“This year’s conference was based around ‘education’—focusing on taking the industry into the future and setting up future generations to do things better. A wide representation of staff from around the world came together to discuss what challenges we face, what is working well and what we can start to do for the future. It was a fantastic forum and the energy, passion and enthusiasm was palpable.

“We spent the first day focused on Operational Procedures. IAATO circulated a survey asking people for their three ‘hot topics’ in the coming years. Not surprisingly, this sparked some lively debate and illuminating round-table discussions about what tangible steps we might take to resolve some of the issues.

“The second day was spent almost exclusively tackling Safety and Risk Management. For an industry that has many individual members and different styles of operation, there was a good deal of discussion and debate about how to best develop standard qualifications for expedition staff.

“The last day focused on Communication and Best Guiding Practice. Particularly relevant was a discussion on how to incorporate science into our programs and add value to our guests, who become the next generation of polar advocates.”