Two wonderful conferences were in session last week: the World Association on Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) 11th Congress, "Celebrating the Baby, Family & Culture"; and the Early Head Start, "12th Annual Birth to Three."  In the past these two conferences have been held, typically, in June and July.  This year they overlapped, creating a difficult choice for those who wanted to be at both events.

he WAIMH conference was held in Yokohama, Japan, and with 1,700 participants was the largest conference in the history of the organization (this according to Tina Houghton, from WAIMH). The 76 page program offers a unique glimpse into the work being done with babies and their families around the world. Two outstanding titles from the Child Development Media collection were showcased at our Video Theater at WAIMH: 1) Every Child Can Learn was on view as an invited poster presentation by author, Katrin Stroh; and 2) the video Babies and Young Children with Each Other was presented by Maria Vincent from the Pikler Association of France.  Mark your calendars now for the 12th WAIMH Congress, June 30 - July 3, 2010 to be held in Leipzig, Germany, for an unforgetable experience.

The Birth to Three conference was held in Washington, DC and hosted just under 1,000 home visitors, center-based staff, directors, managers, technical-assistance providers, and  all staff that serve Early Head Start babies and families. The Video Theater has been an integral part of the conference since its first year in 1996. This year the most popular videos were John Bowlby: Attachment Theory Over Generations and Mary Ainsworth: Attachment and the Growth of Love.  We consider it a great privilege to be part of this conference and to watch the impressive evolution of the work and growth of the organization.  The 13th Annual Birth-to-Three Conference will be held June 22 - 25, 2009 in Washington, DC.  It is not to be missed!

Another baby conference that we all love, Zero to Three National Training Institute, is coming back to Los Angeles on  December 5 - 7 of this year (2008) at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel.  This was the site of the first Zero to  Three conference that was held in California in 1986 and was co-hosted with the Infant Development Association of California. That event included our very first Video Theater.  This year will be a wonderful time to share knowledge, learn from each other, and to celebrate our achievements in this critical field of endeavor.  Hope to see you there!