- Connecting Laser Science Across Europe
Laser Europe 2012
- Connecting Laser Science Across Europe
Laser Europe - London 2012
Convened by the European Laser Association (ELA), Laser Europe 2012 was hosted by the British Medical Laser Association (BMLA) in association with Sociedad Espanola de Laser Medico Quirurgico (SELMQ). The venue was the Cumberland Hotel, London, 10-12 May 2012. There was a very full programme with three parallel sessions. Nine training courses were held along with the scientific programme. The training programmes were very popular and generated extra revenue for the conference. In addition, there was a total of 22 scientific sessions. 262 delegates attended the conference which was convened by the European Laser Association, hosted by the British Medical Laser Association in association with Sociedad Espanola de Laser Medico Quirurgico with simultaneous translation between English and Spanish.
There were 20 companies at the commercial exhibition. Steven Zietels presented the inaugural Vasant Oswal Oration. Dr Zietels is Director of the Center for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation at Massachusetts General Hospital, USA. This was an inspirational presentation and the work served as a model for establishing minimally invasive laser techniques in a range of disciplines. The feedback from delegates was extremely positive. In answer to the key question “Overall, how would you rate this year’s conference?” 90% gave four or five points out of a maximum of five. A geographical breakdown showed that delegates attended from 30 countries around the world. The main social event comprised a conference dinner cruise on the Thames. Musical accompaniment was provided by a jazz band for the first half of the cruise with style changing for the return part of the journey when there was considerable audience participation in, what might loosely be described as flamenco style dancing encouraged by lively flamenco musicians.
Although the meeting ran at a considerable loss which was underwritten by BMLA, nonetheless, scientifically, it was a great success. The general level of presentation was extremely good, the organisation was rated very highly, social and networking opportunities were widely utilised and delegates rated the conference a great success.
