What would you like to see for the 2011 conference in Sydney from the 13th-16th September 2011? What has worked in the past? What would you like changed?
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX .....
IMAGINE THE TRANSFORMATION..... TRANSFORM YOUR IMAGINATION!
Please make sure that the labels for all participants have some sort of colour code so at a glance I know what areas of interest that person is involved in.
I suggest that we ensure the venue has free wireless broadband available throughout the venue. I had trouble at my hotel initially getting on line and the very nice venue in Fremantle did not have easy internet access. In my view, it is 2010 so we should expect hotels to meet the requirements of their clients. If it can't be free, then chagre a small ($5) fee per participant and give everyone the password. Simple!
I agree with the MRI stream rather than just the SIG.
It would also be great to see if we could do more about actually creating more introductions. All the workshops I attended did not spend the first couple of minutes introducing who was in the room. Also really ask people to introduce themselves when they ask questions - Name and Institution
I agree with the asking of the name and institution when people speak. It must be something the session chairs are aware of and ensure all follow the rules. It makes it difficult to make contact with a person if you can only see the back of their head during a session!
Can we please NOT have the ARC and NHMRC give their standard presentation AGAIN...This is a complete waste of everyone's time. There is never anything new in what they have to say that isn't already covered on their websites. I would prefer to see a Q&A style session with 'real' input from the audience and the funders...otherwise - lets make them a concurrent session so that I can actually listen to something else that is useful and important!
I would like to only see 3 concurrent sessions. When there was four I found that there was too much movement between sessions which when a session is not chaired to time (which is often) you actually miss out on interesting presentations.
In saying this then I think the Program committee should ensure there are interesting topics that meet the expectations of attendees... perhaps via an engagement tool.
I would very much prefer a lunchtime AGM at the Sydney Conference. I would also like it to be run according to some basic formal AGM rules. Such as a call for topics to be discussed, the information available prior to the day of the meeting and a formal process of tabling the item for consideration, followed by an explanation, followed by questions and then a vote. I really felt this was not done to a high enough standard in Fremantle given we (ARMS) holds a significant level of funds.
Lately I have noticed that correspondence from the ARMS official website and email have been great, however we are being asked to respond to an unofficial ARMS email address. This is really disappointing and can be seen as SPAM by some people.
There is no point in setting up this great contact management system if it is not going to keep a record of all correspondence that can be used by ARMS Executive Committees and Secretariates in the future.
It would be great to harness the enthusiasm around the health and medical research sector and the unity that comes from shared challenges! If you're from the health and medical research sector, post your ideas here for how the 2011 conference could be of benefit to you and your teams/organizations etc. Ideas for keynotes, topics etc v welcome
Great to see the blog up for ARMS 2011! A speaker idea for you....Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer of the UK. She has truly "transformed the system" in the UK and embedded research into the national health system. An amazing and inspirational speaker!!
I would like to see a session on Research Finance. Financial management and reporting is critical to the project life-cycle, however there has been nothing in previous conferences to attract attendance from this area of expertise. In my previous experiences, finance professionals new to the research environment struggle to adjust. A presentation from an accountant who has made the transition from the finance to the research sector outlining similarities and differences would be interesting. Perhaps even a Q&A session with a representative from a Funding Agency might be an idea to generate discussion and debate. What is best practice in financial management and reporting in the research environment? A networking forum for finance professionals to share experiences and assist newcomers would ease the pain for Institutions, Research Administrators and Funding Agencies.
Wow, the conference website looks great! I really like the 4 distinct streams that will be the basis for the conference - looking forward to seeing who the speakers will be.
Please make sure that the labels for all participants have some sort of colour code so at a glance I know what areas of interest that person is involved in.
ReplyDeleteFor the labels (name badges) it also has been suggested that we add peoples titles as well as the organisation.
ReplyDeleteINTERNET Access. Can we please have access to the internet to more easily check emails and the like for the duration of the conference?
ReplyDeleteIt would be good to have a stream/session on MRI's and the health sector not just the SIG meeting
ReplyDeleteAGM - please consider holding this during a lunchtime slot. Also it would be beneficial to have the AGENDA at least a week prior.
ReplyDeleteI suggest that we ensure the venue has free wireless broadband available throughout the venue. I had trouble at my hotel initially getting on line and the very nice venue in Fremantle did not have easy internet access. In my view, it is 2010 so we should expect hotels to meet the requirements of their clients. If it can't be free, then chagre a small ($5) fee per participant and give everyone the password. Simple!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the MRI stream rather than just the SIG.
ReplyDeleteIt would also be great to see if we could do more about actually creating more introductions. All the workshops I attended did not spend the first couple of minutes introducing who was in the room. Also really ask people to introduce themselves when they ask questions - Name and Institution
I agree with the asking of the name and institution when people speak. It must be something the session chairs are aware of and ensure all follow the rules. It makes it difficult to make contact with a person if you can only see the back of their head during a session!
ReplyDeleteIt would be great if registration and feedback can be done online
ReplyDeleteCan we please NOT have the ARC and NHMRC give their standard presentation AGAIN...This is a complete waste of everyone's time. There is never anything new in what they have to say that isn't already covered on their websites. I would prefer to see a Q&A style session with 'real' input from the audience and the funders...otherwise - lets make them a concurrent session so that I can actually listen to something else that is useful and important!
ReplyDeleteI agree that registration should be via an online process and can confirm that this will be the case for the ARMS 2011 conference.
ReplyDeleteI think the Blog is a great idea...the shape of things to come for the 2011 conference!
ReplyDeleteI would like to only see 3 concurrent sessions. When there was four I found that there was too much movement between sessions which when a session is not chaired to time (which is often) you actually miss out on interesting presentations.
ReplyDeleteIn saying this then I think the Program committee should ensure there are interesting topics that meet the expectations of attendees... perhaps via an engagement tool.
I would very much prefer a lunchtime AGM at the Sydney Conference. I would also like it to be run according to some basic formal AGM rules. Such as a call for topics to be discussed, the information available prior to the day of the meeting and a formal process of tabling the item for consideration, followed by an explanation, followed by questions and then a vote. I really felt this was not done to a high enough standard in Fremantle given we (ARMS) holds a significant level of funds.
ReplyDeleteLately I have noticed that correspondence from the ARMS official website and email have been great, however we are being asked to respond to an unofficial ARMS email address. This is really disappointing and can be seen as SPAM by some people.
ReplyDeleteThere is no point in setting up this great contact management system if it is not going to keep a record of all correspondence that can be used by ARMS Executive Committees and Secretariates in the future.
It would be great to harness the enthusiasm around the health
ReplyDeleteand medical research sector and the unity that comes from shared challenges! If you're from the health and medical research sector, post your ideas here for how the 2011 conference could be of benefit to you and your teams/organizations etc. Ideas for keynotes, topics etc v welcome
Great to see the blog up for ARMS 2011! A speaker idea for you....Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer of the UK. She has truly "transformed the system" in the UK and embedded research into the national health system. An amazing and inspirational speaker!!
ReplyDeleteI would like to see a session on Research Finance. Financial management and reporting is critical to the project life-cycle, however there has been nothing in previous conferences to attract attendance from this area of expertise. In my previous experiences, finance professionals new to the research environment struggle to adjust. A presentation from an accountant who has made the transition from the finance to the research sector outlining similarities and differences would be interesting. Perhaps even a Q&A session with a representative from a Funding Agency might be an idea to generate discussion and debate. What is best practice in financial management and reporting in the research environment? A networking forum for finance professionals to share experiences and assist newcomers would ease the pain for Institutions, Research Administrators and Funding Agencies.
ReplyDeleteSuggestion - could the dates for submission of papers/abstracts be put up on the conference website?
ReplyDeleteJaine Stockler, UTS
I need to find the time to put in my abstract! I hope you all are not as busy as I am. Its closes on the 8th April
ReplyDeleteWow, the conference website looks great! I really like the 4 distinct streams that will be the basis for the conference - looking forward to seeing who the speakers will be.
ReplyDelete