ECREA 2018: a success in figures and more

The seventh ECREA conference ended on Saturday, November 3 at Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano. The event counted about 1400 participants from 51 European countries.

During the event that lasted four days, including the preliminary sessions held at USI, more than 1000 academic presentations where held in the more than 100 themed sessions, and two plenary sessions, which focused on the central theme of the conference "Centres and Peripheries: communication, research, translation", with a strong emphasis on communication issues in the social media era. As proof of the hype created by the conference not only among professionals - but also on old and new media, the hashtag #ECREA2018 was first in Switzerland for the whole week.

The stars of this success were also the members of the local organising committee: Professors Lorenzo Cantoni, Gabriele Balbi and Katharina Lobinger of the Faculty of Communication Sciences at USI, the coordinator Petra Mazzoni and Luca Grassi and Thea Rossi Colombo of the City of Lugano, which took the opportunity to further strengthen its reputation as a conference center. Last but not least, the success of the event was also measured in economic terms. As Lorenzo Pianezzi (President of Hotelleriesuisse) pointed out, events such as ECREA confirm that "congress tourism is in first place in terms of overnight stays and economic activities in the region".

Interviews at three members of the local organising committee were featured in the space dedicated by RSI during the broadcast of "Il Quotidiano": www.rsi.ch/play/tv/il-quotidiano/video/01-11-2018-simposio-della-comunicazione?id=11051580&station=rete-uno.