From WPC 2023
From WPC 2023
A view from the inside
Kevin McFarthing
As the song says, “Barcelona, such a beautiful horizon”. Well, there was certainly one on view at the massive conference centre situated around a hundred metres from the sea which you can see in the photo below.
On the face of it this was a glamour trip, but as the programme for the World Parkinson’s Congress started at 8am and finished as late as 7pm, with many parallel sessions, you can imagine how little free time there actually was.
WPC is unusual as the attendees include scientists and clinicians together with people with Parkinson’s and their partners. Most Parkinson’s conferences are usually restricted to the professionals so WPC is unique in enabling the cross-fertilisation of ideas and experience.
I was co-chairing the opening plenary session on the first full day of WPC, and here’s a view from the stage:
There were different types of session:
In addition, there were areas of the conference centre that were open all the time:
I was invited to a couple of nice dinners, one of which was with the editorial board of the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, here’s a photo:
A special note of appreciation should go to our very own Paul Mayhew-Archer who performed his one man show, the Incurable Optimist. So many people turned up we had to move to a larger room and boy, was it worth it.
There was far too much presented and available to view that singling out one or two wouldn’t do the WPC justice. Instead, I’ll comment on how it made me feel - inspired, hopeful, energised (but tired!) and being part of a super-impressive international community. I could also see that there is a whole lot on this particular horizon. Thank you to Barcelona and the WPC.