ISMS e-Congress Huge Success – 2024 Congress in USA
The live phase of the ISMS online e-Congress came to a close on Friday 17 September to widespread acclaim from the 288 delegates, authors, and presenters who took part in the event. Despite not being able to meet face-to-face in Vancouver, the audience spoke highly of the quality of the presenters and their presentations, the quality of the science, and the innovative online delivery format.
As one delegate commented, “ I had a front seat with no distractions all week, enjoying a cup of tea and a sandwich while watching each day. It felt like I was in a one-on-one discussion with each presenter. While I can’t wait to catch up with everyone at the next live Congress, the online format sure had lots of good things going for it.”
One of the huge benefits is that the recordings of the live stage presentations including the Q&A sessions are now available on the 24/7 on-demand section of the e-Congress site, and will remain open to registered delegates until Sunday 17 October.
Registration is still open on the ISMS website www.isms.biz for those who haven’t already registered. So if you weren’t able to make it live - you haven’t missed out on seeing and hearing some excellent cutting-edge research. As well as being able to watch the highly entertaining keynotes and live oral presentations, registered delegates can still view the 56 recorded oral videos, 58 posters, and the sponsor pages.
The big news at the end of the final day was provided by Rachel Roberts, President of the American Mushroom Institute (AMI), when she announced that following discussions between AMI and ISMS, the 2024 ISMS Congress will be held in conjunction with the 2024 North American Mushroom Conference.
An exact date and location for the event had yet to finalised but is likely to be in the northern autumn (fall) of 2024 somewhere in southern western USA. As soon as details are known they will be publicised widely. With the announcement by Mushrooms Canada last week that the NAMC scheduled for June 2022 in Vancouver has been cancelled, the 2024 combined event will be the first chance many of will get together at a major international mushroom conference.
The last ISMS Congress held in the US was also in conjunction the NAMC in Miami in 2004. That event was an outstanding success and Rachel was quick to assure the e-Congress audience that the 2024 event will be another highly memorable experience.
Delegates at the 2024 Congress can expect a truly innovative program with many of the learnings from the 2021 e-Congress incorporated into the 2024 event. Make a note in your diary now for what will be THE event of 2024.
Greg Seymour
President, ISMS