Letter to the Editor
A letter of thanks to the Prague IUCr Congress Organizers
22 August 2021
I think we all owe a note of appreciation to our Czech colleagues who organized the 25th IUCr Congress in Prague (and in cyberspace).
Not only had they to organize a hybrid Congress for the first time in the history of the IUCr; worse than that: they had a “normal” Congress almost ready in mid-2020, then had to go through a wave of hellish uncertainty, to finally have to face a total crash of the 2020 meeting. They withstood the blow bravely and immediately started putting together the 2021 Congress in a mixed mode, which by itself would be a sufficiently tall challenge. We should also remember that at some point on this road Czechia was the worst hit nation in Europe.
In the end we’ve had a very successful Congress and a totally new experience. Finally, after a long period of abstinence we could meet our friends, even if only virtually (I was myself a virtual participant).
Looking back upon this disastrous period of almost two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, I think we should be grateful to our overseers that the 2020/21 Congress was put in the hands of our Czech colleagues. With the typical level-headed Czech view of things, calm perseverance and even a touch of humour, they were able to accomplish a task that with a more pessimistic attitude would seem to be totally impossible.
I am sure I will express the feeling of many participants, real and virtual, and indeed of our community, if I send a Big Thank You to Radek, Pavlina, Ivana and all our Czech Friends who have accomplished the impossible!
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