The 5th annual European League Against Rheumatism congress in Berlin: a personal perspective

Available online http://arthritis-research.com/content/7/1/E1 Correspondence The 5th annual European League Against Rheumatism congress in Berlin: a personal perspective Frank A Wollheim Department of Rheumatology, Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden Corresponding author: Frank A Wollheim, Published: 1 December 2004 Arthritis Res Ther 2005, 7:E1 (DOI 10.1186/ar1474) © 2004 BioMed Central Ltd Abstract The 5th annual European League Against Rheumatism congress, held in Berlin, 9–12 June 2004, was attended by a record number of delegates from all continents and offered a large choice of education, state-of-the-art and original research presentations in up to 15 parallel sessions. Some of these were poorly attended, although featuring top-ranked abstracts. The poster sessions remain a problem child. They were not well attended by viewers and largely neglected by presenters, mainly because of the general structure of the meeting. Ways to improve this could be to provide lunch packages and to appoint poster session chairmen. Other changes would involve moving morning hour satellites to other slots. However, in general it was an enjoyable meeting showing important progress in various fields of rheumatology and meeting the expectations of most delegates. Keywords: American College of Rheumatology, European League Against Rheumatism, poster sessions, rheumatology congress, satellite symposia The grand opening This European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) congress started like its forerunners with an opening ceremony at the end of the first day of the congress. It had been preceded by 12 parallel scientific and educational sessions followed by several drug industry satellite symposia. Hall 1 of the conference center boasts that it is Europe’s largest venue of its kind, seating 5008. It was well filled but there was plenty of space for the latecomers. The ceremony started 15 minutes late; the reason given was that the musicians were out smoking (!). But then all went to schedule, and the Dvorák melodies were pleasant and not too long interludes between talks. The president talked in a relaxed and statesmanlike way about the burden of disease and the Alliance Against Arthritis, which was launched by him with active support of the Bone and Joint Decade in Brussels in March of this year. One aim is to convince the European Union that research money should be earmarked for rheumatic diseases in analogy to what is done with cancer and v diabetes. The German minister of education and research responded favorably to this and said her government did realize the importance of this initiative. The awards were duly presented, and it was gratifying to see Kimmo Aho from Finland receive the Meritorious Rheumatologist award for his lifetime achievements in research (Fig. 1). The recipient was particularly pleased that his wife finally could appreciate why he had always been late home during the past 50 years. The ceremony ended with a surprise. The stage wall disappeared and behind it a mini Brandenburger Tor opened the way to the buffet reception in the adjacent hall. The president and the minister were the first to walk through the Tor. There were unlimited supplies of food and drink, and mingling conditions could not have been better. EULAR economy The cost for the venue in Berlin is substantial. Hall 1, where the opening took place, can be rented for the handsome sum of €17,880 per 12 hours. Fortunately the ACR = American College of Rheumatology; EULAR = European League Against Rheumatism; ICC = International Congress Center. Arthritis Research & Therapy Vol 7 No 1 Wollheim Figure 1 levels, sometimes connected by stairs, sometimes by escalators, sometimes only by elevators. Moving around was good prophylaxis against deep vein thrombosis and the ‘ask me’ personnel were very helpful. Security, surprisingly, was a problem. I met a couple of Swedish colleagues who had lost their wallets inside the ICC, and told me that they were not the only ones. The scientific sessions Kimmo Aho (Helsinki, Finland), recipient of the 2004 “Meritorious rheumatologist” award at the opening of EULAR 2004, flanked by Ylva Lindroth and Lida Marsal (Malmö, Sweden). congress had over 9000 delegates paying between €800 and €1000 depending on the time of registration. This again included a one-year subscription to the EULAR journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, and also access to all educational events, unlike the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), which charges extra for these benefits. The biennial Scandinavian Congress of Rheumatology held in August 2004 charged €450–600. So in comparison €800 is expensive but not outrageous. €7,200,000 was of course not the only revenue for EULAR. There were 22 industrial satellites this time and a large number of commercial exhibitors. No doubt this event is generally accepted as the major marketing event of the year in Europe, if not worldwide. Judging from this, EULAR is in good economic health. The secretariat in Zurich consists of only three individuals: Fred Wyss, the executive director, Ernst Isler, the congress coordinator, and Mrs Elly Wyss, the education program coordinator and accountant. One must admire the efficiency of this secretariat and congratulate EULAR on having such an able managing team. After 20 years in a small office, the EULAR headquarters will next spring move into its own more spacious venue in Zurich. The International Congress Center in Berlin Berlin has an excellent public transportation system consisting of underground, city trains and buses. A oneday ‘Pass partout’ costs €5.60. So wherever you were staying it was easy to get to the International Congress Center (ICC). Arriving from the underground one easily could get the impression that the ICC was an extension of the U-Bahn system with all its narrow passages and directions to countless halls and rooms at numerous To make a fair judgment on the podium sessions, one would need a committee of some 10 individuals who divided the sessions between themselves. I attended some excellent sessions, the quality of which could not have been better at any other meeting in the field. An example was the ‘Advances in scleroderma’ session, with several presentations of new material, both basic and clinical. The room, Hall 10, which seated perhaps 200, was full. People were standing along the walls of the room and the discussion was lively. The session ended on time only because one presenter of a drug study was not present. It was interesting to note the strong frontline research results presented by Swiss and Italian investigators. In contrast, I attended part of a top abstract session called ‘Cutting edge rheumatology’ in Hall 1, where the opening ceremony had been held. There were perhaps 50 individuals in attendance, and both chairmen and presenters must have been disappointed at this demonstration of lack of interest from the 9000 delegates. Where were they? Some no doubt w (...truncated)