36th Annual Meeting of the European Bone and Joint Infection Society (EBJIS) – September 2017
The 36th Annual Meeting of the European Bone and Joint Infection Society (EBJIS) took place at La Cité Nantes Congress Centre in September 2017, bringing together experts, practitioners and companies specialised in the field. With high-level scientific presentations, knowledge sharing and networking opportunities, the conference proved to be a success and showcased Nantes both as a place of knowledge and a great conference destination.
The mission of EBJIS is to fight infections in the musculoskeletal sys- tem: it appeals not only to orthopaedic surgeons but also to micro- biologists, plastic surgeons, infectious disease specialists, molecular biologists and material science specialists. Each year the annual EBJIS Conference grows bigger and gathers more than 500 participants from all over the world. That’s exactly what happened at La Cité Nantes Con- gress Centre, where the meeting was held. Boardroom asked Gérard Giordano, Conference Chair and Chief of the Orthopaedic-Traumato- logic Department at the Toulouse-based Joseph Ducuing Hospital, to reflect on the meeting.
« Why was Nantes and La Cité chosen as the host destination for the Annual Meeting of EBJIS?
Nantes and its surrounding region are famous for its health research, and Nantes University Hospital (CHU) is a centre of reference and excellence in several domains on an inter-regional and national scale: cardiology, transplants, oncology, cellular and gene therapy, neurosci- ence, serious burns unit, etc. In the field of bone and joint infection, it actively contributes to advances in medical and pharmaceutical sci- ence through its research activity. It made sense for us to organise our Annual Meeting there, as we wanted to show our peers coming from all over the world the kind of knowledge on offer.
What are Nantes and La Cité’s assets as a conference destination?
Besides being very active in the field we work in, Nantes is first highly accessible, thanks to the high-speed train and well-connected air
routes: delegates coming from abroad found it very easy to get in. It’s a welcoming city, both dynamic and vibrant, I dare say even atypical in the French landscape. There is this little je-ne-sais-quoi that makes the destination very special. Of course the famous giant elephant which is regularly walking down the streets of Nantes and which we were lucky enough to have at our table helps…
What kind of support did the people working at La Cité give you ?
To sum it up, I would say the services, both on a professional and an interpersonal level, were outstanding, really. As an organiser of an international event of this magnitude, having this kind of logistical support and overall understanding of what we want to achieve is very valuable. La Cité didn’t just sell space, they acted as a real partner of the Society: they listened carefully to our needs and requests and under- stood them, provided fine-tuned and timely answers, were incredibly reactive and their sense of hospitality was almost tangible. They were remarkably prepared: when you don’t actually notice the organisation of an event, that means it’s simply well organised, and that’s exactly what happened. »
Gérard Giordano, Conference Chair and Chief of the Orthopaedic-Traumato- logic Department at the Toulouse-based Joseph Ducuing Hospital
Interview Rémi Dévé Boardroom Magazine
