Europeans leading Pipeline Technology Conference took place for the 7th time this year. For the first time it was not within the framework of Hannover Messe. Dr. Klaus Ritter, Chairman of the ptc Advisory Committee justifies this step with the increasing number of participants and in addition to that the growing internationality. “The new venue, the Hannover Congress Centrum, gives this event a more familiar character and its own exhibition hall and conference hotel”, he says. Dr. Ritter opened the conference by welcoming the participants from 30 different nations worldwide. He stressed, that with delegations from not only European countries, but also from South and North America, Asia and Africa this conference truly deserves the name "international". The solutions for general and specific tasks and issues, which were presented in the plenary, in technical sessions and in the exhibition were highly relevant and were especially noticed with a great deal of attention by the representatives of the 28 mostly foreign operators. This led Mr Watzka (Open Grid Europe and ptc Advisory Committee Co-Chair) to say that “the operators from South America, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe were hoping to find the solutions for their issues in Germany/at the ptc.” The relevance of the discussed topics became apparent in the in-depth discussions after the sessions, as well as at the coffee and lunch breaks, which took place within the exhibition area. The ptc 2012 again gave the opportunity to share experiences, establish new contacts or strengthen existing contacts. Especially the evening program - a get together in the exhibition hall at the 1st evening and a dinner invitation at Hanover Zoo at the 2nd evening of ptc - were used by the participants for additional networking with other pipeline professionals. After this year’s success the EITEP has already started the planning of next year’s conference. It will take place from March 18th - 20th 2013 in Hannover. The first sponsors have already confirmed their participation. As well as this year the ptc will be supported by an international high-ranking advisory committee, which decided to put “Components and Materials” in the focus of next year’s meeting – in addition to traditional topics like the integrity and safety of pipeline systems. More information at www.pipeline-conference.com.