Last days and return home

The second post-conference day was quite intense as I anticipated. I skipped the evening picnic at the lake to work on my contribution for the short presentation the next day (Sat). Each group presented their vision or outline for their chapter (our group's topic was usability requirements for personal health information management systems). We also discussed a plan to get this document out quickly (early fall). Immediately after lunch we boarded a bus bound for Helsinki. After some sincere shopping and a creme caramel ice cream cone in the afternoon, I had a lovely dinner with Sue and Patti and her family. Today was the trek home. I'm going to sleep now! This is my last post for awhile; thanks for reading!

First real working day at post-conference

Again it was a beautiful warm and sunny day here at Vanajanlinna Castle. The scenery is very much like northern Wisconsin, except that there are no mosquitoes! I was very happy that no bugs or owls or bats flew into my room last night as I slept with the windows wide open.

I had a very special experience today. This post-conference working group is divided into 6 smaller groups, and each is discussing an aspect of the developing personal health information system. Our group of 4, led by Sue Bakken, a well-respected nurse informaticist from Columbia University and close friend of Patti's (my advisor) is our fearless leader. During the opening session this morning each of the six group leaders did a short presentation on their topic (ours is usability issues). Imagine my surprise when one of the other presenters quoted me on a slide in their powerpoint presentation!! I was shocked! Patti glanced over at me and smiled.

Tomorrow will be another very intense day. When I was signed up for this conference I thought that I would be mostly taking notes, and perhaps putting together a document with much supervision. However, now I think that it will be much more of a collaborative effort in regards to writing our section on usability. And, I have to confirm this tomorrow, but I think that I might be writing a short section myself! Patti sent out an outline of the final document this afternoon, and I see that it has a section entitled "Patient Voice and Learning to Listen". Hmmm. :)

at the castle

We arrived at Vanajanalinaa castle about 6 pm. It is more than a single building! The first picture shows the main building where we are holding our meetings (and eating). Some conference participants have rooms in this building. Others of us are in a building that is about 300 meters away from this--the same building that houses the pro shop! You can see the golf course in the second picture. My room reminds me of a large dorm room, certainly adequate, not opulent. I've included a picture of the toilet, as I'm sure you'd all like to know what a toilet in a castle looks like!

There are 31 participants here from 19 countries. Tomorrow we begin our small group work. There is a semi formal dinner tomorrow night at a Town Hall. I have met some very interesting and wonderful people here. I shared the 1.5 hour bus ride with Ragnhild Helleso from Norway; she and I have very similar thoughts about many things. And I sat next to Anna Ehrenberg from Sweden during our short evening meeting and then dinner. I am so impressed that most of these people speak 3-5 languages. Everyone is so nice.

Dinner tonight was bread and greens, a pasta salad, smoked herring, a pork (?) roast in gravy and rosti. Dessert: blueberry tart and a meringue filled with custard.

It is warm here! There are no screens on the windows and I have my windows open wide, and of course it is light outside. I must go to sleep so that I can be fresh for our 8:30 meeting.