Hard work deserves an outdoor buffet
A start-of-summer event was held on Friday 21 June for the ITER community—an occasion to celebrate the everyday commitment of staff and contractors alike, across the international project, whose collaboration is bringing the project ever closer to its goals.
A rain shower was not enough to dampen the enthusiasm of hundreds of participants. The day after the 34th Meeting of the ITER Council (IC-34) came to a close (see related article), two staff events were organized back-to-back. First, the ITER amphitheatre filled to capacity for an all-staff meeting on the results of IC-34. The heads of all ITER Domestic Agencies joined the ITER Director-General on stage, and each one took the microphone to express appreciation for all the hard work that had gone into the preparation, over many months, of the updated baseline proposal that was presented to Council members for evaluation.
The all-staff meeting was followed by a buffet lunch under tents outdoors. A live band played under the trees, a wink to France's national "festival of music" that takes place in towns and cities across the country every year on the same day, 21 June.
While the proposed baseline is further evaluated by the ITER Members, work will continue at pace at the ITER Organization and in the offices of the ITER Domestic Agencies. The events organized on Friday helped to create the feeling that one busy chapter is closing, as another opens...