June 2003 Bulletin

What should ‘Annual Meeting of the Future’ look like?

2002 Academy President Vernon T. Tolo, MD, (left) shares insights on the future of the Annyal Meeting with Andrew H. Schmidt, MD, member of the Annual Meeting Committee, and SusanMcSorley, director of AAOS convention and meeting services, during a roundtable discussion at the April 17-18, 2003 workshop.

By Carolyn Rogers

From convention location to meeting duration to specialty education–every aspect of the AAOS Annual Meeting went under the microscope on April 17-18 at an Annual Meeting Committee workshop to determine the "Future of the Annual Meeting."

The largest orthopaedic educational meeting in the world is not only the Academy’s premiere educational event; it also contributes significantly to its overall finances. Given the importance of the Annual Meeting to the Academy’s long-term well being, Committee Chairman Richard F. Kyle, MD, decided to gather all the "key players" at Academy headquarters to examine every aspect of the event and make recommendations to improve its overall value to members and other attendees. Committee members, representatives of orthopaedic industry, a market research analyst, an expert in the medical meetings industry, and AAOS staff worked well into the evening sharing ideas and developing strategies.

The goal of the workshop was to improve the quality and determine the future of the Annual Meeting. Specifically, the group sought to:

• Identify ways to enhance the educational opportunities in light of changing needs of the membership;
• Assess the use of technology to enhance the learning opportunities for members and increase revenue for the organization;
• Consider the presentation of customized educational offerings;
• Make recommendations concerning the meeting format, including venue, cost, meeting length, arrival/departure times and Specialty Day.

"Half of the total revenues from AAOS educational offerings come from the Annual Meeting," said Mark Wieting, AAOS vice president, education programs, who presented an overview of the financial history of the Annual Meeting.

Wieting indicated that registration fees, course tickets, newspaper advertising and grants for program segments generate significant revenue, but technical exhibits contribute the lion’s share.

International attendees represent a substantial source of revenue for the meeting. On a five-year average, international contributions represent 23 percent of all Annual Meeting revenues.

A well-known, desirable meeting location is a major factor in attracting international attendees. Committee members suggested that the AAOS look into the cost of marketing the meeting to international members from a revenue/expense standpoint in order to determine if this should be a priority.

What do people like–or not like–about the meeting? Diane Thome, AAOS marketing research manager outlined results from a focus group of 2003 meeting attendees in New Orleans, and mail surveys sent to a random sample of 6,000 Fellows.

Eighty-six percent of 2003 attendees were satisfied with the meeting. They were most satisfied with symposia, instructional courses, Specialty Day, the preliminary program and the resource center.

The primary reasons people attend the meeting are: 1) education, 2) maintaining relationships with colleagues, 3) opportunity to see orthopaedic products and 4) recreation.

Specialists and academicians tend to be more motivated by relationships.

Non-attendees who were dissatisfied with past meetings say the meeting is too large and crowded, with too much going on. Specialists would like to see more offerings with a specialty focus.

Revenue loss due to days away from the practice is the primary obstacle to attendance for both attendees and non-attendees.

Non-attendees say the greatest obstacles are: 1) the size of the meeting, and 2) patient coverage issues.

The "most satisfied" group of meeting attendees is looking for education and relationships, Thome reported. Unfortunately, this group is shrinking and aging, especially among its most loyal segment. The challenge for the AAOS is to increase the value proposition for non-attendees.

In the ensuing discussion, workshop participants offered the following suggestions:

• The increasing trend of specialization ultimately will impact the meeting more than location does. AAOS should consider changing the format–in terms of technology, timing and specialty interests–to address the increased specialization of members. Partnerships with specialty societies should be explored.
• Residents and younger doctors should be the main focus of marketing efforts.
• The needs of residents and younger doctors must be met. This group wants practice management/ business information they didn’t receive in medical school.
• The needs of members who regularly attend the meeting must be remembered when attempting to attract non-attendees; it’s important not to lose loyal members.
• Reaching the entrenched non-attendee is extremely difficult; a multi-pronged approach is needed.
• AAOS could consider requiring periodic attendance at the AM as a requirement of being a Fellow, as do numerous specialty societies.

Barbara Connell, a medical meetings industry expert, provided an update on medical meeting trends.

In a discussion of changing demographics, Connell warned, "Membership erosion is beginning to occur because younger members do not see the same value in products, services and membership." She strongly advised the Academy to:

• Identify its competition. Competitors may not simply be other medical associations, but also state and regional organizations, etc.
• Adopt a "consumer attitude."
• Be willing to spend marketing dollars to increase attendance.
• Use the AAOS Web site not as a competitor to the meeting, but instead as a "teaser" to attract more attendees to the meeting.
• Form a committee to track events leading up to the meeting so that hot topics can be included up to the last minute.

Susan McSorley, director of AAOS convention and meeting services, examined the meetings of several other medical societies and compared them to the AAOS. Those societies are: American Academy of Family Physicians, Radiological Society of North America, American Urological Association, American College of Cardiology and American Academy of Ophthalmology.

In terms of duration, most meetings are similar to the Academy’s four and one-half days, and the AAOS compares favorably to the other groups in terms of educational programs, registration fees, percentage of professional members as part of the entire attendance, sponsorships, exhibit costs, international attendance/fees and marketing technologies to promote the Annual Meeting. Also, five out of the six organizations offer at least one Specialty Society program.

Overall, McSorley said it’s impressive to see that while the Academy falls in line with the other organizations in most areas, it is actually one of the leaders in areas such as innovative programs, technology, and attracting technical exhibitors.

Roundtable discussions delved into a number of key questions:

Among the group’s recommendations:

• The best way for the AAOS to counteract fragmentation is to collaborate more with orthopaedic specialty societies.
• The Academy needs to keep the generalist and specialist under the same umbrella by making the AAOS vital for everyone. To do this, the Annual Meeting must represent all groups by becoming the main conduit for everyone.

If the Annual Meeting were scheduled around you, what would it look like?

• The AM should be shortened to three days.
• The current format of a Specialty Day at the end of the Academy meeting should be retained.
• AAOS should partner with industry to offer hands-on programs.
• Members want time to interact with faculty; AAOS should provide those venues.

How can we improve our communication with members about the Annual Meeting?

• Collect as many member e-mail addresses as possible and use them judiciously.
• Identify the ways that individual members wish to receive communications and follow those preferences.
• Develop a "campus" for specialties at the meeting by clustering subjects in one area.

What would improve your overall meeting experience?

• Although attendance at scientific paper presentations is decreasing, they are an integral part of the meeting and should be continued.

Committee members also suggested opening the housing registration process earlier to AAOS members.

The workshop wrapped up with three breakout sessions, each addressing a topic vital to the future of the Annual Meeting.

The group suggested that attendance could be increased in three ways: Removing obstacles; enhancing incentives; and changing the habits of people who attend every few years so that they’ll attend more often. For example:

• Group sessions of similar interest into the same area.
• Encourage members who haven’t attended the meeting in five years by mailing them a customized "TripTik" program–providing recommended educational tracks based on their specialty, maps and even recreation suggestions–for the next meeting.
• Offer simultaneous translation into Spanish for selected sessions.
• Expand the Audience Response system program to increase interactivity.

This discussion centered on partnering with industry to enhance the meeting. The resulting recommendations are:

• Explore an educational symposium for exhibitors that could be scheduled on Saturday morning.
• Create small, personal meeting areas throughout the exhibit hall to help increase networking opportunities.
• Include non-orthopaedic exhibits that offer items to assists the business of orthopaedics (PDAs, computers, non-medical texts, etc.).

Suggestions for ways to improve the educational experience included:

• Moderators are the key to keeping discussions lively; they should be well prepared.
• Specialty time should be compressed, e.g. put pediatric papers/symposium on Wednesday and pediatric specialty day on Thursday.
• The Annual Meeting should add "hands-on" education.
• Explore a joint venture with the BONES Society to present management programs; this could be done on Specialty Day.
• Make more of an effort to include allied health groups (RNs, PAs, etc.).

Next steps

A report containing the Annual Meeting Committee’s recommendations is now being prepared. When it is complete, it will be submitted to the Council on Education for its review and approval. The final report then will be presented to the Board of Directors.

"Our meeting is a great one," concluded Dr. Kyle, committee chairman. "But we have to fine-tune it to keep it relevant and attractive to our members. This workshop was a great way to get input and to deliberate on improvements we need to make."