The largest European congress of the year is upon us again and it only seems like yesterday when the OTE team was dashing around the Stockholm International Fairs and Congress Center, to deliver all of the breaking news and announcements from last year's congress of the European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS). This year's meeting will be taking place in Berlin; a city that we had the pleasure of visiting recently for the European Glaucoma Society (EGS) congress. During that time, we had the enviable task of sampling some of the culinary delights that the city had to offer. Naturally, this was all in the name of research. With this knowledge, together with the expertise of the Berlin Tourist Board, OTE has compiled a guide to help you make the most out of your stay in Berlin this September. Whether your interests lie in museums and historical architecture or you simply want to find a great place to stop by for a meal or a beer during your free time, OTE's seeingBerlin guide has something for everyone. Please either stop by the OTE booth (Bridge Lobby, BL10) during the meeting or, alternatively, go to http://www.oteurope.com/seeingberlin to receive your free copy of the seeingBerlin guide.

Once again, the team and I will be reporting live from the show each and every day; delivering breaking news from the podium and the show floor, podcasts, daily round-ups, interviews and a "pick of the day", as recommended by OTE's Editorial Advisory Board. To sign up to receive this free service, please go to http://www.oteurope.com/escrs08

Sticking with the theme of latest trends in cataract & refractive surgery, in this issue of OTE, I am delighted to deliver a comprehensive feature on microincision cataract surgery (MICS). Specifically, we reveal how many European surgeons have so far been convinced by the hype surrounding this technique, particularly in light of recent technological advances. This special feature includes expert opinions, product catalogues and statistics on the number of current and predicted users of the technique — basically, everything you need to know about the latest trends in cataract surgery.

Enjoy! I hope to see you in Berlin.

Best wishes,

Fedra Pavlou
Editor
fpavlou@advanstar.com