Abstract
Conferences such as the International Congress on Whiplash Associated Disorders, held in Berne on March 8-10, 2001, serve several purposes. Socially, they provide an opportunity for delegates to see, hear and meet leading experts in the field, and those experts get to meet one another. Academically, such conferences offer delegates a synopsis of current information, provided by plenary lectures, and the opportunity to hear or contribute new information, in the form of free papers. A measure of the success of such a conference is the extent to which new information presented advances knowledge and understanding in the field. This essay provides an overview of the congress at hand. It compares what was known before the congress with what more was known as a result of the congress.