The Impact of New technology on Medical Meetings

Kenes UK Advisory Forum Annual Dinner, February 2012

With information available all the time, how much can any one individual take in? How can we filter out useless information? Kenes UK’s advisory forum examined the impact of today’s technological tidal wave at this year’s annual dinner, held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on February 2 2012.
Information technology “is pushing massive amounts of information out there without any of us being able to control it,” according to advisory forum chair Ian Jacobs, Vice President and Dean at the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences at the University of Manchester and Director of MAHSC (Manchester Academic Health Science Centre.)
The true value of new information isn’t so much its sheer quantity, but rather the ability to access useful, reliable information customised to each user.

The Kenes UK advisory forum includes some of the UK’s most influential medical professionals, several of whom participated in the evening’s discussion led by Kenes Group Managing Director Dan Rivlin, who suggests that E-learning has “...great potential, not only as a platform, but also as a marketing tool.” Access to learning platforms represents value and one that people are willing to pay for, although actual payment models are still in the testing phase.
The ability to analyse how people access information translates into online packages that can be customised – adding value.
Processing all this information is a challenge. While many doctors use Facebook, some are wary of the application, but most are adventurous enough to use social networks as a means to communicate before, during and after medical meetings.

‘Offline’ access - actually attending a meeting “because you like the venue or destination, or want to meet, socialise and form relationships with people, and get away from the everyday work life,” according to Jacobs - is only one option. Online participation (streaming and video) available for the most part ‘on demand’ is a natural outgrowth of this access. Delegates want to “buy what I want, when I want.” Hybrid meetings are likely to enhance this option, allowing companies to sponsor a group’s attendance at a meeting in their home city.

According to Foreman, “selling this to the older generation is going to be very difficult.” And it’s not surprising that innovative engagement will start with fledgling groups, as poster options illustrate. “Clients like their poster sessions”, adds Rivlin.
E-poster technology “narrows things down” by presenting delegates with the most topical and interesting posters - crucial for people just entering a scientific discipline. This focused approach allows the poster’s author to present one slide to summarise poster data alongside the abstract. Value is then added when Q&A and discussion sessions about the abstract are included, facilitating a ‘controlled and moderated’ debate.

But at the same time, there’s a need to get greater engagement from the audience, which is often lacking. The value of posters is their ability to get younger people interested and involved in different topics that many other people may not be interested in. The result is the creation of a discussion that includes the entire community.
As a launching pad for new ideas, posters not only engage those delegates who are intimately involved in a research area but also attract a much wider audience that can access the information digitally, before during and after the meeting.

Notes to editors:
About Kenes
Kenes UK is part of the Kenes Group - a world leader in professional congress organisation and association management services, supporting the medical and scientific sectors and aiming to facilitate the global exchange of medical knowledge. The UK team supports societies and professionals based in the UK and Ireland, and actively promotes the UK as a prime location for international meetings.

With over 40 years of experience working closely with medical societies on a global level, the Kenes Group supports a broad client base from its offices in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Berlin, Geneva, Hamburg, Istanbul, Leipzig, London, Madrid, Montreal, Mumbai, Munich, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile, Singapore and Tel-Aviv.

Kenes UK
1st floor, Chesterfield House |385 Euston Road London NW1 3AU +44-(0)20 7383 8030
kenesuk@kenes.com UK Company reg no. 4814326

For more information please contact
Rachel Frankel Business Development Director Kenes UK
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7383 8034 Mobile: +44 (0) 7 540 048 002 rfrankel@kenes.com

www.kenes.com

Kenes Associations Worldwide (KAW) is pleased to announce that after lengthy negotiations, a contract has now been signed with the World Federation of Neurological Societies (WFNS).  For the first time, KAW will have an ‘in-house’ arrangement with staff sitting in the WFNS office. KAW will assist with educational projects with particular emphasis on low and middle income countries. KAW will also assist WFNS with financial management and the implementation of a strategic plan.  

Tthe World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) is a professional, scientific, non-governmental organization comprising 5 Continental Associations, 114 National Neurosurgical Societies and 5 Affiliate Societies, representing some 30,000 neurosurgeons worldwide. In addition to its congress and journal, WFNS manages fellowship schemes and helps build local capacity through training and the donation of microscopes and basic equipment for neurosurgical units in countries in low income settings

 ‘We are delighted to support WFNS efforts to promote neurosurgery around the world and particularly in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and countries of Central America’ says Isabel Mortara, Executive Director of Kenes Associations Worldwide. WFNS is unique in its support of neurosurgeons in emerging nations, assisting them to develop a modern neurosurgical practice and to serve a growing need for appropriate care within their communities.

About Kenes Associations Worldwide (KAW)

Kenes Associations Worldwide (KAW) is the leading global provider of outsourced management, and  services  for non profit medical voluntary associations,  with a track record in  growing  resources, membership and impact.  KAW is part of Kenes Group which provides long term professional meeting and association management services worldwide.  www.kenes.com

For more information please contact:

Quirine Laman Trip 
Kenes Group Director, Business Development 
Email:  qlamantrip@kenes.com
Site: www.kenes.com 

We would like to invite representatives of medical associations and all those with an interest are welcome to join us at  the Kenes Group booth # E 220 for a light lunch on Wednesday 23 May between 12.00 and 13.00.

You will have the opportunity to meet with Kenes executives from our subsidiaries worldwide, who can share with you their expertise and inspiration and explain how the Kenes approach of integrated professional association and state-of-the-art congress management solutions increase Kenes clients’ share in an ever-growing and competitive medical association environment to the satisfaction of their members and stakeholders.

For further information: tpivc@kenes.com;   www.kenes.com

Kenes Associations Worldwide (KAW) is pleased to announce a new client, the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS). KAW will manage the Society from its newly launched Amsterdam branch.

With over 100 institutional members throughout the world, IUNS objectives are to promote science, research and global collaboration in nutritional science.  Membership is grouped under sections for Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America and Middle East. Kenes Asia organised the IUNS Congress in Bangkok in 2009. The next conferences are planned for 2013 in Spain and 2017 in Argentina.

IUNS has special consultative status with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and cooperates closely with UNESCO and the International Union of Food Science and Technology.

 ‘We are delighted to support IUNS efforts’ says Isabel Mortara, Executive Director of Kenes Associations Worldwide. ‘ IUNS plays an important role in helping to set government standards,  promoting research and  fighting malnutrition while gaining recognition for the role of nutrition in today’s growing  chronic disease epidemic’.  KAW will manage the IUNS secretariat as of July, 2012, assisting educational, information-sharing and policy activities aimed at   prevention, control and standardized management of a range of issues from malnutrition to obesity in adults and children.   

 Kenes will work alongside IUNS leaders to communicate progress and promote a strong voice to raise the attention of professionals, public, government and media to pressing issues in all parts of the world.’

About Kenes Associations Worldwide (KAW)

Kenes Associations Worldwide (KAW) helps international, regional and national non profit voluntary medical associations to grow and develop and to generate resources to support their activities. Part of Kenes Group, KAW is the leading global Association Management and Consulting service dedicated exclusively to medical societies.    

For more information please contact:

Quirine Laman Trip 
Kenes Group Director, Business Development 
Email:  qlamantrip@kenes.com
Site: www.kenes.com 

Growing the Field of Social Pediatrics

Kenes Associations Worldwide (KAW) is pleased to announce a new client, the International Society of Social Pediatrics and Health (ISSOP).  Social pediatrics is a ‘whole family’ and ‘whole community’ approach to child medical problems and management.

The Society has recently evolved from a ‘European’ to an ‘International’ Society, giving rise to the need for a major strategic re-orientation of activities from European to global. Activities include an annual conference, a journal, position statements, educational activities for professionals, child care givers and health workers as well as policies to improve social inequalities and child health.   Membership is open to researchers, health professionals, educators, social workers as well as others with a professional interest in the field.

‘The field of social paediatrics is a new and growing field with a great need for sharing and exchanging research and models of good practice.  We are looking forward to collaborating with ISSOP leaders to meet their challenge of going global’, says Isabel Mortara, KAW Executive Director.

KAW’s primary task will be to assist ISSOP to grow membership internationally while positioning the Society as a reference point for social pediatrics.   

About Kenes Associations Worldwide (KAW)

Part of Kenes Group, KAW is the leading global Association Management and Consulting service dedicated exclusively to medical societies.  Kenes Associations Worldwide (KAW) manages, grows and generates resources for non profit voluntary medical associations at national, regional and global levels.  

For more information please contact:

Quirine Laman Trip 
Kenes Group Director, Business Development 
Email:  qlamantrip@kenes.com
Site: www.kenes.com 

Kenes UK, part of the Kenes Group, welcomes Alison Shamwana to its business development and industry liaison and sales teams.

Alison brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the organisation.  Originally from Glasgow but with links throughout the UK and beyond, she has worked most recently at Meeting Makers where she was a member of the senior management team responsible for all sales and marketing activities. 

Prior to this she was the manager of the Congrex UK Industry Account Team, responsible for sponsorship and exhibition sales, a high profile client-facing role in which she helped to raise record levels of income for a range of major events.  She was also responsible for strategy as well as procedures, processes, IT development within the group. She has been responsible for event booking and central conference reservations  for Stakis Hotels and was a co-founder and company director of  Hotel Connexions - an independent corporate meeting venue finding and management  agency.

With her extensive contacts in the conference industry and her close working partnerships with conference bureaux and teams up and down the country, Alison brings a unique combination of hands-on experience, delivery track record and wide-ranging networking skills which will be a welcome asset to the Kenes UK team and the Kenes Group as a whole.

For more information please contact

Rachel Frankel Business Development Director Kenes UK 
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7383 8034  Mobile: +44 (0) 7 540 048 002   rfrankel@kenes.com

www.kenes.com  

Gonzalo Perez Constanzó, Managing Director of Kenes Latin America, has been elected President of the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO), effective as of February 19, 2012.

In the general assembly of IAPCO held in Paris on February 19, 2012, Gonzalo Perez Constanzó was elected as the New President of IAPCO. Gonzalo has been an active member of the IAPCO board for quite some time while his career also include stints as a Board member of ICCA representing PCOs, as Chairman of the ICCA’s Latin American Chapter and Secretary of the Welcome Argentina Foundation. An enthusiast of his profession, Gonzalo is a much sought after speaker at the IAPCO Annual Wolfsberg Seminar and on other industry teaching activities.

Gonzalo brings a wealth of congress organisation experience to his new role. A Buenos Aires native, Gonzalo began his professional career with Congresos Internacionales, where he worked for over a decade. Gonzalo then joined the World Bank in Washington, DC, where he was involved with the Annual Assembly (over 10,000 participants) as well as other World Bank-related meetings around the world. Next, Gonzalo joined Tilesa OPC in 2008, where he would go on to become Director of Operations of the newly formed Tilesa Kenes Spain (TKS). In 2011, Gonzalo was appointed Managing Director of Kenes Latin America and is currently responsible for the development of this rapidly growing Kenes Group subsidiary company.    

As president of IAPCO and at the same time Managing Director of Kenes Latin America, Gonzalo will be travelling quite a bit and will thus be able to contribute substantially to the continued development of IAPCO and the congress organising industry worldwide – with a special focus onLatin America. When not taking trains, planes or automobiles, you’ll find Gonzalo residing at the main office of Kenes Latin America, located in Santiago de Chile.

Please view Gonzalo’s video message, where he outlines his aims and ambitions as incoming IAPCO President.

For further information about IAPCO: http://www.iapco.org/

For further information about Kenes Group: www.kenes.com

You can also refer any questions to Quirine Laman Trip, Group director BD at qlamantrip@kenes.com

On February 1, 2012, Luc Hendrickx joined Kenes Group as Chief Operating Officer (COO), Global Operations. Luc will also serve as member of the Executive Board. Luc will be responsible for the operational development of the regional and national offices (Kenes Asia, Kenes India, Kenes Turkey, Kenes UK, Tilesa-Kenes Spain, JZ Kenes Brazil and Kenes Latin America) and for corporate governance. Luc’s joining is the highpoint of a long and fruitful professional friendship between him and Kenes – dating back to the early 1980s.

Luc is a congress management professional with unparalleled experience and expertise.  Over the last two decades, Luc served in two of the most respected international medical scientific societies. He led the in-house strategic development and operations of the European Cancer Conference (ECCO) and the World Diabetes Congress. Luc was also Executive Director of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), where he was responsible for governance.

Luc is also the founding President of the Board of the Association & Conference Forum     (AC Forum), an international network of association and congress executives.

By bringing Luc into the Kenes Group family, the company is ensuring that the promise to its clients, to deliver top level congress management support, is delivered – anywhere, anytime. 

The high standards expected from committees, speakers and delegates means that Kenes must be diligent in following through on its promise to be the most effective way to build and maintain medical scientific knowledge and professional networks.

When Luc is not travelling for Kenes, he will be working from Antwerp, Belgium.

See Luc’s video message .

Kenes  in  2011: A Summary

In 2011, Kenes International welcomed eight new long term clients and two current clients decided to extend their contracts with the company.

Long term clients have chosen to continue their relationships with Kenes because they understand that it’s the best way to build and develop their congresses and associations.

Still, due to a variety of developments, two long-standing clients of Kenes International will be parting ways with the company: 1) EFNS will be ending its association with Kenes International as a result of the merger of two societies; 2) EASL awarded a one- year contract for 2014 to a colleague PCO.

Kenes Group subsidiary companies were contracted in 2011 by some 60 clients for congress management in their respective countries and regions.

For a full list please visit our website on www.kenes.com

Present Kenes Group Structure

Kenes Group has 46 years experience in organising medical and scientific conferences. Today, Kenes has 15 offices, with three Kenes International offices in Geneva, Tel Aviv and Amsterdam, regional offices in Asia and Latin America and seven national offices in Brazil, Germany, India, Israel, Spain, Turkey and the UK.

Kenes hosted approximately 115,000 conference attendees in 2011, has 108 long term clients and offers association management services to 28 medical and scientific organizations, which serve 29,160 members.

In 2011, Kenes organised 2857 conferences in 104 countries.

From Santiago to Bangkok, over 400 staff members from a rich and diverse variety of cultures and backgrounds work for Kenes.

An Update on Who is Who in Kenes  Management

Kenes Group:  Dan Rivlin, Avi Rosner, Luc Hendrickx, Quirine Laman Trip

Kenes  Associations Worldwide: Isabella Mortara -Kenes Education: Keith Foley

Kenes Asia: Marcel Ewals -  Kenes Latin America: Gonzalo P. Constanzó,

JZ Kenes Brazil:  Juarez de Carvalho Filho - Kenes India: Ritu Saigal

Interplan:  Bruno Lichtinger, Markus Preussner - Kenes Turkey:  Sadik Caglar

 Kenes UK:  Michael Foreman - Tilesa Kenes Spain:  Carlos R. De Sebastian

For further information please contact:
Quirine Laman Trip, Kenes Group Director Business Development  
T direct: +31 651432856,Email: qlamantrip@kenes.com 
Site: www.kenes.com

December 3, 2011 - The newly formed Asian Australasian Federation of Pain Societies (AAFPS) has appointed Kenes Asia as Core PCO and Association Manager. The umbrella organisation AAFPS seeks to establish a pan-Asian network for pain management education that reaches beyond anesthesiology. The next congress has been scheduled to take place in Taiwan in March 2013, in collaboration with the Taiwan Pain Society.

It was announced today, 1.12.2011, that London-based Kenes UK was successful in its bid to host the World Endourology Congress in 2015. In 2010, Kenes UK won the opportunity to assist the UK host committee in its efforts to win the bid. Since then, the Kenes UK BD team of Rachel Frankel, Amy Dudden and Michael Foreman have been working very closely with the committee on every aspect related to the bid.

The World Endourology Congress is expected to attract approximately 1500 surgeons to London.