The XI AIDS Conference, Vancouver: How--And Why--It Worked

Step back just two months before it was scheduled to open, and an observer might be forgiven for thinking the XI International Conference on AIDS, held in Vancouver, BC, from July 7 to 12, was a disaster waiting to happen. Imagine: Nearly 14,000 delegates from 126 countries, some of whom are carrying what is probably the worlds' most feared disease, all arriving in a city during the height of its tourism season. Among the delegates, a sprinkling of political activists famous for their