In mid-January, I phoned into my weekly conference call with one of my pharmaceutical clients. In the middle of our conversation, my client mentioned that there was a medical conference coming up in Paris in two weeks, and did I want to go. As I hadn’t been to Paris in decades, and since I was always interested in practicing my rusty French, I jumped at the chance.

At the time, there were rumblings in the news about a new viral pneumonia circulating in China, and while my scientific mind gave me pause, especially with a few cases popping up in the Pacific Northwest, I put my fears aside, and began researching flights to Paris. Next, I called my hair salon and immediately made an appointment for cut, color, and highlights.

So, I was off to Paris in late January, with an arrival date two days before the conference so I could at least see a little bit of this glorious city. Arriving in Charles de Gaulle Airport, I was startled to see so many Asian travelers wearing face masks. This brought the soon-to-be-declared pandemic into focus, although that announcement was still weeks away.

As I explored Paris pre-conference, I did not notice any face masks on the street or in restaurants. Nor were there many discussions about the virus on the evening news. I was more interested in improving my French, and learning that many of the expressions I had learned in school years earlier were seriously outdated. Still, I ventured forth and found the Parisians very friendly and anxious to help me with my French. I’m still not sure how to tip properly in Paris as different people offered conflicting advice, so I stuck to my American 20% of the bill, even though I learned that servers in Parisian restaurants are not as reliant on tips as they are in the US.

Now, onto the conference. Mask wearers were few and far between, which in retrospect, was surprising, considering that probably 20% of attendees were Asian. I ate lunch one day with a young man from Beijing who spoke perfect English as he had studied in the US, and he helped me charge my smartphone, which was quickly draining its battery. He told me that scattered throughout the Palais des Congres—the convention center—there were free charging stations, and he took me to the nearest one. 

Each evening of the three day conference required me to review that day’s podium presentations and findings from the exhibit booths, and prepare an up-to-the-minute report for my client to be e-mailed out right away. This was key to their understanding the latest intelligence in their highly competitive field, and also helped them determine how best to draft upcoming press releases.

In the subsequent weeks, medical conferences were cancelled, and virtual meetings became the rule. While social distancing remains a necessity, there is something irreplaceable about face-to-face contact, the reading of facial expressions, and the ability to form friendships. When I returned home and reviewed my notes for my final PowerPoint report, I was surprised at how many business cards I had accumulated at the exhibit booths and from people I sat next to at various lectures.  

This trip was all about communication, and how being brave and figuring out how to mitigate the language barrier, and get around in a city like Paris, with its confusing clockwise spiral design, expands our awareness of different cultures. That sensitivity filters into our work and improves the final product. It also makes us better world citizens.

-Ann Neuer

Ann is an established writer in the life sciences sector, and a consultant with Barbadora Ink. She can be reached at aneuer@cinci.rr.com.