The European Congress of Radiology (ECR) closed on March 3 with an impressive growth in attendance, a remarkable achievement as the trend for big meetings seems to be heading in the opposite direction lately.
The organisers, the European Society of Radiology (ESR), are proud to announce a total onsite participation of 23,239, including a record number of 14,602 professional delegates, which represents a 5% increase compared to ECR 2018, and a total of 8,637 industry participants. In addition, the ECR Online streaming platform counted 7,020 registered viewers that were not present on site, which marks an increase of 9% compared to last year. The grand total of delegates at ECR 2019 thus comes to 30,259 which marks a rise of 6% compared to ECR 2018. Click here to access the full statistics including participation by country.
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On top of this, a 2% increase in room attendance figures was also recorded throughout all days of the congress, with delegates attending sessions a total of 82,986 times.
“I am still overwhelmed by all the feedback and positive reactions I have received during the congress and am still receiving now. I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to all ECR 2019 participants, as you are the ones who made this success possible. Breaking the 30,000 attendance barrier at our 25th congress in Vienna, is more than we could have ever asked for,” said ESR President Professor Lorenzo Derchi from Genoa/Italy, now Chairman of the ESR Board of Directors.
ECR 2019 was characterised by the celebration of the 25th congress held in Vienna since 1991 and turned out to be a major success on all levels. As every year, it was the newly introduced programme highlights that made the meeting special.
‘The Cube’, the ECR’s dedicated venue for interventional radiology, which doubled in space in comparison to ECR 2018, saw further increase in attendance and interest, pushing the capacity of the new venue to its limit. Over the course of four days, the Cube offered interactive presentations, challenges and quizzes led by international experts in the field of interventional radiology. Thanks to the support of more than 30 industry partners onsite, an unprecedented number of IR simulators and devices were available, giving participants the opportunity to experience a wide range of IR procedures. The sessions offered at the Cube were attended more than 1,200 times, which marks an incredible increase of 50%.
‘Women in Focus’, a first time event at ECR, took place at ‘the Church’, another one of various buildings surrounding the congress venue utilised for the ECR and making up the ‘ECR City’. It was one the scientific highlights of ECR 2019 and featured four sessions under the guidance of Professor Lorenzo Derchi and Professor Hedvig Hricak, Chair of the Radiology Department of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. For two out of those four sessions, revolving around women in the healthcare industry and female leadership, participants had to be redirected to dedicated live streaming areas as the Church reached its maximum capacity.
As every year, the ECR’s success is closely linked to the support of its industry partners and the technical exhibition, which again saw more than 300 companies exhibiting and for the first time hosted an area exclusively dedicated to artificial intelligence. The AIX featured 25 exhibitors, including NVIDIA’s Deep Learning Institute, and the AIX Theatre, where participants could attend keynote speeches and exchange their opinions with experts during podium discussions.
The highly anticipated Grand Opening ceremony, which was created to mark the occasion of the 25th ECR in Vienna, was especially well received and filled the biggest hall in the congress venue up to the last spot. The ESR’s decision to work closely with a Vienna-based visual artist and to again give the whole congress a unique look that ran like a red thread throughout all the congress buildings, made ECR 2019 look even better than its predecessors.
“ECR 2019 has once again proven to us that our concept of redeveloping our congress every year, to strive for innovation and to think outside of the box is paying off and is what the radiological community is looking for. Rest assured that we will continue on this path towards ECR 2020,” said Prof. Derchi.
As every year, the ESR has recorded all sessions, making them available on demand and free of charge on the ECR Online platform.
The ECR is the annual meeting of the European Society of Radiology (ESR), which represents more than 101,000 members worldwide. The ECR is one of the largest medical congresses in the world, attracting more than 30,000 congress participants. With 300 companies exhibiting across more than 26,000m², its exhibition is also one of the largest medical exhibitions in Europe. ECR 2020 will take place from March 11-15, 2020 in Vienna.
Source: ESR
Image Credit: Healthmanagement.org live coverage
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Vienna, March 6, 2019 (ECR) - The European Congress of Radiology (ECR) closed on March 3 with an impressive growth in attendance, a remarkable achievement as the trend for big meetings seems to be heading in the opposite direction lately.
