Use of the Internet to Facilitate an Annual Scientific Meeting: A Report of the First Virtual Chest Wall Injury Society Summit

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in cancellation of medical peer meetings. The Chest Wall Injury Society Annual Summit was scheduled for April 2020. Due to safety concerns, the Society altered the meeting to an online format. The purpose of this paper is to describe how this was accomplished and also to highlight its outcomes. METHODS An online survey of participants was carried out to assess their views on the educational yield and technical difficulties encountered as compared to in-person meetings. RESULTS Sixty two of 275 (23%) registered participants filled out the survey. Eighty four percent felt that the educational quality was excellent/good. Seventy five percent and 95% felt in-person meetings are better for education and for networking, respectively. Eighty seven percent preferred in-person meetings in the future but would attend a virtual meeting again. Thirteen percent had technical difficulties accessing the meeting. CONCLUSION Online meetings are feasible but in-person meetings have more educational and networking value.

Radiological Congresses and the Corona Pandemic - The Future and Beyond

“…Completing the logistics and administrative work for an online conference takes a significantly shorter time frame and financial resources compared to live meetings. 8 , 9 It may be premature to give solid data but the American Astronomical Society estimated costs for their virtual meeting in June 2020 to be around 60% less compared to an equivalent live gathering in January 2020. 7 Virtual conferences potentially attract a greater number of attendees, 7 , 10 and many of the booming online video conferencing platforms are capable of dealing with the larger audience accordingly.…”

“…8 Considering that most of the costs of a live meeting are usually related to travel and lodging, 3 online access to cutting-edge science and education is provided to radiologists around the world who would otherwise not be able to attend a far-off conference in person. 8 Cost-savings of online meetings can be passed on to registrants, 9 and lower registration fees may be an additional incentive for audience participants including students and radiographers of which many were deprived from in-person conferences in the past because of cost barriers. In addition, there is considerable time saving as traveling back and forth to join a congress is not necessary.…”

“…So people can watch all presentations from the comfort and safety of his/her home and at the time of their choosing (“asynchronous learning”). 9 , 12 The European radiology flagship meeting ECR 2020 has put together an additional programme of ten “Online Highlight Weeks” from July to December 2020 (2–4 lectures per day). With this approach, attendees have the freedom to follow a dedicated topic every week without missing lectures when sessions run in parallel at a live meeting.…”

“…In this case, the loss of revenues from the technical exhibit may partly be compensated by commercial spots placed on the online meeting platform 12 or by a virtual exhibit hall with time built into the schedule for registrants to interact with the companies. 9 Preparing and running a hybrid meetings (i.e.live and online conference) will potentially drive up costs because it would require more staff, and both a venue and an online platform. 7 …”

“…Alternatively, a virtual meeting with much more registrations at a lower fee but also little added costs may safeguard their budgets. 9 …”