Gilbert Segas, Paris

• Antique dealer
• Expert at Drouot Auction House
• Member of the Company of Expertise in Antiquities and Art Objets (C.E.A.) and French Syndicate of Professionals Experts in Works of Art ( S.F.E.P)

Conference Topic: Technology of Manufacturing Canes and Rare Unusual Materials

Christian Raud, Paris

• Expert at Drouot Auction House
• Member of the Company of Expertise in Antiquities and Art Objects ( C.E.A) and French Union of Experts (U.F.E.)
• Teacher at the School of Art and Communication (E.A.C.), Paris

Conference Topic: The Art of Carving from Antiquity through the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries

Larry Mattson, Beverly Hills, California

• US Collector
• Noted authority, researcher, and speaker on ceramic canes
• Member of the American Ceramic Circle, an organization which includes ceramic experts from the United States' leading museums and universities

Conference Topic: Porcelain Canes and the Influence of Asian, Chinese and Japanese Export on European Ceramics.

Cristine Ortega, Versailles

• Antique dealer
• Member of the Company of Expertise in Antiquities (C.E.A.) and Company of French Experts in Antiquities (C.E.F.A.)

Conference Topic: Porcelain Canes and the Influence of Chinese Export in French Ceramics

Pierangelo Marengo, Milan

• Architect, with emphasis on the restoration of ancient buildings as Museums. Student of Nino di Salvatore's “Scuola Politecnica di Design”, followed by study at “Politecnico di Milano”. Was a journalist for “La mia casa" magazine in Milan.
• Antique dealer Milan, Italy. Il Segno del Tempo was established 1991 with Piero Luigi Carboni specializing in the fields of walking canes, scientific instruments, globes, planetaria, snuff boxes, miniatures, important ivories, Black Forest items, objects de virtu, and sponsorship of emerging artists. They exhibit at major Antiques Shows in Europe and the United States. They have published two art books: in 2006, "Buckle Up!" a photograpic retrospective of antique belt buckles, and in 2008, another on antique canes.

Conference Topic: Canes of Cantastorie
Conference Topic: The Walking Stick of the Folk Singer

Jean Paul Favand, Paris

• Collector and dealer
• Organizer of the first exhibition of Catherine Dike’s collection at the Louvre des Antiquaires, Paris, “The Unknown World of Canes”
• Curator of the Museum of Fairground Art, Pavillons de Bercy, Paris

Conference Topic: The Magical Function of the Staff

Dominique L. Tailleux, Paris

• PhD in Modern French Literature, Sorbonne, Paris
• Formerly taught at Yale University and the University of Connecticut
• Worldwide identifier of atypical objects

Conference Topic: The Symbolism of Whimsical, Sensuous and Erotic Canes

Sophie Vergne, Paris

• PhD in Art History
• Consultant and specialist in silver and gold
• Published “ Les orfèvres de haute Bretagne " (silver and goldsmiths of upper Brittany)
• Curator of the exhibition " Orfévrerie de Bretagne, XV° - XVIII°" in Rennes October 2006 (Silversmithing/Goldsmithing in Brittany, 15th-18th century)

Conference Topic: The Hallmarks and the Imposters in Silver and Gold

Nicolas Lüscher, Basel, Switzerland

Nicolas Lüscher was born in 1945 in Bern, Switzerland. During his childhood he changed homes 13 times moving from Switzerland to Great Britain, to France, to the USA and finished school in Switzerland. He studied medicine in Geneva and became Chief Plastic Surgeon at the University of Basel. At the age of 50 he left his hospital and became a hobby farmer and surgical expert in the largest Swiss Sports Clinic.

In his first remembrances Lüscher grew up with the cane collection of his grandfather being fascinated by Gadget Sticks, Popular carved sticks and rare materials. Yet he bought his first cane at the age of 40; others followed . . .

Conference Topic: Sense and Nonsense of Glass Sticks