BAPRAS wins bid to host European plastic surgery congress

1st December 2009

 

BAPRAS has won the bid to host the 12th European Plastic Surgery Congress (ESPRAS) in Edinburgh, in 2014.

The Association worked closely with leading professional conference organisers Congrex UK and the Edinburgh Convention Bureau to prepare a formal submission, presenting carefully reasoned arguments as to why the meeting should come to the UK, with each ESPRAS committee member receiving an individual printed and bound bid proposal which had been created by Congrex UK and BAPRAS, with the involvement and advice of Mr Joe O’Donoghue, BAPRAS Council Member, and representative on the European Board of Plastic Surgery.

The bid was presented at the recent 11th European Congress in Rhodes, attended by over 1,000 registered delegates, a number that will hopefully be exceeded in 2014.  The BAPRAS bid was presented by Chris Khoo, a former President and European Board member, supported by BAPRAS Senior Administrator Helen Roberts, and Krystina Snaith from Congrex UK who joined European national delegates for a preliminary presentation, which was followed by a  formal presentation and secret ballot at the General Assembly later in the week.  A taste of what Scotland has to offer was conveyed with small pots of marmalade and miniatures of the “water of life” which had been brought to Greece to set the mood!

“It was important to remind voting delegates of the founding of the British Association in 1946, its longstanding connections with Europe in the training of surgeons, and its extensive experience in organising Meetings and Conferences” said Chris Khoo, former BAPRAS President and European Board member, who also brought the greetings of current BAPRAS President Professor Simon Kay and the Council, expressing a warm desire to host the 2014 Congress. 

“The last International meeting on Plastic Surgery held in the UK was in 1959: some of the older members remembered the pier burning down at the Brighton venue!  However, this will be the first time that the meeting will be held in Scotland, and the first time that the UK will have hosted the European Congress.” said Chris Khoo.

The presentation reviewed the tradition behind Plastic Surgery in the United Kingdom, and the advantages of historic Edinburgh as a host city: accessibility from all of Europe, excellent conference facilities in the state-of- the-art Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), unique venues for the social programme, and possibilities for extended stays to enable delegates to explore Scotland.

A previous contender Prague, having withdrawn, and despite the promise of excellent value for money and a dramatically different scenery being offered from the other contender, Bucharest, the vote in the end went to Edinburgh 2:1. 

BAPRAS have now formed a local organising committee to take the management of the 12th ESPRAS Congress forward, working closely with Congrex UK whose expertise and local knowledge will help to ensure the success of this major international scientific congress.

Krystina Snaith, Account Manager, Congrex UK, is very pleased with the bid success. “The 12th ESPRAS Congress is an extremely prestigious congress to organise, and we are delighted to have been able to work with BAPRAS and the Edinburgh city partners from the outset, through the bidding process to what we very much hope will a hugely successful event that will attract a record attendance for an ESPRAS Congress in Edinburgh in 2014”. 

 

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