Scientific researchers and scholars from across Japan and around the world assembled in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture for education, advancing research, and networking opportunities with their colleagues at ICRP-11/GEC 2022. Held from October 3rd to October 7th at the Sendai International Center, the joint conference comprised of the 11th International Conference on Reactive Plasmas, the 2022 Gaseous Electronics Conference, the 40th Symposium on Plasma Processing (SPP-40) and the 35th Symposium on Plasma Science for Materials (SPSM35). It was sponsored by the American Physical Society and Co-sponsored by Japan Society of Applied Physics.
ICRP-11/GEC 2022 marks one of the first large-scale international conferences Sendai has hosted since the start of COVID-19 in early 2020. The in-person only event hosted over 550 participants, with approximately 200 coming from overseas, including a large number participants from the USA and Germany. Various safety measures to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 were implemented before participants’ arrival, during the conference sessions, and during related meetings, banquets, and outings.
During the conference, we had the pleasure of meeting two of the event’s organizing committee members: America Physical Society’s Associate Director of Meetings Andre Cholewinski and Meeting Producer Eva L. Keidel of Elk Events. The two veteran industry professionals generously shared feedback about their conference experience and impressions about Sendai, Japan as a location to host events.
Just 90 minutes north of Tokyo by shinkansen bullet train, access to Sendai is convenient, but so is getting around the city. Eva commented, “Sendai is a very walkable city because of its compact city center, adequate Japanese-English street signs, and beautiful urban nature.” Always busy Andre speaks 5 languages, “but Japanese isn’t one of them!” He was happy to discover that the popular overseas driving UBER app works to with local taxis. Calling the taxi, communicating the destination and handling the payment was super easy through the app, and no need to carry cash! The organizers were also pleasantly surprised by how polite and friendly the locals are, how quiet the streets and traffic is, and how clean the city is despite the lack of trash cans!
Sendai is full of rich history and culture. The traditional “Sparrow Dance” is performed during the Aoba Festival, held each year on the third Saturday & Sunday of May, on the tree-lined Jozenji-dori Avenue.
The city’s main conference center, the Sendai International Convention Center, was able to adequately fulfill the needs and requirements of the conference. We were given a friendly reminder that the conference center needs to constantly improve its services and facilities in order to stay attractive in a competitive market. The center is located only a 4-minute subway ride from Sendai Station at the foot of the Site of Sendai Castle, between the picturesque Hirose River and Tohoku University Kawauchi campus.
The highlight of the organizers experience was the opening banquet at The Westin Sendai hotel, where around 250 participants enjoyed a special dinner consisting of local delicacies while being entertained by the flurry of fans and banging drums of a professional group performing the city’s traditional “Sparrow Dance”.
Despite the long work week and rain the last day of the conference, the organizers took advantage of their last few post-conference hours in Sendai. Eva went shopping for a family member and decided upon a bottle of Japanese saké made by Katsuyama Brewery, one of the region’s many famous sake brands. Andre filled his suitcase with Japanese animé goods for his children from the Pokémon Center and “Jump Shop” inside Parco department store. Before returning to the hotel, the two celebrated their hard work by indulging in Sendai specialties such as fresh seafood, deep-fried tofu, and, their favorite, “Sendai gyu” beef steak!
Arigato! Eva (left) and Andre (right). We look forward to welcoming you and the ICRP-11/GEC 2022 participants back to Sendai, Japan in the near future!
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America Physical Society Associate Director of Meetings, Andre Cholewinski
Elk Events Meeting Producer, Eva L. Keidel
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