Event tech has transformed how event professionals approach the day-to-day planning and delivery of events. The reliance on email correspondence, Excel spreadsheets and manual data-entry is being replaced with sophisticated software to help ease the pain of those long-winded processes that many of us know all too well. In particular, those that have experience organising scientific conferences will understand all too well the various steps involved to build a diverse and interesting agenda from the work of academics. Through some recent projects we’ve been involved in at Brightelm, we’d like to share our thoughts on the value of abstract management tools, and the most important things to build into your planning.
Before jumping into the detail, it’s worth highlighting the importance of simply having a piece of software at your disposal if you are accepting abstracts. It’s sounds simple, but there’s a risk of falling into the trap of trying to manage everything on a spreadsheet. Even with a small number of submissions, you will still need to consider:
How will your reviewers access and provide feedback?
How will your authors send you their submission?
How will you receive their extended abstract?
How will you receive any presentation slides?
How will this information ultimately translate into an agenda or an abstract book?
This is where bespoke software becomes invaluable, and can save you hours of time in your project.
Template for the extended abstract
For the majority of academic or scientific conferences, you will likely ask for a write-up of work from each author. This would then be compiled alongside the other submissions to form an abstract book. There’s a tendency to underestimate the time required to pull this together, so it’s important to start with the right tools.
Providing your authors with a clear set of guidelines and a strict template is essential. Make sure it is clear for your authors where their copy needs to go, and try not to allow them to edit any formatting, text sizes, fonts or colours if you can; this will cut down on editing time when you’re compiling everything together. It’s always worth checking each extended abstract when it’s submitted in case small tweaks need to be made early, before you get to the stage of building your final abstract book. You may also get some authors who can no longer attend, so it’s worth waiting until close to the deadline before building your contents page.
Cutting down on emails
It’s tricky to avoid multiple emails going out when managing abstracts, so it’s important to include as much information as possible whenever an email needs to be sent. We would recommend putting extra effort into the initial “call for papers” email, and the “notification of success/ failure”, which follows after the review process.
For the latter, if confirmed, tell your successful authors where the venue is, any recommended transport links or accommodation, how they should design their slides, how long their presentation needs to be and how to register for the conference.
Treating this email as their joining instructions will give you the confidence that your successful authors have everything they need, with just one email. Those who are travelling from far away will also appreciate receiving details early to give them plenty of time to sort travel arrangements.
Terminology
Different abstract management tools can throw new words or phrases at us that can confuse even highly experienced event planners. “Camera-ready” (meaning: final piece of work) or “Extended abstract” or simply “Abstract” are common phrases that crop up.
“Meta-Reviewers” (meaning: review manager) and “Reviewers” can be used interchangeably depending on the conference. It’s vital that at every stage of the process, when communicating with stakeholders and potential authors, that terminology is defined clearly. This will avoid materials being submitted incorrectly, and will also cut down on queries coming into your inbox.
What can we expect to see in the future?
Your typical poster exhibition will utilise easel stands, with printed posters. In some cases, event planners are still keen to offer attendees a printed version of an abstract book, despite many considering digital alternatives. ParaGuard AV are taking the traditional poster exhibition to the next level, with their fully digitised poster displays, allowing attendees and authors to interact with the poster content, creating a memorable experience in an eco-friendly way. In the world of virtual and hybrid events, event planners are offering authors the opportunity to host their work virtually, with small virtual meeting spaces to discuss the content, and portals for both remote and in-person attendees to view the content. We’re looking forward to see how these ideas develop as attendees expectations grow.
If you need help with abstract management, get in touch with the team hello@brightelm.co.uk and we would be delighted to help!