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Belgium Podiatry Conference, March 22-23, 2012

Discussion in 'Conferences' started by Kevin Kirby, Mar 7, 2012.


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    My good friend, Dr. Simon Spooner, and myself, will be keynote speakers for an exciting podiatry conference to be held in Ghent, Belgium in a few weeks (March 22-23, 2012) that celebrates 20 years of Podiatry in Belgium.

    Podiatry Conference Home

    Keynote Speakers

    Seminar Program

    Ken Van Alsenoy, and the organizing committee for the conference, have put together a very unique program that focuses on the evolution of feet, the evolution of shoes, the evolution of podiatric biomechanics, the evolution of foot orthoses, and the evolution of podiatric research.

    I have already spent 20 hours working on a new lecture I have never given before which is titled "Evolution and History of Podaitric Biomechanics" in which I will be analyzing the highlights in development of knowledge in mechanics, biomechanics and podiatric biomechanics all the way from Aristotle to Inman to Root and then on to Fuller and Spooner, with many other very important people and concepts along the way.

    Even though a lot of work has been required for this new lecture of mine, I believe the content is very important for our profession. In addition, I am equally eager to hear the other lectures at the conference, since many of the lectures planned for the conference will highlight the history of our growth in knowledge of the podiatry profession, which I feel are very important for our professional growth worldwide.

    It should be a great two days and hope to see many of you there since, from previous experience of lecturing in Belgium in March 2007 with Craig Payne, the Belgians know how to put on a great seminar.....and a great party afterwards!

    Here is one of great photos I found while researching the history of biomechanics for this seminar.

    Verne Inman (center), Howard Eberhart (right), and W. H. Henderson (in wheelchair) in the Biomechanics Laboratory at University of California at Berkeley. (Note the STJ axis passing through the central neck of the talus in the drawing on the chalkboard?!)
     
  2. Here is another "history of podiatric biomechanics" teaser for the Belgium conference: what orthopedic surgeon, currently practicing in The Netherlands, researched and wrote, for his PhD thesis, the first modern biomechanics paper that determined the axes of rotation for the ankle, subtalar, talo-navicular, calcaneo-cuboid and calcaneo-navicular jonts using the technique of X-ray stereophotogrammetry.?

    Here is his photo......any guesses?
     
  3. Great photo's Kevin. I too am currently working on two new lectures for the meeting in Belgium. In the first, I shall be exploring the evolution of foot orthoses therapy from Whitman, Shaffer and Roberts, through the work of Henderson and Root, pausing for a while on a guy called Kirby and looking on into the future...

    I know the answer to your picture quiz, but won't spoil it for others. Rather, I'll add one of my own. What were these guys up to in California "in the summer of '69"?
     

    Attached Files:

  4. Casting for a UCBL......

    http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/jour/69/6/1/215.pdf

    Dr. Kirby - the "fun spoiler"
     
  5. Who is this man who wrote a famous paper on the midtarsal joint during the late 20th century?
     
  6. blinda

    blinda MVP

    Ted Heath?

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    or this fella with whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Hamsterjam?

    [​IMG]
     
  7. From what famous study was this apparatus used to determine subtalar joint rotation during walking?
     
  8. Our flight made it safely into Brussels this morning and then took an hour long train ride to Ghent for the conference (which doesn't start for two days). Ken Van Alsenoy, one of the conference chairs, picked us up in our sleep-deprived states and showed us around the very modern podiatry school here in Ghent at Arteveldehogeschool.

    My lovely wife, Pam, and I then had a short walking tour of Ghent, enjoying the cool but sunny weather, before we went back to the hotel early to try and catch up on missed sleep.

    Tomorrow is a tour of Antwerp.

    Here are a few photos from our first day in Ghent, Belgium.
     
  9. We toured through Antwerp, Belgium, today with Ken Van Alsenoy, one of the seminars organizers, and his lovely wife, Katerina (in the photo below). It was a glorious sunny day for some sightseeing through this beautiful city. Along with the great chocolate and dessert shops, there were some other interesting window displays along the way.:rolleyes:

    Tomorrow is the lecture for Ken's podiatry students. Dr. Spooner should be arriving tomorrow so we can sample some of the fine Belgian beer together.:drinks
     
  10. Can't wait to see y'all. Have a day of travel tomorrow. Should get in around 7:30pm.

    In the meantime, here's a spoiler slide from my second lecture: Revolution in podiatric biomechanics: myth busting.
     

    Attached Files:

  11. Classic slide, Simon! You have already beat my best slide and the seminar hasn't even started yet!!;):drinks
     
  12. Kenva

    Kenva Active Member

    That's indeed so Kevin,
    Tomorrow is the kick off satellite conference with the Pecha Kucha presentations for educators, on thursday, the big works will start! Looking forward to it all.
    Happy you guys enjoyed the tour ;-) - even though alcohol free (believe it or not)...

    Anybody want to guess what Kevin was doing here?
     

    Attached Files:

  13. And in a Crocs Shop to boot....!
     
  14. Kenva

    Kenva Active Member

    The woman in the back really was wondering what you were doing there - bet ya she came over after we left to check if it wasn't anything dirty...
     
  15. If I would have had more time, I would have drawn in the Blue Meanies....
     
  16. This morning, my lovely wife and I got to stroll through the historic center of Ghent and had another great sunny day here. Then, in the afternoon, was a one hour lecture to the podiatry students at Arteveldehogeschool on "Pediatric and Adult Flatfoot Deformity: Biomechanics and Effective Treatment". This was followed by a one hour practical workshop on subtalar joint axis location mechanics, windlass mechanism and gait examination. The students seemed very interested in the subjects.

    I also got to meet Toni Arndt, PhD, for the first time. Dr. Arndt has done quite a lot of the bone pin research with Chris Nester on midtarsal and midfoot kinematics in Sweden.

    Tomorrow starts the main seminar. Should be fun!
     
  17. Dinner out last night was excellent. Simon Spooner and Toni Arndt were having a great time with the wonderful food, beer and wine. A few of our Belgian hosts, Ken Van Alsenoy and Joris de Schepper were also very pleased to see a copy of their first paper being published in JAPMA. Good job Ken and Joris!!
     
  18. RobinP

    RobinP Well-Known Member

    Gutted I can't be there chaps - couldn't get flights/trains organised to the IOM without having to spend 2 whole days travelling.

    Good luck for the lectures today. Hope they go well

    Simon - excellent slide

    Have a great time
     
  19. Just made it home from a "lovely" meeting in Belgium. It was lovely to meet Ken van Alsenoy and the rest of the Belgium team who are pushing podiatry onwards and upwards there. Bright guy with a bright future. It was also lovely to meet Tony Arndt- lovely ski jumper who I'm sure can pull a perfect Telemark landing (but failed to demonstrate this at the meeting- must try harder Tony). It was lovely to have such a lovely audience and it was, of course, lovely to spend some time with my mentor Kevin and his lovely wife, Pam.

    This was the house song during the conference....
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYKbCN-zWjs

    I'm sure you'll agree that this is a lovely version, Kevin.

    Thanks to all, I had a lovely time.

    Since I did an Elvis number up on stage, here's Freberg's lovely version of "heart-break hotel"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az2rHv57zq4

    and the lovely classic "banana boat song":
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNtdCsWhFic

    step away from the microphone, Spooner.

    Lovely.

    Lovely.

    Lovely.:drinks
     
  20. Kenva

    Kenva Active Member

    Thanks Simon for these nice words... Hope to meet you again soon.
    I do want to say that my name was mentioned to many times. Patricia Es took care of all the sponsors and Eva De Mulder arranged everything for the Venue!
    My task was easy, I sat down and made my speaker wish list ... and it was bang on!
    I had a great time, met a couple of very nice people, Simon and looking forward putting together the next conference.

    Pictures are following soon.
     
  21. Lets not loose the fact that within his own presentation, Ken presented the results of a study which validated the palpation technique for identification of subtalar joint axial position and showed that the technique has good inter-tester reliability. A study which was long over-due and adds to the evidence base to support the theories presented by Kirby. Good work fella.:drinks
     
  22. Kenva

    Kenva Active Member

    I knew there was a reason to go and get another beer on the last evening...
    We'll keep that for our next meeting, what do you say?:drinks
     
  23. The seminar was excellent! Special thanks goes to Ken Van Alsenoy and the rest of the seminar organizing committee from the Artevelde University College in Ghent for making our stay there so pleasant and enjoyable. The seminar was very well organized, the content was excellent and the food, beer and desserts were fabulous!

    I especially enjoyed being able to see Ken present the paper on subtalar joint axis palpation reliability and validation that he and his co-authors have just published within the podiatric medical literature. It was also very good to meet Dr. Toni Arndt for the first time, in addition to seeing many of my friends from Belgium that I have known for many years.

    Most of all, I am very pleased to say that Dr. Simon Spooner gave two of the most thought-provoking biomechanics lectures that I have ever heard in my three decades of attending podiatric seminars. Dr. Spooner has the very unique ability to be able to critically analyze the available practice and research evidence in foot biomechanics and foot orthosis therapy and then provide the audience with excellent and mechanically coherent observations and opinions as to their validity and usefullness for the practicing clinician. I consider Dr. Spooner to one the brightest lights within the podiatric profession in the field of biomechanics and foot orthosis therapy and am very proud to call Simon my colleague and friend. I fully expect Dr. Spooner to be contributing toward our improved understanding of foot and lower extremity biomechanics and foot orthosis therapy for many years to come.

    Great job, everyone!:drinks
     
  24. Now that we have moved on for our week's vacation in Amsterdam after the seminar in Ghent, we are very thankful that we can enjoy this great city with some of the most perfect sunny weather one could hope for.

    In addition to the photos of the canal views of beautiful Amsterdam and oversized Dutch wooden shoes, I just had to include a photo of a few of the items on one of the shelves from the house of the amazing Dutch artitist, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669).

    Tomorrow it is the Van Gogh Museum.
     
  25. David Wedemeyer

    David Wedemeyer Well-Known Member

    Thanks for sharing the pics, Belgium is a beautiful country. Dr. Ed Davis and I met a couple of Belgian podiatrists at the PFOLA conference in San Diego in 2007 (first time I had heard of Kevin or had an opportunity to hear him lecture) and had dinner with them. Very nice people and very interested in biomechanics. Someday I'd enjoy attending a conference like this!
     
  26. We're having a simply lovely time here in Amsterdam. It has been sunny and warm each day. Today we visited the Van Gogh Museum in the morning. You have got to see Van Gogh's classic paintings first hand to appreciate their power.

    We then rented a paddleboat and spend a few hours exploring the canals of Amsterdam.

    Dogs on mopeds and bicycles are the "in" thing here in Amsterdam.

    The pidgeons are pretty tame and were joining me for lunch at the Van Gogh Museum.

    Tomorrow is Keukenhoff Gardens.
     
  27. How much does Kevin look like a pixie in those clogs?

    Well I declare...

    "Have you guessed what it is yet?"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Nw5hpg7FU&feature=related

    Watch out for the Dutch police though, Kevin
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxWqa9ApcpI

    You might end up at an Ajax match.

    Stick to the brown and keep away from the green coffee shops.

    P.S. just realised that the arm of the driver on the dog riding moped is clearly the same arm feeding the pigeons- what would Bungee think?
     
  28. We spent a day visiting Keukenhof Flower Gardens outside of Amsterdam today. The flowers were just starting to bloom, the windmill actually works and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Keukenhof. In addition, on the bus trip home, we saw an interesting design on the side of a van.

    Finally, we visited Anne Frank's House in the afternoon....it just about a half mile from where we are staying. The story of Anne Frank is very sad... but the house and the exhibits were very nicely done.
     
  29. blinda

    blinda MVP

    Lovely pics, Kevin. Tulips were my late mothers` favourite flower.

    Knew you`d enjoy Hamsterjam, I have a print of Van Goghs`; A Pair of Shoes (1886) adorning the wall of my clinic :drinks

    Cheers,
    Bel
     
  30. Hello to All
    I wanted to thank all faculty presenters for their work at the highest level.
    I take this opportunity to thank the impeccable organization of Artevelde Hoge School .... Congratulations
    See you soon
    Giovanni

    P. S. The brut I had the pleasure of tasting, with a beautiful view, was not bad.( Molto Buono):drinks
     
  31. Kenva

    Kenva Active Member

    Thanks Giovanni,

    Great to see the 'global' positive reactions.
    See you in about 5 years :drinks

    and hopefully even sooner ...;)

    cheers
    Ken
     
  32. Thanks for posting these up on Podiatry Arena, Ken. Hope that the people viewing these lectures realize how much work each of them required. My neck was sore for weeks due to all the computer and book work for the "history of podiatric biomechanics" lecture. I probably spent 20+ hours working on that one!
     
  33. It was me that posted the link, not Ken. Spent more time than that on each of mine. Didn't get paid for them either. But that's philanthropy for you.
     
  34. Belinda:

    They were absolutely "lovely". :rolleyes:
     
  35. markjohconley

    markjohconley Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the link, have downloaded and working through them.\
    any youtube of the presentation?, thanks again, mark
     
  36. You give 'em something for nothing and they're still not satisfied... "please sir can we have some more" ;):D
     
  37. markjohconley

    markjohconley Well-Known Member

    Dr Spooner, i think it's bloody fantastic the transcript is available.\
    Just wanted to get the 'extra' comments that would surely have been made.
    Am presenting the Kirby and Spooner segments at our next group podiatry meeting, starting with the MYTHS!!! giving credit to the authors of course.
    Would greatly appreciate Mr van Alsenoy publishing the validation study,
    but i repeat i really appreciate the transcripts, all the best to you and Frof Kirby
     
  38. Kenva

    Kenva Active Member

    Working on it as we speak...
    hope to get it submitted soon!
     
  39. Pam and I are now at Amsterdam airport waiting for our flight to take us back home. Unfortunately, our flight is delayed four hours....will miss our connecting flight.....now will need to take three flights to get home to Sacramento.......and won't be getting home until 1:30 AM on Sunday.........about 25 hours from now! Flying doesn't get any easier as the years go by......

    We had a great time in Belgium and our vacation Amsterdam was also very nice. Thanks to all who made the Belgium conference a success and I hope to back again soon to the land of great beer, waffles and chocolate.:drinks
     
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