Following the success of previous courses and activities in the field, we have decided to bring them all together and are pleased to welcome the first ever ERS Respiratory Failure and Mechanical Ventilation Conference.  Onsite and online participants will have access to over forty experts in the field and be able to interact with peers from all over the world and participate in interactive sessions, hands-on practical skills workshops and presentations of original research and case reports.  The conference programme has been developed around three main tracks - adult acute respiratory failure, chronic respiratory failure and paediatric respiratory failure. Delegates are welcome to follow a particular track throughout, however the flexibility of the conference allows you to freely choose any session of interest from the programme.  Additionally, the conference will provide you with networking opportunities and the possibility to submit cases and abstracts for presentation and discussion. Different activities will be simultaneously live streamed through multiple channels for online participants; thereby, recreating the on-site experience of multiple options for online participants.