Day 3 - Symposium and Opening Day ... Monday May 14, 2012

Monday morning, the Montreal team of three (Meagan, Mingsha and Eunice) having just arrived late Sunday, proceeded to do their project set-up.  Team YSC and Team BASEF had a relatively late (8 am) breakfast at a spot called the "au bon pain", loosely translated by my friend Jean Michele from Montreal as "good bed".(...oops, corrected "good bread")

All of the chaperones had a morning schedule of listening to the kids presentations in order to receive a little coaching/recommendations.  I listened to six and I am floored by their high level of knowledge and their smooth delivery.  These kids aren't kids when it comes to science; some work are senior University level research.

Right after, it was lunch.  Stef had booked reservations at the Smithville restarurant (spelling?) and Ben Gulak was suppose to be there to meet the kids.  Unfortunately, Ben could not make it and to make matters worst, the food was terrible.  Let it be known that Team Canada is not going to patronize there again.  Cathy missed all of this having had to attend a morning of Advisory meetings at ISEF.

For the afternoon, it was decided that it would be beneficial for all of the team to attend a symposium on Judging at IISEF.  It was a good investment of time as we all got clearer messages on what the time restrictions for the presentations are. After the symposium, it was back to the hotel to wind down and get ready for the Opening Ceremony.  Because much of this writing is after the fact and subject to recall errors, I am not sure how dinner was achieved.  But I am sure we ate somehow.  .... Oh yes, I just remembered.  There was a huge buffet of chicken, fish, salad, rice and vegetables at the Convention Centre.  I am not sure if all ate well but I surely did.  The dessert table was endless.  Needless to say, so was my waistline after.

The Opening Ceremony was held at the Convention Centre in a huge open area.  The atmosphere was electric and our TEAM CANADA did not disappoint in adding to it.  A bouncing CANADA Beach ball and a huge Canada Flag being paraded around the concourse by a several Team Canada members told everyone that Canada was there.  It was amazing to see how the enthusiasm and energy just kept on escalating.  Kids who I only saw as being quiet suddenly transformed themselves into patriotic Canadian zealots. But we were not alone.  Other countries were just as crazy.  While on the floor trying to take pictures, I actually got steamrolled by a train of South Korean fanatics ... I almost dropped my camera.

Entertainment was headlined by this eccentric musician name That1Guy (check his website, www.that1guy.com ).  He plays a mean Magic Pipe, a musical instrument that he designed that resembles advanced plumbing and appropriately scientific high pressure fittings.  Several Nobel laureates were introduced but I am embarrassed to say that I did not recognize one of them.  I made it a point to go to their Open Panel Discussion scheduled for Tuesday.  Three of our students are chosen to have a lunch with them and then to ask them a question.

The highlight of the ceremony, especially for Team Canada was the introduction of Ben Gulak as the Keynote Speaker.  Ben was a BASEF Alumna who I believe particpated at IISEF 2006 and 2007.  Ben was chosen as the lead speaker because I believe he embodies a new marketing message from IISEF to science students.  That new message is to attract young students to science with the entrepreneurial tangent.  Ben has taken his IISEF science projects (the Uno ... I will attach appropriate link later) to an incredible level of success of being pending commercial successes.

He came out looking pretty cool ... witness his sneaker shoes with his suit.  I was given this as the link that had the livestream of his speech (http://demo.livecast.com/isef2012HD# ).

A poignant moment came near the end when selected groups of each member country were announced on the big screen and then ran onto the stage carrying an identifying poster.  In the picture, Canada is to the far right.

Team Canada was definitely one of the most spirited teams; we remained one of the last team to leave the Hall.  A VIP named Wolfgang whom I was told was a CERN delegate who had supreme powers deciding who goes to work at CERN in Europe, actually spent a considerable amount of time with our team.  We have a posed picture with him as proof.

The evening ended with a posed picture with Ben Gulak and his family.  Tired but still excited, the team retired back to the hotel for our end of day "meeting".