As a thank you for organizing the organization development world congress the organization development institute has asked me to Alabama for the 37th annual information exchange.

The event will be held from the 20th-25th May 2007 at the Beckwith conference center which is located near Weeks Bay. Local photographer David Rencher has some stunning shots of the local area up in a slideshow. The Beckwith conference center is designed to be a haven: no TVs in the bedrooms and is located in 54 acres of woodlands.

The theme of the information exchange this year is two-fold. Firstly, “What is new in OD and HR?” and “Organization development in crisis situations”. Given the recent visit by President Bush to the area due to horrific tornados, and the work of FEMA following the New Orleans disaster these are highly relevant and useful topics.

One past participant wrote: “This is a conference you should attend if you want to meet people in the field who are really passionate about their work and helping others in the field. It is a great place for those who are new to the field to get some advice and support and get a taste of what OD is all about. The huge diversity of topics and people is very impressive. We are truly building a learning community - each participant has full responsibility for making the conference worthwhile. It was very unlike most other conferences where all you are expected to do is sponge learning from others. Here, we taught each other, both through the presentation and through lots of invaluable unstructured conversation time.”

The chair of the conference is Dr Jeanne Maes RODP, who was chair of the 18th OD world congress in Dublin, and aside from university work is involved with the Conflict Resolution Center. The Supreme Court in Alabama adopted guidelines for conflict resoution based on the center’s work.

This should be an exciting event for all interested and involved in OD - I am certainly looking forward to it - a chance to deepen knowledge and meet others is always welcome.

Dr Michael L Chase has some lively photos from the 2005 information exchange on his site which gives a good idea of how non-posturing the event is.