Getting back to the blogging groove after 3 weeks on the road at successive conferences (AUA, ASCO and EHA) is a bit of a shock, so the first post will be short and pithy. AUA will be remembered for incredibly unsocial and early 6am education session starts. No thanks, with three meetings in a row stamina trumps insanity by a long shot. At ASCO, the Chicago venue is sprawling with long walks between sessions that appear to have no theme or cohesion around them and of course, the Press Room is way out in left field over the walkway no matter where you need to go. The S406 Vista Room was particularly bad and became notorious for the #blisterwalk on Twitter. Never again will I complain about switching between Halls A and F at Orlando, that’s a piece of cake by comparison! The second big difference I noticed between US and EU meetings was the presence or absence of chotchkes. In the US they are now verboten of course, but the EU has no such constraints. Now, I’m not sure a branded laptop sleeve or a Post-it pad ever made a difference to prescribing habits, but well done journal reprint carriers with a clear summary of the data do make a difference in oncology. They help reinforce the efficacy, survival curves and key messages to your audience