American Scientist

I have attended many technical meetings throughout my career, but none of them prepared me for Tech Plus Forum 2009, which was held in Seoul, South Korea, last December. When I was asked the previous summer if I was available to attend the forum as a principal speaker, I replied that I was. Thus began an exchange of e-mail messages that gave me the distinct impression that the organizing committee was, even though working on a fast track, giving a great deal of creative thought to exactly what the nature and content of the meeting was to be. I looked forward to my first visit to Korea, and to the opportunity to experience how a culture new to me might conduct a conference. As its name implies, the conference and my experience went well beyond technology.