After breakfast and more MEPS admin, I went back to the Congress centre to wander the halls again, and managed to bump into a few people I know. Had a coffee there, then waited for Jane to come out of her meeting and managed to get a little bite to eat from the special people's lunch.
Back to the apartment to change for the FIP opening ceremony that was supposed to start at 3pm however was about 15 minutes late (nothing new). The ceremony opened with a Welcome to Country Smoking Ceremony, and had all the usual speeches and awards. The entertainment was provided by the Australian Girls Choir, and they sang a number of songs.
It was then onto the FIP welcome reception in the exhibition hall. The food and drink were plentiful however, it only went for an hour as opposed to the two hours at previous Congresses. For MEPS it was not such a huge issue as we had out meet and greet after the welcome reception.
The MEPS meet and greet was held in the Cocktail Lounge on Level 12 of Rydges Southbank. It was a short walk from the congress venue to Rydges and we had almost 80 attendees, most were from the ADF, the rest being MEPS members and their partner. for the second time since attending MEPS activities, I had a partner - Keri, an ex-RAAF pharmacist who I have kept in contact with. It was great to catch up with her. I asked Keri along as she knows the some of the older Defence pharmacists and a few international pharmacists as well from her attendance in 2003 (Sydney) and 2004 (New Orleans).
Even though the event was over two hours, it went way too quickly.
FIP Opening Ceremony
