The 49th IAC Congress & General Assembly – On the Edge

The 49th Congress and General Assembly of the International Academy of Ceramics was held online on September 22 and 23, 2021. This meeting welcomed participants from all over the world who gathered and exchanged virtually. They were introduced to a panorama of activities related to the year’s theme through the use of an online platform. The General Assembly took place on the same virtual platform on September 24.

The event was organised by the Arctic Ceramic Centre (ACC) and the International Academy of Ceramics (IAC). The co-organisers were example Pentik Ceramic Factory, City of Rovaniemi and Aalto University.

What did the event platform provide?

The programme of this two-day virtual meeting included live streamed conferences, several national and international exhibitions, members’ poster exhibition, presentations by IAC artists and opportunities for interactive discussions by using the tool of the platform. The goal was to develop a set of critical positions which could be used to provide guidance for the entire field as it moves into a post-Covid world. 

The goal was to develop a set of critical positions which could be used to provide guidance for the entire field as it moves into a post-Covid world.* 

*source: https://rovaniemi-posio2021.aic-iac.org/programme/

How did the event succeed?

 “The event was very easy to create and design for the purposes of the event. The platform seemed flexible from the start.” – Producer, Niina Alapuranen, University of Lapland. For every need there was a solution on the platform or if there wasn’t, we created one.

The project was long - it took a half a year to build and develop the platform for the needs of the event. Time consumed to the platform was a good investment when we look the results of the process. Example building and designing the art exhibition needed lot of work together whit the exhibition partners.

How did IAC manage to create something totally new for the field?

• Clear communication from Liveto to IAC and from IAC to all the participants of the event.
  What should be done, by whom and by when? How do you act on the platform and what it is for you as an attendee? 
• Getting to know the options and committing to the decisions with the platform. Making things their own way but at the same time trusting to use elements on the platform which are already found to be working.
• Introducing the platform for the partners, attendees and speakers. When everyone has a good vision and knowledge with the platform the experience with it is good – even though there’s of course differences between the users.
• Time is an investment for the sudden changes. When there’s enough time scheduled for the project, there’s enough time to learn and create new.