Turning back the clock: ISTH staff member Cary Clark shares his most memorable moments

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Cary Clark still clearly remembers his first ISTH meeting more than two decades ago.

Cary, who now serves as the ISTH Director of Programs and Education, was at that time a 25-year-old who was hired as the ISTH webmaster.

“My first ISTH meeting was in Paris in 2001. I was so impressed by the scale of it. It blew my mind,” Cary recalled. “I thought, This organization is amazing. And I get to go to Paris? I was also amazed by all the doctors and their commitment to the Society and the field.”

Today, Cary holds the tenure as the longest serving ISTH staff member. He has had a front row seat to the Society’s rapid growth and modernization over the past two decades. In doing so, Cary is a well-known contributor in the ISTH global community and he is a familiar face among many ISTH members.

Cary has dedicated his career to the ISTH and its development, working alongside ISTH leaders, Councilors, committee members and stakeholders to cultivate the Society into what it is today.

The early days: ‘Technology moved quickly’

In 2001, there were only four total staff members at the ISTH headquarters in North Carolina, U.S.

Cary and the other staff took on many different roles and responsibilities during that time, from membership needs to committee management. It was an all-hands-on-deck mentality.

“I enjoyed it because I had the opportunity to work with all the different leaders of the Society. By 2004, I was working with the Scientific and Standardization Committee (SSC), helping with membership and traveling on site visits. It was hard to get bored—there were always a dozen things to keep juggling. I wore so many hats, which made it fun.”

Cary remembers those early years as a time of swift innovation for the ISTH, with the organization quickly evolving to meet the needs of its members and keep up with new technology advancements.

“Technology moved quickly when I started. My first meeting had physical slides labeled to put in slide decks. By the next year, it switched to PowerPoint presentations,” he said. “We also used to physically copyedit and print the SSC sub-committee minutes, which was a daunting task. We would get these giant copiers and print thousands of pages, routinely breaking the copiers. Sometimes we would have to fix something and reprint all the copies. You could not keep up.”

Up until 2004, all ISTH membership renewals were handled by fax or mail. Membership forms were hand written and mailed to the ISTH office. Although it could be difficult to transcribe the written handwriting on some forms, he said that an upside was “receiving forms with all these amazing stamps from around the world. Japan has the most beautiful stamps.”

Soon enough, Cary helped transition the ISTH to its inaugural online payment portal system in the mid 2000’s.

“It’s curious what you remember from all those years ago. For instance, historically the ISTH Council meetings onsite at the Congress would start in the evening around 6 p.m. and go until midnight. It was the only time to do them because the days were packed with other meetings at the congress. I remember taking minutes during the meeting and being so tired,” he said with a chuckle.

Cary said he happily welcomed the decision to transition those meetings to a different format so they would be during the day—no more late nights writing meeting minutes!

A time of growth and modernization

When asked about the biggest transitional time for the ISTH, Cary shared that the years between 2009-2011 were a seismic shift for the organization.

The ISTH Council created a strategy to bring more control into the ISTH headquarters office by professionalizing the organization and hiring a professional executive director to lead the Society and help implement a new vision for the organization.

In 2011, the ISTH welcomed Tom Reiser as its new Executive Director. Cary shared that he knew right away that Tom had a remarkable vision for the Society and could transform the organization in an exciting way.

That year was also memorable as the ISTH held its congress in Kyoto, Japan, after the Fukushima disaster of an earthquake and ensuing tsunami. The ISTH was the first international group to meet in Japan following the disaster.

“The decision was made to move forward with the Congress following the disaster, and I’m so glad we did. You could really tell it was a huge boost to the Japanese audience that we supported the Congress,” he said.

The ISTH strategically built out its internal leadership team, bringing in experts in meetings management, marketing and communications, finance and more—all of which helped to professionalize and grow the ISTH.

Over the last 13 years, Cary has seen the ISTH Education team grow from a team of one to now seven staff supporting the Education, SSC and Guidelines activities, becoming the Director of Programs and Education in the process.

“I am so proud to work with a fabulous team that shares the same commitment to the mission of the Society,” he said.

Cary supports his team by spearheading the strategy and development of education programs, guidelines, the SSC and much more. Today, the ISTH headquarters is run by a robust team of more than 35 staff members.

Looking ahead: ‘I could never have imagined all of this when I started’

As time went on, as the ISTH evolved and grew, so did Cary’s personal life.

In the first five years with the ISTH, Cary and his wife, Liz (who attended and worked that first ISTH meeting in Paris with him), welcomed two children to their family, both of whom are now young adults.

Cary said there are so many memories from the past 20+ years that make him smile. From the President's dinner at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston and the networking event at the foot of the pyramids in Cairo, to the Barenaked Ladies concert in Toronto, these moments highlight the continued importance of camaraderie and networking within the ISTH community.

“For a long time, I wore so many hats at the ISTH. Now, my role is more focused on our strategy and programming. It feels different to not know what all the different teams are doing all the time, but it is also rewarding, because so many exciting things are happening. I like to be involved as much as I can. I always want to make sure all the stakeholders are being represented in everything that we do.”

What does Cary envision for the next two decades at the ISTH?

“I want to see continued growth. There are opportunities to bring more things in-house,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we get up to 50 or 60 employees over the next decade. I think technology will still play a big role and help us even more to get people engaged.”

Nonetheless, after 23 years, Cary continues with the same enthusiasm and dedication to the Society as he did when he started. He looks forward to what is ahead.

“I could never have imagined all of this when I started. It’s amazing to think back on how much the ISTH has evolved,” he said. “I’m proud to continue to be a part of that growth.”

Pictured Left: Cary's first ISTH Congress (2001) - Cary and his wife Liz are pictured; Center: ISTH staff in the early 2000's; Right: Cary and his family today