18th ECCO – 40th ESMO European Cancer Congress
25-29 September 2015, Vienna, Austria

The European Cancer Congress welcomes the interest of the press in cancer issues and is happy to provide assistance to journalists attending the Congress or using the Congress website as a resource in their coverage of cancer issues.

Registration

The Congress is open to bona fide representatives of print and electronic media. Registration is free of charge to journalists who are in possession of a valid, recognised press card. Freelance journalists must present a commissioning letter on headed paper from a recognised news organisation or publication.

A copy of the Press Card or of the commissioning letter should be sent, together with the media registration form, to: Kay Roche, email: [email protected] (with scanned documents).

• Download the media registration form

The original of the Press card or of the commissioning letter will also have to be presented at the conference registration desk together with a valid passport or ID-card.

Journalists must register in person. Applications for media registration made via pharmaceutical, marketing or public relations companies will not be considered.

Media registration in advance is strongly recommended. This enables us to deal with any queries or problems in advance.

Registration for bloggers

Bloggers who satisfy the criteria listed below are welcome to register as media. You must register to attend in advance of the meeting and you will receive media credentials on a case-by-case basis. This category will be marked on the quality and relevance of links provided. Being published on a blog does not automatically grant media accreditation.

The final decision on all registration requests for media credentials resides with the meeting organisers and is entirely at their discretion.

To receive media accreditation as a blogger, you must provide:

• qualitative and quantitative evidence of your reach within the oncology community and/or general public
• the blog URL and copies of, or links to, three recent cancer industry-related posts, written within the last year
• a letter from your organisation stating that they support your application and that you have been assigned to cover the Congress for their blog; AND/OR 
• a copy of your media card. If you do not have a media card, your editor must state this clearly in the above letter 
• a copy of photo identification (such as a driver’s license or passport) plus a copy of press credentials or a business card)
• a statement about the blog’s intended audience, including their influence.

In addition, the following criteria must be met:

• Only outlets that have been in continuous operation for at least six months will be considered
• Blog content must be original and updated at least once a week
• Self-promoting blogs and those that aggregate third-party content will not be considered
• Blogs must demonstrate editorial freedom from advertisers and/or sponsors
• Single-sponsored blogs will not receive credentials
• Blogs with advertising must have multiple advertisers (clearly identified)

Registration for CME writers

Publications that send journalists to the Congress to write CME copy will be allowed a total of two journalists.

Journals of ECCO member societies

Journals of societies that are members of ECCO may be permitted to register one media representative if their application for media registration is supported by a letter from the editor in chief of the journal.

Representatives of public relations companies, advertising agencies, marketing companies, pharmaceutical companies, financial analysts and their publications are not allowed to register as journalists or to work in the press room, but they are welcome to register as regular participants at the Congress. PR representatives from other organisations, whether commercial or non-commercial, are not allowed to register to work in the press office.

Information regarding media registrations belongs to ECCO and its media consultants. Past and current media lists are not available to be given, rented, or sold.

Embargoes

Please respect embargo times and dates on news stories.

It is planned that the majority of the Congress abstracts will go on line on the Congress web page on Thursday 10 September 10.00 hrs CEST, at: https://www.europeancancercongress.org, and can be reported from that time onwards. Any late breaking abstracts will not be published on line until 07.00 hrs CEST on the day they are to be presented to the Congress and will be embargoed to that time. Some abstracts that will form part of the media programme may be published on line at slightly later times on the day of presentation. Press releases about the Congress abstracts will be embargoed to times on the day on which they are being presented, including 00.01 hrs CEST. The embargo times and dates will be clearly marked on the official ECCO press releases. When asking for outside comment on releases before the embargo has lifted, journalists are requested to ensure that those consulted understand and accept the embargo conditions.

Official media materials will be made available to registered journalists only.

ECCO reserves the right to ban from the Congress any journalist who breaks the embargoes or contravenes this media policy in any other way.

Access and facilities

The media badge entitles the holder to the following:

• Access to the press office
• Access to all official ECCO news briefings
• Access to all sessions in the official programme
• Access to Opening Ceremony
• Access to the Exhibition

Press Office (Friday 25 – Tuesday 29 September)

The press office will be open to bona fide media representatives who have registered or register on site with provision of press credentials. It is not open to representatives of commercial sponsors, e.g. PR or marketing personnel.

The Press Office provides:

• Free local and international telephone facilities
• Computers with internet access and printer connections, and internet access for laptops via ethernet cables and wifi
• Photocopying facilities
• An IT specialist to assist with any computer or other technical problems
• Private interview rooms with phones for one to one interviews, bookable via the press officers on a first come first served basis. Bookings will be for half-hour slots for print media and one-hour slots for broadcast media. Requests for longer periods should be made in writing to the media consultants by 9 September 
• Lunch, beverages and light refreshments will be available during the day

Press Office staff: Emma Mason, Mary Rice, Kay Roche, Birgit Beerman and Emma Lowry.
Languages spoken: English, French and German.

Press Office opening times:

Filming and recording

• Photography, filming and recording will be permitted in the official press conferences. 
• Filming will be permitted in a designated, general area of the Congress, but is subject to authorisation from the media consultants; please contact the media consultants for the location and further information. Filming in other areas, including the exhibition area, is strictly forbidden. Anyone found filming in forbidden areas will be asked to leave the Congress.
• Filming and recording of Congress sessions is prohibited.
• Filming or photographing posters in the poster sessions is forbidden unless the presenting author is present and has given permission.
• Flash photography (including pictures taken with mobile phones) is prohibited in Congress scientific sessions. Non-flash photography will only be permitted in Congress scientific sessions if the chair of each session has secured agreement from all the presenters at the start of the session. If any presenter objects to photography during his/her presentation, then photography will not be permitted. Slides must not be photographed under any circumstances. The chair will announce at the beginning of the session whether or not photography will be permitted. We request all journalists to abide by the decisions of the chairs of the scientific sessions.

Social media: The hashtag for the Congress is #ECC2015

If you have any questions, contact: Emma Mason or Mary Rice, ECCO media consultants, email: [email protected], tel: +44 (0)1376 563090 (Emma), or +33 (0)3 85 28 26 63 (Mary).