Over 3,000 delegates from 75 different countries worldwide attended the European Society of Coloproctology’s (ESCP) 15th annual Scientific Meeting from 21-23 September.
Dubbed ‘Virtually Vilnius’, in recognition of its originally intended host city in Lithuania, the event was ESCP’s first ever large-scale virtual conference. Attendees were treated to a number of keynote sessions, symposiums, and panel discussions covering key themes including gender influences on colorectal cancer treatment, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and faecal incontinence.
Amongst the 3,000 delegation, ESCP saw great interest from outside of Europe, with 31 per cent of website sessions over the three days originating from non-European countries.
The UK, Spain, Netherlands, Turkey, and Italy made up the top five European countries from which delegates attended, while the top five countries outside of Europe to attend were Mexico, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.
As well as the online platform offering areas for delegates to converse and share information, delegates, and those who could not attend, were also kept up to date and entertained via ESCP’s official social media channels. Live tweets from sessions, competitions and reviews were shared daily, putting online engagement at the heart of the conference like never before.
ESCP President, Evangelos Xynos, said:
"We are delighted with the feedback we’ve received since the conference concluded. It is still unclear what the future holds but we are already excited for 2021, whether it be in person, virtually or in hybrid form.
"We were naturally disappointed not to be able to meet in person in Vilnius, but like other associations we had to look for alternative plans to our annual meeting. In response, ESCP’s Programme and Education Committees worked tirelessly to prepare and produce a thought-provoking and highly educational online event, a first for ESCP.
"The conference would also not have been possible without the loyal support from our sponsors and exhibitors and we thank them for their trust and cooperation with our first wholly virtual annual meeting."
Conference sessions are available to access for 12 months for ESCP members and can be accessed here.
You can find out about plans for ESCP 2021 here.
