Here are a few words about the international conference in Curacao I attended : It was outstanding. The events were simply tremendous. We had the opportunity to taste foods and even more drinks from most of the countries of America during the nation's night. We appreciated as well the different Latin and Caribbean cultures when delegations came on stage, dressed with local clothes, and danced as they usually do at home. I had the chance to exchange words and have fun with people from more than 15 countries. I made loads of friends. I particularly enjoyed spending time with JCI Haiti, a very friendly delegation.

    I attended many great workshops, like "La chaise" (the chair) from Laurie (JCI Guadeloupe). The chair is a metaphor to explain how to manage people who work for us, we should be grateful for them and not use them simply as objects. I saw as well Suzette Plaisted (USA) who performed an interesting workshop about getting the best out of a team. I really recommend these trainers if they comes one of these days to Europe.

    I met the world president (Kentaro Harada), many IVPs, national and local presidents and many senators. They performed passionate and very inspiring speeches. I came with only one symbol from UK (our national pin's!) that I expected to keep, but I come back with a T-shirt from Argentina, a bottle of rum from Panama, pins from Ecuador and Belgium, and many more gifts. More than that, I come back with loads of great souvenirs from the parties and good times I had in Curacao. I just regret not to have been able to find more time taking rest, doing a bit of tourism.

    In conclusion, I would like to give thanks to all the COC team (directed by Luzayra Boutisma, that I particularly thank) for this amazing conference and everybody who was there. I would say that the Americas opened the 4 international conferences tour at a very high level, and I want to go to Tarragona to see if I can have as much fun.

By Vincent Espitalier, JCI London member