Attendance was up at two laser technology conferences held last month, said their sponsor, the Laser Institute of America (LIA). Representing 34 US states and 11 countries, 257 attendees attended ILSC 2007, the eighth biennial International Laser Safety Conference, in San Francisco -- a 45 percent increase -- and 9000 attended "LASER. World of Photonics China" in Shanghai. Laser safety specialists and others attended ILSC 2007 plenaries, technical sessions, seminars and workshops addressing developments in regulatory, mandatory and voluntary safety standards for laser products and laser use, including a practical applications seminar and the impact of the new European Physical Agents Directive. "LASER. World of Photonics China" attracted LIA corporate members including Trumpf, Spectra-Physics, Coherent, JDS, GSI Group, LZH, Photonics Industries and Laservall. LIA was one of the cooperating societies for the 2nd International Conference on Laser Processes and Components (LPC), held in conjunction with "LASER. World of Photonics China." Other organizers were Messe München International, Laser Zentrum Hannover and the Laser Processing Committee of China Optical Society (LPC-COS). LIA’s president-elect Andreas Ostendorf, of LZH, and LIA board member Minlin Zhong of Tsinghua University were co-chairs of LPC, a two-day event featuring presentations on laser processing technologies, laser components, developments and trends in laser technology and laser safety, LIA said.For more information, visit: www.laserinstitute.org