Interview with Philippe Souquières for the next French National Hospital Biologists’ Congress, to be held in Angers from 26 to 30 September 2011 (5 days – 2,000 overnights).
Angers Conference & Events Bureau (BDCE) : Can you tell us something about your organisation?
Philippe Souquières : The ACNBH is a non-profit organisation under the French law of 1901 that is commissioned by the French federation of hospital biologists (SNBH) to organise its annual conference. It consists of eight voluntary members, including hospital biologists (doctors, pharmacists, etc.) and industrialists. Every year, the organising committee selects a different region and city (Lille in 2010, Montpellier in 2009). The conference attracts a total of over 700 participants (from the worlds of both science and industry) with an average of 400 attending the entire event. The biologists arrive from all over France on Monday, to attend the federation’s Annual General Meeting. Over the following days, they will attend high-level scientific lectures as part of their ongoing professional training. Four evening events are also held: an icebreaker on Monday, followed by two lively evenings of unwinding on Tuesday and Wednesday, and culminating, on Thursday evening, in the keynote event: the 40th anniversary celebrations.
BDCE: The ACNBH Conference will be held in Angers from 26 to 30 September 2011: why was this destination chosen, in the wake of Montpellier and Lille in previous years?
P. Souquières: The SNBH, on whose behalf we organise the conference, asked us back in September 2009 to invite and examine bids from cities between Nantes and Tours. After considering several potential destinations, we shortlisted two cities for an exploratory visit. We recommended Angers to the SNBH as our final choice because it offered the best response to our specifications. We needed a conference centre big enough to accommodate our event, and while the Angers venue is perhaps not the most recent, it will be entirely given over to us. That will be quite a change from the major conference venues in which we can feel a little lost… But what really tipped the balance in favour of Angers is the scope for staging magnificent and original evening events in the city, and this was down to the remarkable work done by the Angers Conference and Events Bureau. We have picked out some sites with the potential to surprise our conference delegates and, believe me, they’re not easily surprised! At the Angers conference, we will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of our event, so a special destination was clearly called for!
BDCE: How do you handle the preparations for this national conference?
P. Souquières: The really original nature of our organisation is that we manage absolutely everything, from hotel rooms to entertainment by way of the menus, registrations, etc. We have a website that handles the management of the conference. We have gained a huge amount of experience and, of course, since we change city every year, we have to be really well organised. And we love what we do, which helps!
BDCE: Do you have any ideas or useful tips to share with our readers and other future conference organizers?
P. Souquières: The better you know Angers, the more there is to like. It’s a city of surprises, a place where it’s easy to feel at home. You really need to visit to see all it has to offer, and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Angers is lucky in having its own Conference and Events Bureau: its saves organisers time, and feeling that you have the right kind of support is essential.
Angers Conference & Events Bureau
Tel : 00 33 2 41 23 50 50
Email : bdce@angersloiretourisme.com
www.angersloiretourisme.com
