Biennial International Stereo Congress
17th ISU Congress Sept 9th – 14th, 2009 Gmunden / Austria
The 17th ISU Congress was held in Gmunden, a very old city, a cultural center, a charming and romantic spot in the heart of Upper Austria.
Gmunden is located right on the shores of Lake Traunsee, embedded in a stunning mountain scenery. The Celtic settlement of Gmunden was first mentioned in 909. It was a very important salt trading place. Today we can see many late Gothic houses with many wonderful details.
The landmark of Gmunden is the lakecastle Orth. Legend has it that this castle was a former Roman fortress; it was first mentioned in a document from 909 as "Veste Ort". Many interesting details and Renaissance frescoes in this picturesque castle with its triangular inner courtyard.
The Congress was held in the Toscana Congress Center with its big Toscana Hall. The historic Villa Toscana provided the platform for the workshops and meetings. From the open terrace we had a magnificent view of the Toscana park, the Traunsee, Grünberg and Traunstein.
The Mayor of Gmunden Heinz Köppl cordially welcomed us in front of the townhall with its bells painted in the traditional green and white pattern of the Gmunden ceramics.
Prof Sobotka, Head of the Photographic Society in Vienna, and Mrs Martina Pühringer, Deputy of the Governor of Upper Austria welcomed the participants and opened the congress.
79 stereo projections of 63 artists were shown. Most of the shows were digital: 48 EXE-Shows and 18 Videos-Shows, all projected with Panasonic PT-DZ6710E (6000 ANSI-Lumen) projectors. For 11 analogue shows we used RBT-101/400W projectors, and 2x2 shows were projected with SIMDA 3462ALC/400W projectors.
Two competitions were organized:
"Gmunden 2009 -
Equipment Competition"
Award for the most innovative Construction by Stephen O’Neil
"3D Image Competition – Cosima Award" for the most fancy image by Peter Herbig voted by the audience.
The original Kaiserpanorama from 1905 was loaded with 100 year old historical views.
Besides the activities of the congress seven cultural highlights and attractions were visited:
World Heritage Cultural City
Hallstatt
Walking on the Grünberg to the Lake Laudachsee
City walk, nostalgic ride with the tramway, tour in the Gmunden
ceramics manufacturer
Boat trip on Traunsee Lake with the paddle steamer "Gisela"
Trip to monastery St Florian with a demonstration of the Bruckner
organ
Trip to European Cultural City of Linz
Trip with cog wheel railway up the Schafberg and visit the small
town of St Wolfgang
At the trade show all participants had the opportunity to see new equipment: highlights were the new Fujifilm camera and monitor and 3D stereo viewers and monitors
The banquet with the raffle with 100 prizes were the last activity of the congress.