It’s Hard to Believe, but Coming Next Tuesday: Fall Meeting Registration

It’s a little earlier than usual, but that’s because our fall meeting is relatively early, September 18th – 20th (and those who point out that our fall meeting is technically a summer meeting this year win on a technicality).

As we did in San Francisco in the spring, we’ll again follow a consolidated schedule – Thursday through Saturday afternoon, with a handful of business meetings late Wednesday as a warm-up.

I was pleasantly surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response we got to the consolidated schedule we rolled out at the spring meeting. In addition to great feedback I heard directly from members, responses to our post-meeting survey told us the consolidated schedule was effective – and they gave high marks for overall meeting quality.

The move from a four-day to three-day schedule reduced our costs by about $100K. Our hope is that, over the long run the shorter schedule also allows more members to attend, as they’ll need less time away from the clinic than they would have using the previous meeting schedule.

Of course, we are left with a bit less elbow room between sessions, and a number of members expressed a desire for more time to connect with colleagues outside meeting rooms. Our three-day schedule is here to stay, so those looking for opportunities for networking and informal events may need to think about innovative scheduling!

In fact, “here to stay” is a key benefit of our new schedule – two new schedules, really – spring and fall. We want them to remain consistent and predictable, year after year. Each meeting adds its own special events, of course, and unique needs emerge, but members will be able to count on a core set of events that remains relatively unchanged.

In considering other steps to reduce meeting costs, we looked carefully at the return on our investment in live-streaming, as we offer almost all of our open sessions as hybrid meetings with a virtual attendance option. 

Based on survey responses and other feedback, it’s clear our members place a high value on those hybrid options. They also align with SWOG’s strategic priorities and values, so we plan to continue offering them.

Virtual attendance options give more of our members a chance to participate and interact with colleagues, and they provide an alternative that’s particularly valuable in a time of reduced federal funding for research and institutions.

Member engagement is a priority at these meetings, and although education is also an important goal, we encourage session leaders to leave time and space for interaction – for committee members to participate and contribute. That leads to both better-informed decisions and more engaged and committed members.

Speaking of committed members, this is a great opportunity for me to thank our committee chairs, study chairs, and other session leaders who regularly travel to Chicago and San Francisco. I really appreciate the fact that – even as volunteers – you prioritize attending in person, to provide leadership, share your expertise, and inspire your colleagues. There’s just no substitute for face-to-face connection.

Before leaving our post-meeting survey, I want to mention one other request we’ve seen more than once – a desire to have a spare meeting room available for ad hoc discussions. Our meetings management team does set aside a couple of rooms near the registration tables for just this purpose. If you find yourself needing a quiet spot for an impromptu one-on-one while in Chicago, please drop an email to the team at meetings@swog.org and they’ll point you to an available retreat.

One final important item: Several spots are still available for Modality and Discipline (MaD) Money travel support for investigators specializing in disciplines other than hematology/oncology. The deadline is August 4th(but they go fast, so …).

We’ll post the schedule for this fall’s meeting in the next few days. Highlights include our NCORP Research Base Clinical Trials Workshop on Thursday, September 18th, our plenary session on Friday, the 19th, and our board of governors meeting the morning of Saturday, the 20th.

Group meeting registration opens Tuesday, July 15th. Check your inbox or swog.org that day for a link.

As I’ve said before in this space – Chicago is one of my favorite places in the world. A SWOG group meeting makes it even better. See you in September!
 

Best of SWOG
To our valued attendees at our Best of SWOG at ASCO webinar this week: You may have wondered why the audio glitched so badly mid-event.  We’ve learned it’s because the app and browser-based versions of WebEx handle unmute requests very differently. We apologize for the delay in the broadcast.