Experience is Key to Planning an Effective International Investigator Meeting
Challenge/Opportunity
Since 1997, Bishop-McCann has been helping pharmaceutical companies plan and hold small and large international investigator meetings, training healthcare workers to conduct clinical trials across the globe.
Because of this experience, we stepped in to assist an international biotech company plan and organize an international investigator meeting held in Croatia. With 200 attendees joining the meeting from 11 countries throughout the world, it was critical to ensure not only the right people were present but also that the corporate proprietary information was secure. The purpose of any investigator meeting is education, so we knew how important it was to communicate effectively with these attendees, and we had to do that in three different languages.
Response/Solution
Even though we have planned and facilitated many of these meetings in the past, international meetings are particularly complex due to the varying compliance procedures and laws in each country.
Our experienced team started the planning process by first coordinating with a medical communications company who vetted everyone invited to the meeting. We wanted to make sure these invitees were the correct healthcare providers, associates, and professionals slated to be at this particular international investigator meeting.
We then organized all of the travel and accommodations for each attendee. We secured Visas and made sure each individual had all of the necessary resources required on site. We employed interpreters to ensure all presentations were appropriately received in native languages, as well as a multilingual translator to help on site at the hospitality desk.
“Our first goal was to ensure everyone was comfortable and was able to receive the information from the meeting in the most effective way,” said Amber Heintz, Bishop-McCann, VP of Operations.
Since international investigator meetings have a large amount of proprietary information being distributed, there was quite of bit of logistical work to be done. We secured and kept track of this information, making sure it was put directly into the attendees’ hands and the attendees’ hands only. “It was essential we securely managed the entry and exit of all critical paperwork and hardware for this meeting internationally,” said Heintz.
During the meeting, Bishop-McCann’s dedicated account team managed the registration and welcome reception along with distributing all of the care of information packets. We also partnered with our corporate clients to use their preferred audio-visual provider in the area, ensuring attendees were as engaged as possible during the meeting.
“The second most important thing for these types of meetings is to make sure the environment is set up appropriately, so each attendee receives the information well,” said Heintz. “Having someone at the hospitality desk that spoke several of the attendee languages was very helpful. It made it easier for attendees to get questions answered quickly and provided a more supportive atmosphere.”
Overall, Bishop-McCann seamlessly executed the international investigator meeting’s program components, including attendee registration, accommodations, travel, interpreter procurement, document and contract management, food and beverage management, logistics, and transportation.
Outcome/Results
Bishop-McCann delivered the program ensuring every detail was taken care of, and our client partner, along with attendees, left the event extremely satisfied. Attendees commented that the entire experience was effortless on their part, and they felt they were completely taken care of during the meeting. We overheard attendees saying, “the meeting was well worth my while,” and since attendees are always our priority, that was the best review we could have asked for.