The preliminary details for the congress are coming together.

Some quick facts are below and below that.

The prices for hotels and congress are finalized. We expect to post full costs on Business Intelegant’s resources page and at the Organization Development Institute homepage shortly. The OD Institute’s site looks an tad old but it is worth more than a cursory glance: it contains a host of resources on best practice as well as job listings available to OD practioners.

The Congress will be held from the 9th-14th July 2007 at Malmö Castle

Any are warmly welcomed to all OD conferences and Congresses organized by the OD Institute whatever their background or training. We simply ask that they must be registed to attend before they come. We do not allow entry on the door. Traditionally the OD Institute has attracted some of the more asute and rigorous thinkers in work psychology who have moved into commanding positions - but Congresses are very relaxed and non-posturing - and open to all members of the public who can contribute or merely come to listen, laugh, and enjoy. We always look forward to bringing together old friends and new colleagues to collect, share ideas, and disseminate how we can create better work in different styles around the world.

For those requiring accomodation we have reserved the Baltzar Hotel. Based in the heart of Malmö it is owned by Siv and Ingvar Gustafsson. They also own the Theatrehotell which is available to Congress as well.

As more details are finalized they will be posted on the Resources page.

Well, it’s been a tough haul. The idea of holding the OD World Congress in Sweden was first put to me three years ago by Dr Don W Cole, the president of the Organization Development Institute based in Ohio. With three children coming in three years - our parental planning was very much thought through, but getting TWINS was a very unexpected and very, very wonderful surprse - I had to express deep regret at not being able to turn up in both Cyprus and Portugal, but made a choice that their first eighteen months came first. He approached a year ago and it was feasible. Thanks to Drusilla Copeland and Bengt Lindström of Anders and Lingström I had the support I needed here in Sweden. After looking at first the University town of Uppsala and then Stockholm and ruling these out on grounds of costs sights turned to Malmö.

The congress will meet at the Malmö Catle. I was fortunate to work with the Museum in 2001 for three months coaching English. The museum is based in a castle built to keep the Swedes out, (or the Danes in), when SkÃ¥ne was a Danish territory - it then became a prison: all of which unbelonging makes it entirely suitable for work psychologists. The Kommandhuset, which was the small garrison building on the other side of the moat from castle proper is a is an excellent environment to create good conversations and give good presentations in. The museum was named national museum of the year in 2002 and though not large contains more surprises than many national collections. I won’t spoil the surprises for those who haven’t visited, but there are both live animals, and Delft china, rare Volvos, and royal chambers.

I look forward to posting more news on the congress as it progresses.