AMEE Annual Congress
Success achieved
3 million Euros and 4000 hours of work invested in a profit-turning annual conference with over 4000 delegate registrations
- Website
- https://amee.org/conferences/amee-past-conferences/amee-2018
- Project dates
- July 2017 - August 2018
Project team
- Tracey Thomson, Administration Executive
- Pat Lilley, Operations Director
- Ronald Harden, General Secretary
- Louise Russell, Education Projects Administrator
Tools & Systems
- etouches was used by PCO to manage registrations, accommodation, tours and exhibition
- AMEE used etouches to manage 3 different abstract submissions with different submission dates, over 3600 submissions were received and reviewed by a minimum of 3 reviewers
- Research Papers – deadline 5 December
- Doctoral Reports – deadline 15 December
- All other submission types – deadline 6 February
- Wrike Project Management Software to manage work flows
- Excel for budgeting
- Guidebook for conference App
Introduction
The Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) promotes excellence in education in medicine and the health professions across the continuum of undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education. AMEE’s flagship initiative is the annual conference, and we proudly submit our AMEE 2018 Conference in Basel, Switzerland. The conference attracted over 4000 teachers, students, deans, administrators and researchers from 102 countries, keen to hear about the latest developments in the field and to contribute their own work through a wide range of presentation formats. Many international collaborations are established at the AMEE conference, with teams returning the following year to deliver workshops and to take forward research projects. The challenges of putting on a good conference are many including choice of location, facilities and cost, but delivering exciting content that meets the needs of participants is paramount. AMEE adopts a “you said, we listened, we did” policy, with participant feedback informing future conference decisions. We are passionate about our AMEE conference, and believe it meets a real need to develop and improve medical and health profession education worldwide in order to deliver better patient care.
Each year since 1973 AMEE has organised an annual conference in a European city to further their mission.
The AMEE annual conference is now established as the principal meeting for all involved in medical and health professions’ education. Participants are typically teachers, educationists, researchers, administrators and students who come together to network, share ideas and learn about what's happening in the field. As well as coming to hear from plenary speakers and taking part in the many workshops and symposia, participants are invited to present their own work in the form of short communications, posters, research papers, doctoral reports, PechaKuchaTM presentations, points of view and posters (mounted and eposters), and to receive feedback from an international audience.
Goals and targets for AMEE 2018 were to continue to grow the conference, welcoming more first-time visitors and increasing the number of medical and health professional students and Junior Drs attending the conference and increase participation by attendees.
Each year AMEE sets a goal to improve on the overall delegate experience which is measured against feedback from the following year.
Goals for those attending were to encourage them to learn something new, to do something different, to contribute to sessions, to network, engage with students, include other health profession educators, set up collaborations and to take home good ideas to share with colleagues.
Discovery
As an established and successful conference, the planning of each successive conference is based on the feedback of attendees and research among the AMEE community. AMEE has a core policy of “You said, we listened, we did”.
Feedback is critical, and evaluations consist of:
- An online evaluation form which included questions relating to conference sessions, catering, exhibition, registration, social events, hotels, staff support, and overall experience.
- Individual evaluations of all pre-conference and conference workshops, which are sent to workshop facilitators for feedback.
- Evaluations by Exhibitors.
- Evaluations by Student Task Force members.
The feedback is evaluated by the AMEE executive committee who use the findings to develop new initiatives and content for the conference. This includes developing initiatives such as new grants, content streams and collaborations for the conference including the growth of complementary association satellite meetings on either side of the main AMEE conference.
Five hundred and two conference participants completed the AMEE 2017 conference evaluation form. While we would like to see a higher response rate the number compares favourably to what is often found in a conference evaluation.
The following outcomes were implemented at AMEE 2018 based on the feedback provided:
- We researched carefully plenary speakers for AMEE 2018 and achieved a balance of speakers from outside medicine representing different age groups and backgrounds. PechaKucha were given better briefings
- Continued to record one symposium in each session for viewing later.
- Highlight that details of symposia are on the conference app.
- Continued to highlight that at least 50% of the time in a symposium session should be available for contributions from the audience.
- Continued peer review of short communication submissions and grouped papers according to themes.
- Emphasised the quality of presentation to authors of papers accepted, and the need to recognise participants who are not native English speakers.
- Included where possible time for discussion at end of a session of each session.
- Highlighted the important role of chairperson and discussant where a discussion is scheduled.
- Poster Presentation information was reviewed.
- Continued to offer poster feedback as done for the last two years.
- Emphasised that posters should remain up for the duration of the conference.
- Continued to experiment with e-posters and how they can best be used and contribute to the conference.
- Reviewed signing up process
- Continued to develop the app for AMEE 2018 and made available the printed programme for those who wanted it. Support for users was provided onsite during the conference.
- Continued to offer the “soap box” for exhibitors.
- We maintained registration rates in an attempt to keep as low as possible the registration cost. Despite having to charge VAT on fees AMEE only passed on half of this to participants
- Offered subsidised rates for junior staff, PhD students and participants from less well-resourced countries
Objectives
- To continue catering for a diverse international population
- To introduce new innovations and ways of thinking
- To increase participation from other health professions such as nurses, dentists etc.
- To increase participation of health profession students and Jr doctors
- To increase better quality of abstract submissions
- Collaborations with topic-based health profession groups i.e. CCME whose meeting was co-hosted at AMEE 2018.
Timeline
2017
- 1 July – Write to invite plenary speakers
- August – Meet with Local Organising Committee at current conference
- 1 September - Call for pre-conference workshops and symposia, word template placed onto website
- 30 September - Deadline for receipt of pre- conference and symposia submissions, decisions announced 1 November
- 1 Sept – 31 Oct – Development of webpages
- 1-31 October - Review of Pre-conference workshop and symposia submissions; site inspection of venue, including meeting LOC and suppliers; development of abstract submission site and website
- 5 November – Call for Research Paper and Doctoral Report abstracts
- 1-30 November – Provisional programme built; abstract system developed
- 1 December – Provisional programme to printer and uploaded to website; call for abstract submissions
- 5 December – Deadline for receipt of research paper abstracts, pass to Research Committee for review (6 Dec – 11 Jan), decisions announced 12 January
- 14 December – Deadline for receipt of research paper abstracts, pass to Research Committee for review, decisions announced 12 January
2018
- 1 January – Registration opens
- 12 January – Research and Doctoral Report decisions notified
- 15 January – Release exhibition prospectus
- 6 February – Deadline for all other abstract submissions
- 7-28 February – Abstracts are broken down into submission type and allocated to review panels. Deadline for reviews is 28 February.
- 1 March – 30 April –Programme Committee arrange submissions into themed sessions; Decisions are uploaded to submission site.
- 30 April – Submitters are notified of decision, they are given to 15 May to do any minor edits
- 25 May – Early registration deadline
- 1 June – last date for abstract presenters to register, if not then removed from programme.
- 1-30 June – Preparation of the Final Programme, Abstract Book, Signage
- 1-31 July – Development of App
- 23 July - Final programme to print and abstract book made available online.
- 1 August – Final details to be submitted to venue including catering requirements, room layouts, AV/IT, Wifi, registration, etc.
Activities
The AMEE conference is long established initiative for AMEE. Most of our processes are tried and tested and developed as and when necessary.
Recognising that the current spreadsheet system used is very basic Wrike project management software has been introduced and will be used going forward to manage all the logistical arrangements linked to the conference as it allows scheduling, dependencies, reminders, staff allocation of tasks, preparation of Gantt charts and much more.
Planning a particular AMEE Conference usually takes around 3 years from conception to execution.
- Year 1 – Investigating and selecting appropriate venues
- Year 2 – Implementing budgets and programme planning
- Year 3 – Finalising programme, budget and delivering
Sourcing a suitable venue:
Each year sourcing a suitable venue is a challenge for AMEE. AMEE Conferences are a unique in that we offer a plenary session each day for all participants and up to 36 simultaneous sessions. Finding a venue that can house 3500 plus participants in one area for plenary sessions and offering a range of rooms from 350-500 for symposia (in round table format preferably); 100-250 for oral presentations; 30-60 for workshops; adequate space (reduced noise, good lighting) for 950 poster presentations (up to 8 groups meeting at one time); meeting rooms up to 40 seats; exhibition space for 40 3x3 stands; 40 2x2 stands and a soapbox stage; space to accommodate and AMEE Office, PCO Office, Student Taskforce common room; registration area and housing all delegate catering with seating for a minimum of 2000 participants can be extremely challenging.
With the help of our PCO venues are typically sourced a minimum of 3 years prior to the event with preliminary costings being requested from venues which can house the conference. Costings are reviewed and based on a preliminary budget a site inspection will be carried out by the Operations Director and the Administration Executive along with a PCO representative to review the accommodation to ensure the needs of the conference can be accommodated.
Developing a budget:
If we feel that the accommodation will suit our needs a move to submission of formal quotation is made and a budget developed. Budgets are developed in excel and typically include the following elements:
- PCO costs (delegate registration; management costs; travel and expenses
- Venue Costs (Room Hire, Security, Room layout changes, Insurance and Waste, Audio Visuals, IT, Speaker Preview; Signage; Poster Boards)
- ePoster Management
- AMEE Live Online Management
- AMEE Online Social Media Management
- Insurance
- Catering (Delegate Catering – tea/coffee breaks x 5; lunch x 2; opening reception x 1. Must include staff costs, furniture, electricity, equipment, tableware and any other costs)
- Free registrations
- Office related costs (salaries, rent, services etc.)
- VAT (if applicable)
- Delegate material (App, bag, pen, lanyard etc.)
- Accreditation applications (CPD points)
- Marketing and Promotion
- Postage
- Student Taskforce (Accommodation, catering, social events, bursaries)
- AMEE Team onsite costs (Accommodation, travel and subs, catering, expenses)
- Speakers (Accommodation, travel, expenses, honorarium)
Once all these costs have been added a cost per head is calculated and judged against previous year’s budgets to gain a comparison if the event is financially viable. Based on an agreed break even number of participants. Negotiation with the venue regarding costs is usually required. See attached for example of a typical budget.
Timetable of sessions
Once a suitable venue and budget has been agreed a potential schedule of pre-conference and main conference presentations is drawn up
Abstract Submissions
For AMEE 2018 etouches was used for abstract submission but this didn’t offer an ideal solution for our abstract management process as we needed a system that could offer one submission site but with multiple deadline and review dates depending on submission selected. For AMEE 2019 a new bespoke submission and online reviewing system was developed in conjunction with our PCO. In 2018 we received around 3600 submissions in total.
Timetable and series of tasks
When planning the conference a series of deadline dates and tasks are prepared by the core AMEE team. These are usually fairly consistent for each year. Throughout the planning and execution the PCO and AMEE will have daily contact to ensure the smooth development of the conference. Clear deadlines are established with the venue, particularly when using a venue that operates on minimal staff throughout the summer break.
For previous conferences and for AMEE 2018 we prepared what we call a ‘Master Spreadsheet’ and it contains a list of all the things that need to be done in the run up to the conference and onsite at the conference, this spreadsheet houses the following information and more depending on any additional events being held at our event:
- Things to do list and what is required to be done for particular activity, who on the team is responsible for managing and deadline for completion, this includes:
- PCW
- Courses
- Workshops
- Abstracts
- Exhibition
- Materials (for ordering, design and print)
- Programmes (prov and final)
- Session Packs including (Chair and Discussant notes, timer notes, session notes, copies of abstracts)
- Signage
- Badging
- Accommodation
- Travel
- Social Events and Tours o Catering
- Venue
- General
- Meetings
- Student TaskForce
- Registration
- Finance
- Awards/Prizes
- AMEE Live Online
- Conference App
- A session allocation timetable
- Courses information (dates, times, facilitators, requirements etc.)
- Pre-conference workshop information (dates, times, facilitators, requirements etc.)
- Plenary speakers (information regarding presentation, travel, accommodation, honorarium etc.)
- Symposia information (dates, times, presenters, requirements etc.)
- List of free registrations
- List of certificates to be prepared (appreciation, presentation, attendance, awards etc.)
- Free Registration Applications received and decision made
- Details of Awards/Prizes at the conference
- Private meeting requests received for scheduling
- Staff travel arrangements
- List of Sessions and the Chairs and Discussants invited and agreed
- List of those invited to the President Reception
- Visitor passes
- Details of our AMEE Live Schedule and requirements
- Session Materials required (timers, notes to chair etc)
- Rehearsal Schedule
- Student Taskforce details
- Detailed minute-by-minute schedule of plenary sessions which are managed by a stage manager
PCO
Once the proposed timetable and budget is in place the PCO are responsible for communicating with the venue and to ensure our requirements are delivered in terms of
- Room allocation
- Catering
- AV/IT
- Registration
- Signage
- Session material printing and distribution
- Any other onsite logistic as required
At all times the Administration Executive will approve everything that that PCO is required to carry out.
Scientific Programme
The AMEE 2018 Scientific Programme is developed by our General Secretary, he is responsible for seeking approval from the AMEE Executive Committee for plenary presenters and topics and for pulling together the sessions being presented and put into appropriately themed sessions.
The scientific programme is managed by the AMEE Core Team and includes receiving abstract submissions, processing reviews and imputing decisions. Once decisions are made the final programme is pulled together and made available as a printed programme, online and through the conference app.
The abstract book is carefully proof checked before it goes online, this document can be up to a 1000 pages long.
Hours spent developing a conference
Approximately 4000 hours of AMEE Staff Time was attributed to the planning of AMEE 2018. This does not include the time spent by our PCO.
Innovation
Improvements made for the 2018 conference based on research included:
- Worked with ePoster developers to improve the platform both from a presenter and a viewer perspective
- Developed mentoring of posters to aid presenters to get the most out of the presentation format
- Continued to offer a ‘Soapbox’ stage for exhibitors to allow them to engage with delegates
- Sustainability - introduced refillable water bottles, recyclable paper cups, recycling for conference bags and programmes and developed the app further to reduce print
- PCO set up a new invoicing and payment process to improve the user experience and reduce write offs and bad debt provision
- Increased grants for those travelling from less well- resourced countries
- Developed conference app to increase networking capabilities
- Introduced a discipline specific track – the Surgery Track
Delegate experience
AMEE is focused on the individual experience of all, particularly with such a large number of first-time attendees at the conference, examples include:
- More creative and targeted marketing, recognising the preferences of different groups, and greater use of social media.
- Sessions on diversity, humanities, ethics
- Having a ‘family friendly’ policy – registered participants can take their children into all conference sessions, except workshops, if they cannot make alternative arrangements.
- Holding an orientation session for first-time attendees, providing them with the opportunity to meet the executive committee and other first-timers.
- AMEE Live – an opportunity to allow those who are unable to attend to connect with the conference. They can view plenaries and a selection of symposia live and put questions to the speakers through our social media channels
- Mentoring – an opportunity for a Jr educator to be linked with a senior educator who meet at an AMEE Conference, continue conversations throughout the year and met again at the next AMEE Conference to close the cycle.
Marketing
- An individual brand is created for each conference to make it easily identifiable.
- A flyer to promote the upcoming conference is put into conference bags at the previous year’s conference (August 2017)
- Provisional Programme, produced Oct/Nov and available for mailing and on website from early December. This is circulated to our eMailing lists and sent in hard copy to our members and includes information of our pre-conference activities, plenary speakers, symposia, abstract submission and registration details
- Exhibiting at other conferences, key members of the AMEE Team regularly attending other health profession education association conferences whereby the AMEE conference can be promoted to others internationally.
- Social Media, using #AMEE2018 on all our channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram), branding is updated to promote the forthcoming conference and regular posts related to the conference are scheduled throughout the year.
AMEE2019 Twitter Banner
- A member of the AMEE Team is given a list of information and details and when to scheduling posts throughout the year to keep subscribers engaged with the conference activities. An AMEE Online Team is present during the conference and will conduct interviews with participants, compile videos and post pictures throughout the event. They are also available to help social media beginners get more out of the conference through following our social media channels. The use of social media allows those participating at a distance to feel involved in the discussion as they can pose questions through these channels during the AMEE Live Stream. Each conference presentation is given a unique hashtag code that can be used to encourage further discussion online.
- MailChimp – AMEE issue a regular newsletter to our website subscribers, members and past conference participants and this includes information about the conference including highlighting sessions and plenary speakers, our Business Development Manager is responsible for preparing a schedule and for requesting information for inclusion in emailing’s.
- Website – a conference section of the AMEE website is developed in September through to December and contains information about the programme (workshops, courses etc), speakers, registration, travel, visa requirements, accommodation, venue, abstracts, links to provisional or final programme, deadline dates etc.
Challenges
Organising a conference of such complexity presents many challenges. It goes without saying that we must be mindful of the legislative and regulatory requirements of the country, including VAT regulations, health and safety, etc. A particular challenge in recent years for participants from some countries relates to visa application, and we were required to issue letters to assist in the visa application process. With the wide range of participants, we must recognise cultural and religious needs, including dietary requirements and the need for a prayer room.
- Sourcing a venue: The unique nature of AMEE conferences provides a major challenge. An international airport, a range of hotels and a safe and welcoming location are also major considerations. Seamless AV/IT support is essential, as well as wifi capacity to cater for the multiple devices of many participants, and the provision of a central upload facility to network presentations to rooms.
- Monitoring the budget: Detailed budgets are continuously reviewed throughout the preparation and execution of the conference, in collaboration with Worldspan. The registration fees are the main source of income and must generate a small surplus. With the shortage of resources for health profession education in many countries, participants frequently pay at least some of the cost from their own pockets, such is their desire to attend. We try to keep registration fees at a manageable level, and an earlybird rate is offered together with lower rates for AMEE members, those from emerging nations, junior doctors and other recently-qualified healthcare professionals, and a subsidised rate for students. Some free registrations are also offered for which presenters from emerging nations may apply.
- Meeting the needs of attendees: We try to help first time attendees find their way around a very complex programme by making the conference programme book as user-friendly as possible, with a colour-coded overview as well as a detailed programme, an online abstract book and a conference App with full details including abstracts. An Orientation Session is conducted by AMEE staff and the Executive Committee before the start of the main conference to which all new participants are invited, followed by refreshments.
- Delivering an exciting programme: Catering for such a diverse international population is the most challenging aspect, but also the most rewarding and exciting!
Achievements
- Continued international reach with 102 Countries represented at AMEE 2018
- Delivered one of the best international conferences in health professions education
- Addressed key topics in health profession education such as burnout, stress, diversity etc.
- Offered plenary sessions that encouraged ‘thinking outside the box’. Plenaries at AMEE 2018 were given by a medical futurist, a medical doctor/explorer and a presentation on resilience.
- Recognised as an inclusive organisation, diverse and welcoming not just medical but health professions educators to become part of the AMEE community. Efforts are ongoing, for AMEE 2019 we have already seen a rise in the number of abstract submissions being received from our health profession educators.
- Developed the conference app to encourage networking and to reduce printing.
- Offered a more sustainable event, although small steps were taken at AMEE 2018 this effort has been increased for AMEE 2019 and sustainability will be more focused
- Increased ePosters – this wasn’t as scaled up as many would like as many presenters still continue to struggle with the concept and the cost of providing is high.
- Supported educators from less well-resourced countries, through acceptance of their work for presentation and offering reduced registration fees and the ability to apply for free registration.
Targets & Statistics
- Total registrations – 4010
- AMEE Members – 33%
- AMEE Non-Member – 45% o Students – 7%
- Junior Dr/Trainee – 6%
- 18% of visitors to AMEE 2018 were first time visitors to an AMEE conference.
- 99% of the first-time visitors to an AMEE conference enjoyed a special orientation session to help them get the most from their visit.
- 82% of AMEE delegates took the opportunity to attend a special networking event.
- 32 pre-conference workshops were offered – 72% of these had a 100% attendance rate.
- 500 + participants viewing through AMEE Live Online
- 1677 individual presentations
- 80 Exhibits
Financials
- The Annual Conference is AMEE’s flagship initiative and is the main cash income for the Association.
- The aim is for the conference to cover all conference costs and to provide a small surplus. The funds generated enable us to pursue our charitable aims, and our mission to provide an inclusive, welcoming and stimulating environment for future conference participants.
- Over 3 million Euros was invested in AMEE 2018 along with approx. 4000 staff hours to make the conference a success.
- Our 2018 financial account is yet to be finalized but preliminary figures indicate that the conference was a financial success with a reasonable profit.
What would we do differently?
AMEE prides itself on the success of AMEE 2018, which was both well evaluated by stakeholders and a financial success. But we must not become complacent. The funds generated will enable us to pursue our charitable aims, and our mission to provide an inclusive, welcoming and stimulating environment for future conference participants, recognising that we have much to learn from each other.
We should have paid better attention to the cost of living in Basel, whilst the venue worked reasonably well as did the city infrastructure many of participants reported that the city itself was expensive for eating out and for accommodation. This will be a significant factor when considering countries in future.
Had a conference workshop sign up procedure, given the limited space in many of the workshop rooms used many sessions became overcrowded with unhappy participants.
Advice
- Start planning early
- Prepare a good financial model and keep a close eye on the budget throughout planning
- Use your evaluation forms to guide you on how to improve
- Always look out for new innovations to keep conference up with the times
- Establish good working relationship with your PCO ≡ Have clear timelines and processes and
- Stick to deadlines!
Feedback & Testimonials
The average ratings were 4.2 and 4.1, with 84% of respondents rating the usefulness of the conference as excellent or good and 87% rating the enjoyment of the conference excellent or good.
No respondents gave a very poor rating and only nine and six of the 597 respondents gave a poor rating.
There were many positive comments about the conference, including:
“A valuable source of professional development and an excellent opportunity to learn from others
“As a first time AMEE conference attendee, I thoroughly enjoyed the conference – the plenaries were excellent and most of the sessions were also wonderful”
“The opportunity to learn from other parts of the continuum or other health disciplines is fantastic!”,
“Biggest advantage is to get the international perspective”
“It was amazing well organised, very useful, a lot of great ideas, keep it going”
“It was very enlightening for me coming from a developing country”.
Wider impact
- Greater international collaborations, many workshops offered at AMEE conferences have evolved through the presenters meeting at a previous AMEE Conference.
- International recognition of Medical and Health Profession Education as a specialty
- Quality of research being presented
- Inclusivity - covering the spectrum of education (Undergraduate-Postgraduate-CPD) and including not just medical but health professions educations we can offer a Conference with something for everyone.
- Enabling those from less well-resourced countries to ability to attend the conference in person through free registration awards.
