Event 10th Asian Congress of Urology
Venue Taipei International Convention Center (TICC)
Organiser Taiwan Urological Association
PCO K&A International
Delegates 1,600
Date August 27-31
 


The brief
The Urological Association of Asia holds its congress every two years. This year’s congress celebrated its 20th anniversary. It was attended by delegates from 34 countries and almost 200 speakers.
 
Challenges
K&A International began preparations in May 2008 and spent 26 months and 20,000 man-hours on the planning. A key feature of the Congress were the live surgical demonstrations transmitted from Taipei City Hospital and Taipei Veteran General Hospital onto large screens in the TICC auditorium.
 
“In my 20-year career, this type of live demonstration took place just three times,” says Kitty Wong, president of K&A International. “This was one of the most complex because there were two simultaneous operations at two different hospitals. We first had to choose the right venues and then coordinate the programme. But the most difficult part is getting the right surgeon to perform the operation and you cannot know what will happen until they start.”
 
Another challenge was changes to the congress budget. During the early stages the scope of the event wasn’t considered large, but as it developed the budget more than doubled from US$400,000 to US$900,000.
 
“Everything was transparent,” says Wong. “When a project leader had a problem, we would sit down and talk about it and then find a solution to present to the organising committee. So everyone knew exactly what was happening and we dealt with it together. It wasn’t a case of ‘your problem or mine’ – it is our problem,” she says.
 
Execution
The welcome reception was a standing cocktail party featuring Taiwanese food stalls and Chinese folk craft booths where masters demonstrated straw weaving, tying Chinese macramé knots, silk fans and paper cutting.
 
The quality of the catering was also commented upon by many delegates. “No single dish was repeated in all of the banquets and coffee breaks and a splash of Taiwanese spirit was in all the décor,” says Wong. “We wanted to impress upon the delegation that we’re not just good at organising a scientific programme, we also tried to show them how dedicated the Taiwanese are.”
 
The Congress ended with a guided tour of the northeast coast of Taiwan, learning the artistry of pottery works in Yingge and the landmark Taipei 101.
 
Comment
President of 10th ACU Congress, Allen Chiu, says: “The K&A staff were marvellous. They considered every detail and took care of everything for us.
 
“For example, our invited speakers were able to choose their gift from a specially designed list. I have visited more than 50 international conferences and every conference had only fixed souvenirs. So our invited speakers were totally surprised by this kind gesture.”