IDSA '97: What It Did Right
Despite the problems of community and press access, the IDSA '97 meeting management did some things well.
Those who registered in advance got abstract books and computer disks before the meeting, allowing time for advanced planning. Many medical/scientific meetings have long sent the books in advance, but unfortunately many AIDS meetings have followed the proprietary habit of keeping the abstracts semi-secret until conference registration. This is the first time we have seen computer-searchable abstracts before an AIDS conference --which makes a big difference in allowing more efficient use of scarce time at the meetings, by allowing one to find any presentation which touches on a topic of interest, no matter how it is categorized in the index.
Internet access was unfortunately still delayed until after the presentations.
There were no rules against tape recording and photography -- unlike the Retroviruses conference, which was run by some of the same people. The difference may reflect the fact that the IDSA is a membership organization of high-status physicians, likely to complain about unnecessary restrictions -- while the Retroviruses conference has no such membership to provide accountability.
IDSA '97 did have heavy-handed rules for companies, including no company-sponsored press releases before or during the meeting, and such rules as, "Social functions may be held preceding and following the conference as well as during meal periods outlined above. No scientific presentations or promotional activities may occur during these functions."
The abstract numbers on the posters matched the published abstract numbers. Many conferences use unrelated numbering for the convenience of staff -- making it hard to find posters when time is short and aisles are jammed. Hopefully future conferences will also include the numbers on the computer disks.
