POST CONFERENCE COMMENTS
Comment from Siegfried Grossmann
Honorable rector magnificus, dear Prof. Rebolj,
please accept my sincerest thanks for your and your University's wonderful hospitality during the OBC week in Maribor. I feel that the first Out-of-the-Box-Conference was a really great success, for you personally, for your University, for the participants and the speakers. This is not only my personal impression, I have also learned that in many conversations and responses in particular from younger participants, who have contacted me during OBC.
The organization was outstanding, effective and absolutely reliable, in short: it was perfect. You already have given your appreciation to the organizational team in public. Allow me please to join you in this appreciation; I would be very grateful if you would be kind enough to convey my sincerest gratitude to the members of your successful team.
In particular you may wish to express your personal thanks to Prof. Marko Robnik. I feel that he has very strongly supported you and your University to realize OBC, very engaged, with many additional and important ideas, always reliable. Since we invited speakers had many contacts with him in the period of preparing the conference, it was very impressive and most helpful for us how careful and effectively he has realized your ideas and wishes employing his own experiences to realize this absolutely unusual conference.
May I add some thoughts and ideas concerning the OBC concept in case you wish to develop OBC further? First, it would be great to have even more time and occasions for discussions. Next, one possibly might wish to constitute one or two subgroups or workshops during OBC, discussing and working on important current questions; their preliminary results could then be discussed in the plenum leading to some output or even recommendation. Third, the first OBC last week lived to a considerable extent from interdisciplinarity. This brought for the majority of participants a particular kind of Out-of-the-Box-feeling. The speakers themselves, however, left the safe haven of their own science (box) only in some cases. Fourth, it might be useful to ask the participants already in advance about their positions in problems of urgent interest initiating also to present their own thoughts how to solve these going out-of-the-box.
The Dalai Lama performance was an outstanding highlight. May I congratulate you having put that in the very center of OBC-1. Your University and you as its present great Rector became publicly very visible.
With many thanks once more and cordial regards, Yours Sincerely, Siegfried Grossmann
Comment from Karolina Zajdel
Hello Mladen!
I am back at home now.
I would like to thank you for a fantastic conference that you all prepared.
I am very happy that I had a chance to be there. The lectures were very inspiring and educational. Everything was excellently prepared. I was impressed by the quality of food, accomodation, wine tasting.
I am full of energy as I met so many interesting people there- such a great time it was.
I would like to contact Tomo, he had a lecture on Sudan, we had a great talk later on during the wine tasting.
I hope you are fine and satisfied with the conference too. When is the next Out of the Box? Why in 2 years, why not next?