The main objective of the ICOHTEC’s annual meetings is to enhance scholarship by exchanging ideas, sharing expertise, and building interpersonal connections. The latter occurs mainly during excursions, receptions, and less formal meetings that take place when the sessions end.

The excursions bring conference attendees to sites of great interest, including general or topical museums of technology; sites of industrial heritage, such as factories and workshops (both abandoned and still in operation); and pieces of engineering art, such as bridges or dams. These sites not only have an obvious educational value, but also help to establish and sustain less formal connections between excursionists. The receptions and banquets, usually organized as elegant dinners, serve the same purpose. The social atmosphere warms from such events as jazz nights, group visits to the sauna, or spontaneously organized meet-ups with new or old friends. These relationships are often very fruitful and long-lasting, rendering the annual meeting unique and memorable.

Important components of this paper entail the presentation of images documenting the events that helped build the ICOHTEC community and the recollections of long-time committee members.