general public were invited to participate in the Olympic Congress. The recommendations from the 13th Olympic Congress will be forwarded to the 122nd IOC Session in Vancouver, Canada for adoption. Preparations for the 13th Olympic Congress in Copenhagen got underway in 2007. In Guatemala City in July 2007, the IOC President Jacques Rogge made an official "call for contributions" to all the members of the Olympic Family. He also announced that - for the first time in the history of Olympic Congresses - the general public would be invited to express their opinions on the discussion themes. In order to facilitate this collection of contributions from the Olympic Family and the general public, the IOC launched the Virtual Olympic Congress. This website was an important component of the "collection phase" in the preparatory process leading to the 2009 Congress in Copenhagen. The Virtual Olympic Congress was first opened in October 2007 for contributions from members of the Olympic Family. Throughout 2008, all participants were allowed to submit a written contribution, of a thousand words or less, until the collection phase ended on 31 December 2008. A synthesis of the results will be presented to the Congress for consideration. It is hoped that this initiative will help focus the discussions in Copenhagen. Themes Notes and references External links 121st IOC Session and XIII Olympic Congress in Copenhagen 2009 The Olympic Congresses International Olympic Committee Sports conferences