Behind the scenes at the Symposium registration desk

By Gabi Campanario in Singapore

You have to give the local Symposium team a tip of the hat for the warm welcome today, no pun intended.

To put participants at ease about the temperature, head organizer Patrick Ng reminded us what it means that Singapore is so close to the Equator. “We have only two seasons,” Patrick said. “Hot and hotter!”

Knowing that, I think we all felt quite relieved that it could be much worse than the 32 degrees we experienced today (about 90° F).

I filled a page of my Stillman and Birn sketchbook during the registration process. My drawings include a local sketcher who played the guitar and sang while people waited patiently for their goodie bags, and a couple of participants who were elated to be here.

Jessica Tan, of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said she had signed up for the event because she loves sketching, which is something creative and totally different from her job as a property manager. Rohit, of Bangalore, India, said having the Symposium in Singapore has given many people in his country and Southeast Asia the opportunity to attend. In total, there are nearly 400 people registered, including faculty and staff, and many have come from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.

It’s going to be exciting to see what everybody draws!