Progress is already well underway, with a 40-member Project Team working hard planning educational sessions, and table topics. “We have been coming up with topics for the panels and fleshing them out and are now thinking about the speakers,” says Burke, who also co-chaired the 2012 Leadership Meeting. Soerensen Garcia adds that the focus is on “raising the quality bar” for the educational sessions, lining up the best speakers and making sure there is a balance of advanced, intermediate and beginner sessions. “I’ve attended almost every Annual Meeting since 1998 and really appreciate the opportunity to have a say in terms of making sure the panels being presented are panels I would be excited to attend,” says Burke.
The Annual Meeting was last held in San Diego in 2005, and the city has proven to be one of the most popular, particularly with attendees from outside the United States. Soerensen Garcia, who is the first Latin American to co-chair an INTA Annual Meeting, speaks of the “positive vibes” in California and Burke adds that the program and social events will reflect the musical, entertainment and cultural strengths of the region: “It’s a great location, with fabulous amenities and normally very good weather. We’re expecting good attendance!”
The two co-chairs have been working on the 2015 Annual Meeting since July last year, and have also previously worked together on the INTA Board of Directors. Soerensen Garcia says: “Josh is very focused, well prepared and on top of all that, very funny” while Burke says the two are the “Laurel and Hardy of IP.”
With a team like that at the helm, INTA members should be sure to take advantage of the pre-sale register today at a discount.
