On 12 April, ERS launched a flagship ‘ERS Satellites’ event designed to make high-quality education more accessible and affordable for respiratory healthcare professionals worldwide.
Using the latest live-streaming technology, the event brought experts together from multiple locations across Europe to share their knowledge with a global audience, removing the costs normally associated with travel and accommodation. Registration was also free due to collaboration with industry partners.
The event focused on the topic of severe asthma and was developed by Professor Guy Brusselle and Professor Stephen Holgate, respectively present and past ERS Science Council Chairs.
Delegates had the option to register to attend in person if they lived in or close to one of the eight participating cities: Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome or Stockholm. There was also an online option which allowed professionals from any location to access the full-day programme. Four industry organised hubs were also held in Athens, Lisbon, Moscow and Zagreb.
Over 570 registered to attend the live venues, while online registration attracted more than 1,700 virtual and unique delegates on the day from countries such as Australia, the USA, Russia, India and Brazil. There was a consistent online audience of over 510 watching at any point, suggesting that people used the event to dip in to the topics of most interest to them – a privilege not often accommodated by events that require travel and additional expense.
Professor Brusselle, who chaired the Brussels event, highlighted that this new structure for delivering education and sharing knowledge has many benefits for all participants.
“This ERS Satellite event on the topic of severe asthma was a huge success and everyone involved recognises the potential for this type of event to change the way we deliver high-level education – making it more accessible, affordable and convenient for everyone involved. As an added bonus this was also a very fun event to be involved in, for the chairs, speakers and delegates alike.”
Each of the eight locations had a local chair and expert speaker who delivered a comprehensive session on their area of expertise, this included topics such as ‘Definition, epidemiology and impact of severe asthma’, ‘Differential diagnosis and phenotyping’, ‘What is different about severe asthma in children and adults?’ and ‘Stratification and treatment of non-type 2 severe asthma’.
Following each session the audience had an opportunity to ask questions – either by participating in the room, or by submitting a question using the online platform. Over 200 questions were submitted on the day.
Professor Pierluigi Paggairo [title], the expert speaker at the Rome venue, noted: “I would like to thank the organisers for this excellent initiative and the other speakers for the great content included across the sessions. I hope that this experience might be replicated on a different topic in future.”
With the success of the first ERS Satellite event, ERS is hoping to expand this initiative to cover a range of respiratory topics in future.
ERS President Professor Mina Gaga added: “This is a great first and I believe that this type of event can benefit our members and respiratory professionals worldwide. Enabling events such as these is important for our future and is in alignment with our strategy as a society with education as key pillar.”