But to be in the Hague, in a brightly lit hall with a clown band pumping us up, with all these bright open eyes concealing new stories and experiences that I wanted to know–well, it confirmed to me that, yes, our network is real and it is really, truly global.

If ever a city needed a burst of absurdity, it’s the Hague. I was so completely consumed by the lectures, luncheons and libations presented by the Clini-Clowns, who are the Netherlands prominent healthcare clown program, that I didn’t do much sightseeing.

I had an amazing experience at HCIM connecting with clowns from around the world and learning about their healthcare clowning work, sharing stories and gathering new tools to bring back to the US!

We waited a long time for this conference… After four years of waiting, I can gladly say that the conference in 2022 lived up to my expectations.

I was very moved to be in a place with so many people (400!) with similar goals, values and passions. It felt like it does whenever two or more clowns gather, like family.

The most incredible thing about the conference this year was that it actually happened in person! The first moments of being with everyone in the Fokker Terminal were quite emotional.