In 3 months, the Congress of Vitagora!
Food, Nutrient and Well-beingIN 3 MONTHS, THE CONGRESS OF VITAGORA!
 March 23 and 24 2010, in Dijon, the fifth edition of the Taste-Nutrition-Health Congress will take place, a genuine “showcase for Vitagora and its partners”, according to Christophe de la Fouchardière, Managing Director of Merck Médication Familiale and president of this event.
After the success of the 2009 edition on the topic of “From birth to old age”, with a significant percentage of foreign participants, the 2010 edition already promises a fascinating program. Totally in phase with the themes that preoccupy Vitagora’s members, this new edition is on the topic of “Food, Nutrient and Well-being” is also in line with questions currently asked by researchers, food companies and, more generally, consumers.
“The Congress has now found its audience,” explains Christophe de Fouchardière, the president of the Congress. The 2009 edition has indeed more than 450 participants of which 90% said they had achieved their objectives and would return to the following edition. Another area of satisfaction was the increase in international participants, a total of 13% for 2009. If the plenary conferences were closely followed, the Speaker Corner, conferences on aspects of regulatory affairs, were also appreciated among the delegates.
“This is a special occasion for the Congress delegates to share the opinions and viewpoints of specialists, in particular on various aspects of regulatory affairs, this being an area that is fast-changing on both a French and European level,” explains Chistophe de Fouchardière. Also, the partnership meetings had a greater number of participants, with more than 300 meetings programmed over the 2 days.
Round table debates on hot topics
With this success behind them, the Congress organisers decided to put together the new edition with the same format but with a new organisational team. “The Congress has reached it’s maturity. From now on, it has its place in the annual calendar of national and international events on its themes. We still need to build the loyalty of our audience and also recruit new participants,” continues Christophe de la Fouchardière.
The 2010 “vintage” has a promising appearance and will be organised around two mornings of plenary conferences and oral communications. “There will be a greater number of oral communications than last year,” indicates Michel Narce, President of the Congress’ Scientific Committee.
The afternoon program will be even more intense with parallel sessions of round table debates and practical workshops for health professionals. “We wanted each round table to deal with a hot topic in order to allow a real debate between the participants,” explains Michel Narce. One of the round table debates will deal with the topic of bioavailability of antioxidants, a subject that evokes widespread debate among specialists, as the absorption of too great quantities of antioxidants leading to unwanted side-effects. “The aim is to present each of the topics, to present the results of the latest studies, and to provoke a debate.”
The other 3 round table debates will deal with the subjects of “The interest of measurements of quality of life”, Ready-to-eat food products: between convenience and health” and “Developing functional food products: formulation and marketing”. More open to health professionals than in previous years, the practical workshops of the 2010 Congress, lead by renowned specialists, could interest both the medical world and the food sector. “Food companies have often let us know they are interested in the practical workshops in previous editions of the Congress,” says Michel Narce.
A greater focus on the academic world
If the organisers’ goal for 2010 is to build the loyalty of its audience and to continue to develop the international component, they are also interested in building links with the academic world in particular the community of young doctoral and post-doctoral researchers. “Our aim is to give these young scientists the opportunity to take part via oral communications or posters,” explains Michel Narce.
Hence the fact that student first authors of oral communications and posters will be offered free registration for the Congress. In the previous year, these posters, selected from the call for abstracts, were a great success with doctoral researchers from all 4 corners of France, Europe, even the world. More than 60 posters were submitted, a number that should increase in 2010.
“This is the chance for the students to present their work, to take part in the Congress and to build their networks. In addition, they can also take part in the business meetings in order to meet industry representatives, of which some are looking to recruit,” underlines Christophe de la Fouchardière. All the ingredients are there for the 5th edition of the Congress, to meet the needs of companies, researchers and health professionals. |
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