best: they will know the management of the facility
itself, as well as the potential for local tours, activ-
ities and so on.
The schedule of the scientific program is usually
pivotal in a large meeting, and everything must fit in
around it. It goeswithoutsaying thatscientificchair-
persons must themselves be thought-leaders in the
meeting’s topic(s). However, another vital qualifica-
tion is that this eminent person must also be some-
bodywhoiswillingtocooperatewithlessermortals,
and who is decisive, consistent and communicative.
The advisory board, if there is to be one, should
generate comments on a draft of the scientific
program that the scientific chairperson provides
early. With that advice, the scientific chairman can
finalize the program and then recruit the speakers
and moderators.
The key word for speaker and moderator recruit-
ment is balance. Balance should be sought not only
in diverging scientific opinion but also in the geo-
graphical origins of the speakers and moderators.
The latter must be people who can broach no sub-
version of accurate time keeping yet impose that
discipline on speakers politely.
Time and place. For a large-scale conference, if
you start less than 18 months in advance, then you
are usually headed for disaster. Every effort must
be made at this early date to avoid dates that con-
flict with other conferences that may attract the
same audience, and thus compete, with yours.
This planninginterval can become smaller as meet-
ings become smaller, but a six-investigator proto-
col meeting can usually not attract all the required
participants with less than three or four months
notice.
Constructing (or purchasing) a mailing list
should be the next early step. Contact details for
known participants and define a set of character-
istics for desirable unknown participants. For the
latter, until registrations are received, advertising
in relevant journals may be the only way to contact
them.
Geographical location for the meeting is the
next decision. This can be an iterative process
when it turns out that there is no suitable meeting
facility in the place which would minimize the
aggregate travel time and costs for the participants.
Again, the larger the facility required, the longer
the lead time. Convention halls in major cities are
often booked years in advance; one rule of thumb is
to start booking one year ahead of the event for
every 100 attendees expected, up to a maximum of
five years. Small meetings in university towns can
often collide with events such as graduations orTable 43.1 Typical goals of conferences and meetings
.To exchange scientific opinion and information
.To educate a target audience
.To secure consistency of clinical trial conduct
and evaluation
.To obtain peer/opinion leader review input
.To obtain drug recognition among relevant
clinicians
.To launch a new drug with a sales force
.To promote a new drug, or a new indication
for an old drug
Table 43.2 Types of meeting depending upon
meeting goals
.Multicenter investigators’ meeting
.Advisory board/consultants’ meeting
.Intracompany product launch meeting
.Satellite symposia at meetings of academic societies
.Regulatory presentations
.Therapeutic review conferences
.International Conference on Harmonization
subcommittees
Table 43.3 Leadership of separable components of
large meetings
.Chairman of the scientific program
.Chairman of the social program
.Collaborators and advisory board
.Moderators of individual sessions
.Speakers and panelists
.Judges of presentations
.Poster display organizer
.Organizers of registration and attendees’ services
.Audiovisual coordinator
.Director of supply and serving food and beverages
.Partnering meetings coordinator
576 CH43 ORGANIZING AND PLANNING LOCAL, REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS AND CONFERENCE