Facts and Figures

I’m never satisfied until I’ve got some figures to back things up. Well, that’s not really true; I know my football team is the best in the world, even though I may have to stretch my confidence limits a little, but that’s something I’d rather not go into too deeply. So what are the stats on ICE/ECE 2012?

We are looking at a total of around 5500 attendees. I say “around”, because of course the figure continues to change, as people arrive perhaps for only a day or even an individual session. But whichever way you look at it, the 15^th ICE and 14^th ECE have certainly attracted a huge amount of delegates from all corners of the globe, so I think that both the ISE and the ESE can afford to pat themselves on the backs on this.

The delegates come really from just about everywhere. The biggest group of course come from Italy. There were 512 Italian pre-registrants, with Spain (323), South America (308) in the silver and bronze positions respectively (sorry, I’m just getting ready for the Olympics). Following those, we had the UK in the familiar Olympic role of being just outside the medal positions in 4^th (with 242 delegates), Turkey with 231, the USA with 209, and France with 206. Despite the well-publicised financial problems in Greece, they are to be congratulated on sending 178 delegates, just ahead of Germany on 170.

But there are also some interesting trends. For example, we had 180 delegates from the Middle East, which is an area of great importance to both societies. Next year’s ECE hosts, Denmark, sent 60 delegates, which shows the strength of endocrinology in a country with a population of 5.7 million. But on a per-capita basis, it may be that the Estonians (30 delegates for 1.3million population) or the Swiss (with 129 delegates for a population of 8 million) should take the overall prizes.

Thoughts from around the Congress

The ICE/ECE 2012 is a really great opportunity to get some conversation going about endocrinology, so we went around the venue to ask delegates their thoughts on the Congress:

“The highlights of the Congress have been the strength of the programme, which is possibly the best I’ve seen, and the truly international reach. The fact that there are people of so many different nationalities here has made it a huge success.”

Professor Paul Stewart (UK), ISE General Secretary

“As a clinician scientist I really like the varied sessions running in parallel – I work in thyroid autoimmunity and breast cancer and the Congress programme allows me to get lots of useful information on many different aspects of these.”

Dr Ilaria Muller (Italy) – Dr Muller received an ESE Basic Science Meeting grant to attend ICE/ECE 2012.

“The opportunity to interact with people from all over the world is what makes this so great – there is nothing like face-to-face contact.”

Professor Christian Strasburger (Germany)

"This has been a great success. Florence is a wonderful place to hold a congress – I had wanted this for some years, and it is so good to see it come to fruition.  The organising committee really deserve congratulations, and as an Italian I’m so pleased that Gianni Forti has been able to host the congress."

Professor Ezio Ghigo (Italy)

 “This is a wonderful Congress – I am particularly enjoying the bone sessions. And of course Florence is a wonderful place to be.”

Professor John Wass (UK)

“This is a big meeting but the facilities are very good, the food is better than I expected and it’s nice to be able to walk to your hotel. The city is obviously very interesting, with lots of art, so by coming here I’m getting more than science.”

Dr Gunnar Valtysson (Iceland)

“This is one of the best Congresses of Endocrinology, and I have been to a few. Lots of interesting lectures and symposia, especially the Meet the Expert Sessions. I have lots of information to take home. Thank you to the organisers.”

Ms Elena Shelestova (Georgia)

There’s lots more conversation going on via the ESE twitter feed (hashtag #iceece12), ESE facebook page and the networking tool on the ICE/ECE 2012 Congress app (access via your smartphone), and of course feel free to post your comment below.

On the ICE/ECE 2012 Congress Concert

It may come as a surprise to some attending the ICE/ECE 2012 Congress, but Florence has had a thriving cultural scene for the last, oh I’d say, 800 years. Last night’s Congress Concert brought us right to the heart of the renaissance, in Brunelleschi’s Basilica di San Lorenzo. Completed in 1459, the Basilica is rightly considered one of the masterpieces of renaissance architecture. Of course, it’s most famous for Michelangelo’s Medici tombs, in adjacent Cappelle Medicee, but last night’s concert took place in the main nave of the Basilica.

The Giuseppe Verdi Choir, under the direction of Enzo Consogno, gave a fine performance of a variety of choral pieces ranging from Handel to Mascagni. From where I was sitting, around halfway back, the acoustics tended to muddy the performances a little, so to me the pieces which worked best were the more distinctively choral (rather than for example where the chorus was supporting the tenor or soprano voices, or the excellent trumpeter). However, this shouldn’t detract from the overall performance, the choir was very good indeed: disciplined, coherent, and able to fill the Basilica with their voices. Italy is famous for its voices, and rightly so.

There were around 400 seats laid out for the ICE/ECE 2012 delegates, and indeed there were another 40 or so sitting on the various altar steps around the church, so it really was a full house, and the warm reception given at the end of the performance showed how much the audience valued the evening, in a setting which was quite breathtaking.

As we were heading out, ESE President Philippe Bouchard told us of attending a performance of the Mozart Requiem, two months ago, as part of another congress concert. He showed us some photos he took at that concert, and then by chance came across a photo he had taken of the famous Fra Angelico Annunciation (which is in San Marco). “It is one of the masterpieces of humanity”, he said. And as we headed out into the night, past Michaelangelo’s unfinished façade of San Lorenzo, it was difficult not to think “As is Florence itself”. We are lucky to be here.

Endocrinology & The Olympics

2012 is an Olympic year. I was in London last week where everyone was getting nervous about the preparations, and how visitors would cope with the entry regulations at London airport. The ICE/ECE 2012 marked the coming event with a session on Endocrinology and the Olympics. I caught only the last two talks, although reports of Dr Luigi Di Luigi’s presentation were very positive indeed.

Dr Arne Auchus discussed how the endocrine patient copes with subjecting their bodies to high performance sports. Endocrinology is such a varied field that it is impossible to go into detail on how individual athletes cope with their conditions, but as he pointed out, the fact that they can cope at all shows the great strides which have been made in clinical endocrinology. As he said, it would have been almost inconceivable 30 or 40 years ago to imagine someone with type 1 diabetes running a marathon.

Of course, there are some very high-profile sportspersons who have endocrine conditions and have reached the top of their field – in today’s world of sport perhaps Lionel Messi’s early problems with GHD are the best documents. The fact that he has become the best practitioner of the most popular sport in the world is a great tribute to him (and his endocrinologists, of course).

The World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA, regulates doping in sport. Although Lio Messi has been treated for growth hormone deficiency, he would benefit from WADA’s Therapeutic Use Exemption system, whereby a sportsman can be given permission to use a drug necessary to their general health. One of the great difficulties in this system of course is dosage, which is obviously important when one is taking an anabolic drug.

Dr Mario Thevis spoke about  some of the problems of testing, and reinforced a point made by Dr Auchus, that testing for testosterone doping is difficult because of genetic factors (testosterone seems to have been a theme in this year’s Congress). Dr Thevis illustrated some of the practical problems in drug testing with some entertaining examples of how human frailty can make the testing less effective. For example, the case in Germany of 8 identical urine samples, taken from different athletes at different times, and even from different cities. The common factor was identified as being a hard-working drug testing inspector who was too busy to test all the athletes, and so she provided her own urine.

Professor Ebo Nieschlag wound up the session in the course of a question from the floor. “We need to send a message to all endocrinologists – do not neglect the sportsmen and women”. He said that many endocrinologists  had stood aside during the development of the obesity epidemic, and we shouldn’t make the same mistake in sports. As he said, “We need to offer high quality endocrinology to help high quality sportspersons”.

For those interested in the subject, note Symposium 60, entitled 'Performance enhancing hormones in sports', is taking place at 15:15-16:45 on Tuesday 8 May in Hall H.

ESE meets Affiliated Societies

Sunday afternoon saw the annual meeting of the ESE President and the ESE Affiliated Society Presidents. This invitation-only get-together was instituted by ex-President Professor Eberhard Nieschlag, as a way of building bridges between the ESE and other European and affiliated societies – as Professor Philippe Bouchard, the current ESE President, said, it’s an “opportunity to catch up and build good relationships”.

Professor Bouchard introduced the meeting, saying that this was a forum which would allow societies to work together, share projects, and avoid duplication, something which is especially important at this time when funding and sponsorship is tighter than it had been in the past. He then opened the meeting to questions and a wide-ranging discussion, which included some direct questions to the ESE. Following a question on numbers from Professor Joerg Gromoll (Germany) the secretariat highlighted the increased number of purely basic scientists who have attended. Normally this runs at around 7 to 8% of delegates, but the Florence meeting has seen this figure rise to 12%.

There was some discussion of the various activities which the ESE can offer, including the new website, the 5 journals, the news reports, and so on. Professor Bouchard also described proposed e-learning initiatives with UEMS, and ESE plans to reach out to North Africa and Russia. There was also some discussion of next year’s elections, with 2 Executive Committee positions, and the post of Vice-President becoming available.

After the meeting, Marija Pfeifer of the Slovenian Endocrine Society told the ESE Press Office:

”It was a really good meeting. Philippe is very enthusiastic, and he has lots of ideas to increase collaboration between national and international Societies. He also realises the need to increase membership of the ESE, and so it is very important that endocrinologists throughout Europe know what it is that the ESE does: for example many members probably are not aware of the access to journals, or of the up-to-date news which the ESE distributes, which we sometime get before it reaches our national press. I think that the example we see here, where the Italian Society is hosting the European and International societies, is a good model, and I'd like to see more of this"

To find out more about ESE’s Affiliated Societies, visit the all new ESE website and our interactive map, providing information on Affiliated Society members from around Europe: http://www.ese-hormones.org/membership/affiliated/map.aspx

A weighty debate

The first debate at ICE/ECE 2012 - This house believes that metabolic (bariatric) surgery should be offered to every diabetic with a BMI over 30 - was sure to spark some interesting discussion.

With the global type 2 diabetes burden at epidemic proportions, and growing, the need for a safe and effective way of addressing the main contributing factor – obesity – is vast. Bariatric surgery is a radical but effective treatment that has the surprising effect of curing diabetes in 90-95% of patients who maintain the weight loss. Should it therefore be offered to all obese type 2 diabetes patients?

At the outset of the debate the audience voted overwhelmingly ‘no’ (83%). Arguing for the motion was Geltrude Mingrone, M.D. (Rome, Italy), who pointed to the three randomised controlled trials on bariatric surgery as a demonstration of the supremacy of bariatric surgery in effecting remission of diabetes. Edoardo Mannucci, M.D. (Florence, Italy), used the same three studies to demonstrate the comparative lack of research conducted on bariatric surgery in comparison to that required for approval of any drug, likening the current evidence base to that of a phase IIa trial.

The audience asked how the protagonists thought patients might vote, how an appropriate control for the surgery would be constituted, and how one could resource wide-scale provision of the surgery. Interestingly the final vote was almost exactly 50/50: clearly it is an area for further discussion.

Debate 1: This house believes that metabolic (bariatric) surgery should be offered to every diabetic with a BMI over 30, took place in the Main Hall at ICE/ECE 2012, 11:30-12:30, Sunday 6 May 2012, Florence, Italy. The Chair was Professor Valdis Pirags (Latvia).

First impressions of Florence

The ICE/ECE 2012 Congress team has been working tirelessly in Florence to put on a top-class Congress, and my what a city!

The Florence skyline, centred around the Duomu, is simply stunning, and the venue itself is no exception to this. Based in the walls of a Renaissance fort and featuring buildings both new and original, we’re sure you’ll enjoy the setting as you stroll between symposia, promenade towards the posters or simply take a break amongst the Tuscan garden.

Once you’re able to tear yourself away from the magnificent surroundings you’ll find a truly top-class programme awaiting you, kicking off today with a satellite symposium, a round table discussion on science publishing, our opening ceremony and of course the two ESE medal lectures. This year the Geoffrey Harris Prize is awarded to Professor Jonathan Seckl (Edinburgh, UK) who will deliver his talk entitled ‘Glucocorticoid metabolism and the brain, from fetal programming to senescence’ at 17:55. He will be followed by Professor Sadaf Farooqi (Cambridge, UK) who is awarded the European Journal of Endocrinology Prize lecture and will give her lecture, ‘Tackling obesity: lessons from genetics’ at 18:45. We would like to offer many congratulations to them both.

After the lectures you’ll be able to catch up with old friends from around the world, and make new ones, at the Welcome Reception. Don’t stay out too late though: the Congress starts anew tomorrow with the first Plenary lecture at 08:30.

ICE/ECE 2012 daily news updates

Did you know that ICE/ECE 2012 are producing daily updates to keep you informed on all the latest news from the Congress?  They include information on what's on today at the Congress, highlights from yesterday and information on all the latest initiatives from the organising societies, the European Society of Endocrinology and the International Society of Endocrinology.

The daily news updates can be viewed at: www.ice-ece2012.com/news

You can also view the daily news updates via the Congress App, so you can get your information on the go.  If you haven't already done so, first download the App to your mobile device from: http://tinyurl.com/7zyger9.  When this is complete, open the App and click on the "More" section in the top navigation bar and then click the "Daily News" icon on the top left of the page.  This will give you access to the current daily news update.  Then just click on the section of news you would like to view and start reading!

ICE/ECE 2012 - don’t forget…

ICE/ECE 2012, this year’s must-attend conference on endocrinology, is just around the corner, and we can’t wait! We’ve got a fantastic programme lined up covering the latest and best clinical and basic research on hormones from around the world, and on top of this ICE/ECE 2012 will feature a number of innovations to help you get the most out of what promises to be a top-class conference.  Here are some last minute reminders of what’s going on and why ICE/ECE 2012 is the place to be for anyone and everyone in endocrinology:

·      If you have pre-registered don’t forget to print out your badge and bring it along. Those who haven’t registered already can do so on-site during the Congress.

·     The Congress is kicking-off on Saturday with two prize lectures: The Geoffrey Harris prize is awarded to Professor Jonathan Seckl (UK) and the European Journal of Endocrinology prize to Professor Sadaf Farooqi (UK). Have a look at the programme at http://www.ice-ece2012.com/programme/prog.aspx to find out about the other superb lectures and presentations that await you.

·     We are delighted to bring you the ICE/ECE 2012 Congress App, which is supported by iPad, iPhone, Android and Blackberry platforms and features an interactive programme, Congress venue map and networking tools to enable you to get the most out of your time in Florence. The app can be accessed from your mobile device at http://tinyurl.com/7zyqer9.

·     You can display your ICE/ECE 2012 poster online using the Congress e-poster tool. Upload it now at http://ice-ece2012.abstractcentral.com/ or wait until the Congress where you’ll be able to use our internet cafe.

·     To keep up with the buzz, and have your say, follow the Congress on Twitter with the hashtag #iceece12.

·     Tickets are still available for the Congress Dinner and the Congress Concert. To book, please contact the Congress secretariat at ice-ece2012@bioscientifica.com or visit the registration desk onsite.

·     We will be producing daily news updates from the Congress to keep you informed on all the latest news and events.  These will be emailed direct to your inbox and will also be available on the Congress website and Congress app.

·     Abstracts from ICE/ECE 2012 are published in Endocrine Abstracts Vol 29 (provided free to all delegates), and will also be free to view online at http://www.endocrine-abstracts.org/browse/Issues.aspx.

·      To find out more about ESE activities please come along to the ESEs stand 12 in the main exhibition area.

We hope you enjoy your time in the wonderful city of Florence. See you next week!

Social programme at ICE/ECE 2012

As well as the excellent scientific programme, we have an exciting programme of social events for you to enjoy while you are at ICE/ECE 2012.  Not only will these allow you to unwind after a day full of stimulating and thought-provoking talks, they will also provide an excellent opportunity to network and make new friends with your endocrine colleagues from around the world.  The Programme Organising Committee have worked hard to ensure that we have a range of events to suit everyone and to ensure that you have the opportunity to visit some of the finest sights in Florence.  Here we provide a taster of the events on offer but for further information, visit http://www.ice-ece2012.com/social.aspx

Welcome Reception

The Welcome Reception will take place in the Fortezza da Basso Congress Centre on the first evening of the Congress (Saturday 5 May) directly following the Opening Ceremony at 19:30.  Both the International Society of Endocrinology and the European Society of Endocrinology are pleased to invite all delegates to attend.  Drinks and light snacks will be available to all along with the opportunity to catch up with your colleagues and take a look at the poster presentations. The Welcome Reception will also see the launch of Endocrine Connections, the new Open Access journal from the European Society of Endocrinology and the Society for Endocrinology.  More information on it can be found at: http://www.endocrineconnections.org/

Congress Dinner

We are delighted to announce that the official Congress dinner will take place at the spectacular Palazzo Corsini in Florence at 20:00 on Sunday 6 May.  This is a historic late baroque building which will provide the perfect backdrop for what promises to be an unmissable evening of fine dining and entertainment.  Tickets cost €75 to delegates, with reductions available to ESE members (€65) and Fellows/Students/Nurses (€35).  All tickets include a three course meal including drinks followed by light entertainment provided by a local band.  We can also offer table bookings and private room bookings if required.  If you haven’t yet purchased a ticket, please email the Congress secretariat at ice-ece2012@bioscientifica.com

Congress Concert

ICE/ECE 2012 is very proud to be hosting a Congress Concert which will take place in the beautiful Basilica di San Lorenzo at 20:30-21:15 on Monday 7 May.  This really is a unique opportunity to attend a private concert in one of the oldest and most historic of Florence’s many churches.  The church is situated in the middle of Florence’s main market district and is the burial place of all the main members of the Medici family.  The concert will consist of a 48 piece choir who will perform a 45 minute programme for your enjoyment.

Due to the unique nature of this event, tickets are selling fast.  So if you would like to attend, please contact us as soon as possible.  Tickets are €55 with reduction available to ESE members (€40) and Fellows/Students/Nurses (€25).  To purchase, please email the Congress secretariat at ice-ece2012@bioscientifica.com

For more information on the entire social programme, please visit http://www.ice-ece2012.com/social.aspx

Endocrine Nurses at ICE/ECE 2012

ICE/ECE 2012 is keen to encourage Endocrine Nurses to attend the Congress and benefit from the learning and networking opportunities that will be available.  To do this, we have developed a number of initiatives that we hope will encourage Endocrine Nurses to attend the Congress. 

Registration

Firstly, we have large reductions on the registration costs for nurses.  If you register online before 16 April, the cost is only €150, a saving of up to €400!  This rate is available to all nurses, regardless of whether you are an ESE member or not.  Registration onsite is available at €200.  Online registration is available until 16 April at http://www.ice-ece2012.com/registration.aspx

Programme

As well as being welcome to attend any of the sessions in the main programme, the ICE/ECE 2012 Programme Organising Committee have also developed an exciting series of tailored sessions at the Congress, which are aimed at Endocrine Nurses.  These aim to provide opportunities for professional development and reviewing the latest medical findings, along with the prospect of networking with Endocrine Nursing colleagues from around the world.  These sessions are generously supported by Novartis.  All Endocrine Nurse sessions will be held in English but will also be simultaneously translated into Italian.

Our first session is entitled “Puberty induction and sex steroid replacement in young adults” and will take place at 09:30-11:00 on Monday 7 May.  This session will examine the role of Endocrine Nurse in puberty induction treatment and in choosing and providing sex steroid replacement to young adults.  We have a stellar line up of speakers for this session including Dr Caroline Brain (UK), Dr Meg Keil (USA), Dr Gerard Conway (UK) and Ms Shashana Shalet (UK).

The second session is on “Cushing’s syndrome and prolactinoma – diagnosis and management” and will examine the latest medical findings and developments in the treatment of these conditions and the role that the Endocrine Nurse can play in aiding diagnosis and management of both prolactinoma and Cushing’s syndrome.  The session will take place at 09:30-11:00 on Tuesday 8 May and speakers include Dr Richard Feelders (The Netherlands), Ms Wanda Geilvoet (The Netherlands), Dr Marianne Anderson (Denmark) and Ms Anne Marland (UK). 

Our final event for Endocrine Nurses focuses on professional development and entitled “Developing Endocrine Nursing across Europe and internationally”.  This session will investigate nurse-led services in endocrinology and look at how nurses from around the world can work together more effectively. Speakers include Dr Cecilia Follin (Sweden), Ms Shashana Shalet (UK), Dr Meg Keil (USA) and Mr Philip Yeoh (UK).  It is scheduled to take place at 18:30-20:00 on Tuesday 8 May and will be accompanied by a buffet meal.  Additionally, all nursing posters will be on display the winner of the Best Nursing Poster Prize will announced during the evening.

We look forward to welcoming our Endocrine Nurse colleagues to ICE/ECE 2012.  For information on all of these activities, please visit http://www.ice-ece2012.com/nurse.aspx

Latest news from the ICE/ECE Programme Organising Committee

Members of the ICE/ECE 2012 Programme Organising Committee (POC) met once again in Florence on 4-5 February to continue their management of what will surely prove to be one of the most exciting and memorable endocrinology conferences of recent years.  This meeting had the more specific focus of assessing the abstracts submitted to the Congress and assigning them to oral communication sessions and poster presentations.

Members of ICE/ECE 2012 POC meet in Florence to plan the Congress

The 20 members of the POC were delighted to see that 2012 abstracts in total have been submitted for presentation at the Congress.   The Congress has succeeded in obtaining submissions from 78 countries, meaning that we will be able to bring you the best in endocrinology research and clinical practice from around the globe. 

During the abstract marking process, a team of over 100 reviewers scored the abstracts.  It was the job of the POC to work through these marks and comments and update the scientific programme with new oral communication sessions.  The result of this intense, but thoroughly enjoyable, session was the inclusion of 1857 posters for presentation at the Congress and the introduction of 19 oral communication sessions. The huge range of categories from pituitary to thyroid and from developmental endocrinology to bone & osteoporosis means that there will be presentations to suit everyone’s research and clinical interests.

All authors should now have received notification about their abstract, ensuring that presenting authors can benefit from the early bird registration deadline.  The full programme for the Congress is now available online. Visit http://www.ice-ece2012.com/programme/prog.aspx to plan your time at the Congress and discover more about the sessions you want to attend.

Both the POC Chair Martin Reinke and the Local Organising Committee Chair, Gianni Forti, would like to extend their thanks to all the Programme Organising Committee for the commitment and passion they have shown in developing what we hope will be a truly outstanding conference.  We now look forward to ICE/ECE 2012 on 5-9 May and we hope that you will be able to join us there!

***REMEMBER*** The early bird deadline for reduced registration rates is 16 March.  Register online now at: http://www.ice-ece2012.com/registration.aspx

ICE/ECE 2012 – Beyond the science

With the New Year upon us, now is the time to start planning your trip to Italy to ICE/ECE 2012.  There will be a large number of people travelling to Florence for the Congress, so please make sure you book your travel and accommodation early.  Below we’ve included some information to help you make the most of your visit.

Travel
The city of Florence has good travel connections to the rest of Italy and mainland Europe.  Depending upon where you are travelling from, there are a number of travel options available to you.

Flights: The main airport in Florence is the “Amerigo Vespucci” (FLR), which is situated 15 minutes from the centre of Florence.  It receives flights from all major Italian airports and 13 European destinations including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London Gatwick, Madrid and Paris.   Alternatively Pisa’s airport “Galileo Galilei” receives flights from 63 national and international destinations.  There are regular train and bus services from the airport to Florence, which take approximately 85 minutes.

ICE/ECE 2012 is working with Star Alliance to ensure our delegates get the best possible prices for their air travel. Please visit the Travel Section of the ICE/ECE 2012 Congress website for more information.

Train: Florence’s main train station is Stazione Santa Maria Novella and is situated on the Milan-Rome line, with frequent and rapid connections both ways.  The train station is a 10 minute walk to the congress venue.

Bus: Long-distance buses provide an inexpensive service between Florence and other cities in Italy and Europe. The major bus companies offering services include Lazzi Eurolines and SITA.

Car: Florence is serviced by an excellent road network.  Please note the centre of Florence is a restricted traffic area.  If you plan to drive to the Congress, inform your hotel in advance and they will pass on your vehicle details to the local city police so that you can enter the restricted area without problems.

All delegates must have valid passport to enter Italy.  Remember to check well in advance if you will require a visa to enter Italy, as for some countries, visa application procedures can take up to two months.

We would also like to encourage delegates to consider the environmental impact of their travel arrangements and consider offsetting their travel-related carbon impacts associated with the Congress.  A list of carbon-offsetting schemes can be found at CarbonCatalog.org.

Accommodation
Florence has a wide range of accommodation options to suit all budgets.  ICE/ECE 2012 have reserved a large number of hotel rooms for Congress delegates at preferential rates.  To view the hotels available and book your accommodation through our system, visit:  http://www.ice-ece2012.com/accommodation.aspx.    To be assured of accommodation using this method, you must apply by 16 April 2012.  If you would rather find accommodation options for more limited budgets, you may find the following website useful for making reservations:  http://www.inyourtuscany.com/

Pre- and post- Congress tours
Why not make the most of your trip to Florence and the beautiful country of Italy by taking advantage of one of our exciting pre- or post-Congress tours?  To book any of the tours below, please use our Optional Tours booking system.  Places are limited, so book early to avoid disappointment!

There is a pre-Congress tour to Tuscany, which lasts three days and takes in the delights of Chianti, Colle Val D’Elsa and Certaldo.  This also includes the opportunity to learn and sample some traditional Italian cooking!  There are three post-Congress tours available (all three days long) which will visit Tuscany, Venice or Rome.  The post-Congress tour to Tuscany takes a scenic route through Sienna, San Gimignano (an UNESCO World Heritage site) and Pisa.  The tour to Venice allows you to experience all the beauty of this famous Italian city, including visits to the picturesque canals, St Mark’s square and a boat trip through the famous Venetian islands to the Murano glass factory.  The Rome trip allows you to sample the very best of the Italian capital, with opportunities to visit the Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.

Specifically designed for accompanying persons, we have also selected a number of half day tours during the Congress itself, ranging from a visit to Pisa to a Medieval Florence Gastronomic tour!  Further information can be found at: http://www.ice-ece2012.com/tours/toursDaily.aspx

And…most importantly!
And finally, don’t forget to register for the Congress itself!  The early-bird deadline for reduced registration fees is 16 March 2012.  Register online at: http://www.ice-ece2012.com/registration.aspx.  ESE members can save up to €300 compared to non-member early bird registration rate!  Click here to find out how to become an ESE member.