do appreciate all the efforts made for such a successful ISPN 2010 meeting.

Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you all in near future!

Chairman of ISPN2010 Organizing Committee

Kyu-Chang WANG