Dear Delegates of the International Symposium on Business and Social Sciences (ISBSS),

I would like to personally give you a warm welcome to sunny Okinawa, Japan for the International Symposium on Business and Social Sciences (ISBSS) of 2016, sponsored by the Higher Education Forum (HEF) at the beautiful Loiser Hotel in Naha. This is a truly international representation of over 150 academic delegates and a well-balanced representation of authors and co-authors from Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the UAE, the UK and the USA. This gathering equates to many inspiring researchers coming together for three days from around the globe.

I believe celebrating our inter-disciplinary diversity leads to innovative ways of addressing complex problems and challenging times that our world is facing long after the conference has concluded. Therefore, our ISBSS Symposium is an invaluable opportunity to exchange ideas and information with our conference community. This contributes not only to prosperous connections, but also for the sharing of critical thinking, information, and technology, that can lead to organizational change, which might make this world a better place. I am altruistic at heart, keen to learn, and inspired work with ISBBS and HEF to bring delegates together from various disciplines, so that we learn from each other in unexpected ways to bring refreshing new ideas for your research. The act of collaboration can be transformational, and what a great place to achieve this goal in the city of Naha.

During our stay in Naha, there are a number of ways to continue important discussions with delegates in a relaxing atmosphere at the end of each day after our symposium. As you know, the Ryukyuan culture of Okinawa is a distinct treasure that should not be missed during your stay. Please take advantage of the travel section of the ISBSS Okinawa2016 website for more options to consider. Finally, I have lived longer in Japan than in my own country of the United States. If you have any questions or queries about the region, please do not hesitate to contact me. I may not know all of your queries, but I can hopefully steer you in the right direction. Do have a pleasant stay in Ryukyuan Naha, Japan.

Stacey Vye
International Liaison for the IBSS Okinawa2016
Associate Professor at Saitama University, Japan
A Doctoral Candidate at the University of Southern California, Rossier School of Education, Organizational Change and Leadership

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