Medical congress goes to Adelaide

Event 43rd World Congress of Surgery of the International Society of Surgery (ISS 2009)
Organiser SAPMEA Meetings Management
Venue Adelaide Convention Centre, Australia
Delegates 1,200
Date September 5-10 


The brief
The biennial ISS Congress brings together health professionals from worldwide specialist surgery organisations in nearly 80 countries, to network and trade ideas on clinical surgery, international medicine, new techniques and education. 

Challenges
The biggest challenge was keeping registration fees below US$600, while presenting delegates with an authentic Australian experience and making sure they didn’t go over budget.

SAPMEA had sponsorship difficulties due to the diverse range of delegates, who specialised in a variety of disciplines. SAPMEA events manager Lesley Woods says the event had to be run on the “bare minimum”. She says: “We had to be creative about how the money was spent.”

The global nature of the ISS also contributed to a few logistical challenges in the lead-up to the event. “The ISS is based in Switzerland, the ISS 2009 Congress President in the US and the organising committee is in Australia, so convening a suitable meeting time was a challenge. We ended up holding one in the afternoon and one in the evening to keep everyone in the loop,” she says.

Execution
The organising committee worked closely with the convention centre to ensure the best use of the space. “After the opening event, it had to be ready to go for plenary with minimal changes,” says Woods.

The programme included an Outback Dinner on the second night where delegates also came face to face with animals from a local wildlife park. The dinner also featured winery stands and an opal-mining display.

Comment
Woods says the convention centre was very accommodating about the organising committee’s needs. “They had to run 14 concurrent sessions. It was an enormous use of the venue.”

There were a few occasions where rooms had to be swapped around to accommodate larger numbers at the last minute. “They met that need very efficiently,” she says.