More than 1,200 podiatrists will converge in Toronto this week for what will be the American Podiatric Medical Association's first annual meeting to be held outside of the United States. The organization's 2009 gathering will take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from Thursday through Sunday. "We've been bold enough in our meetings to take steps that appeal to our members," Dr. Glenn Gastwirth, the association's executive director and C.E.O., said in an interview, noting that the group met in Hawaii in 2008.
"That was also a first for us. It was our first time off the U.S. mainland," he said. Gastwirth reported the association's largest contingent of international members are Canadians, which is one of the reasons the group selected Toronto as its destination. "There is an international flavour to Toronto, it's centrally located, and it's a city that's truly alive," he said. About 70 per cent of the association's U.S. members are also within a 90-minute flight of the city.
Although the meeting was booked more than two years ago, Gastwirth said news of Toronto's current garbage strike—which appears to be nearing an end after the city reached a tentative agreement with unionized workers on Monday—didn't deter the association from coming to the city this week. Gastwirth expects attendees, who are staying at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel and the Intercontinental Toronto Centre on Front Street, will spend between $1.6 to $1.8 million in Toronto over the four days.
