Day One - what a beginning!

I write this having just finished the first day of the 33rd ECNP Congress Virtual. It’s been quite an experience.

When the lockdowns began in March, many of us had never attended an online congress. As we made the decision in April, against a background of alarmingly rising Covid-19 rates, to take the ECNP Congress virtual, we were therefore taking a giant step in the dark.

What has been immensely gratifying though is how many speakers, participants and industrial partners were prepared to join us on that journey. Our faculty agreed to the new format without hesitation, and more than 4,500 participants signed up. The confidence this demonstrated in ECNP and its ability, despite everything, to turn on an outstanding meeting has made me very proud.

We’ve tried very hard with the congress to leverage the benefits of an online environment and recreate the energy and excitement of a live meeting, and I have to say the results have been surprisingly impressive. The convenience certainly can’t be beaten, and I especially like the ability to go back over presentations, watch parallel sessions I might otherwise have missed, and catch all the content. You no longer have to choose!

But I am fairly confident to be speaking on everyone’s behalf by saying that I do miss the bustle and social life of a face-to-face meeting. A virtual meeting is really all about the science.

So it’s especially encouraging that so many – driven curiosity and commitment – have chosen to participate. It’s a very encouraging indication of the health of the field and the engagement of the ECNP community. To all those who are participating this year, we thank you! The standard of the science and the quality of the participation are as outstanding as ever.

If you’d still like to join the meeting and catch the last three days, it is possible. And don’t forget once you have registered, the content is fully available to delegates for another three months (until 15 December).

If you weren’t able to join this year, I hope to see you next year – fingers crossed – in Lisbon!

Gitte Moos Knudsen
ECNP President