French Hemostasis Congress, May 10-12, 2023 - Meeting with Peter Lenting, Inserm research director at the Kremlin-Bicêtre Hospital, Congress Chairman.

The French Hemostasis Congress 2023 has landed in Saint-Malo. What are the reasons for this?

Our company organizes an annual convention in different cities in France, and we had never been to Saint-Malo. It is a city I love and know well. As a child, my Breton wife spent her vacations in the city, in the family apartment. When the opportunity arose, we bought a house, still within the city. We come here often. Organizing a conference here was very important to me, in a renovated Palais du Grand Large. I knew that I was taking no risks in proposing this choice: you can't go wrong by organizing a conference in such a facility and in such a setting! To make this project a reality, the teams from Kremlin-Bicêtre and the Rennes University Hospital worked together.

What is the purpose of such a conference?

It allows clinicians, pharmacists, biologists and researchers to meet, to get acquainted with the latest news in hemostasis and to review new therapeutic products with our partners. The objective is always to improve the management and diagnosis of patients with bleeding and thrombotic diseases.

How did the meeting go?

We had very good feedback from the 490 participants, whether they were congress participants, guests or partners. We had reserved part of the Palais du Grand Large to accommodate the working groups, plenary sessions, oral communications sessions, posters and master classes. Traffic flowed smoothly, and we did not feel crowded. The logistics, the technique, everything was impeccable. Our gala dinner took place in the Cézembre Rotunda, on the 3rd floor, with a view on the sea and a wonderful sunset...Perfection does not exist, but we were not far from it!

How did the participants come? Where did they stay?

More than 90% came by train. Our service provider Overcome helped delegates book their hotel accommodation. Most of them stayed at the Océania hotel, next to the Palais du Grand Large. Those who preferred to make their own reservations, as well as our partners, were accommodated within the city, at the Hotel Le Grand Bé and theHotel des Marins , among others. They were very satisfied. They were very satisfied with their accommodation, the city, the Palais du Grand Large, and the scientific content of the conference.

A congress with a reduced environmental footprint compared to previous years...

Following the example of our previous congress in Bordeaux in 2022, the organizing committee has decided to stop distributing bags full of advertisements and promotional items, many of which were quickly thrown away. We also decided to stop giving out the booklet containing the scientific abstracts, but to provide it only on order. Instead, we created a mobile application of the congress which offered all the necessary information: the program, the list of speakers and partners, the posters, the abstracts, the map of the spaces, practical information...

French Congress of Hemostasis (congres-hemostase.com)

Interview conducted by Béatrice Ercksen.