CMP SERIES CERTIFICATION MADE POSSIBLE Among the GCB’s successes was its bid to host the XXVII
Congress of the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC), which was held this past June in Leipzig — the first time that the meeting, described by organizers as “the world’s most important event in the field of cell diagnos- tics,” convened in Germany since the congress was first held there in 1978. It is more than a good fit: Leipzig is considered one of the birthplaces of cytometry. In 1878, a medical stu- dent at the University of Leipzig was the first person to use dye to identify different cell types in blood. The academic and research culture carried weight when
ISAC was choosing between locations and venues, according to Joan Goldberg, principal and managing director of Strate- gic Assessment & Solutions, who acted as interim executive director for the society earlier this year. But an added bonus was support from the local government and industry, which included grants from the Free State of Saxony, where Leipzig is located. Another factor were the links created between ISAC and a regional cluster of biotechnology research insti- tutions and pharmaceutical companies. Biosaxony, the local German industry group, in particular was a real partner, Goldberg said, and worked with ISAC to create a one-day symposium that showcased local technology companies and research collaborations, and included an emphasis on how scientists can effectively partner with entrepreneurs. The symposium “was a great venue to discuss opportunities and trends,” Goldberg said, “as well as the latest technology.” The symposium also was likely to have been good for busi-
ness, according to Maryann P. Feldman, a professor of public policy at the University of North Carolina, and an expert on economic innovation, including technology transfer. “When people ask about how university and industry partnerships get started, and how people identify who they want to work with,” Feldman said, “conferences are really important for creating those kinds of connections.” (See “The Science of Meeting Face-to-Face,” at right.) The level of support from Saxony was significant, Gold-
berg said, and she advises meeting organizers to be direct about requests for funding, including them as part of RFPs. “You should know the value of your meeting and what it brings to the city,” Goldberg said, “and the city should know that you are looking for additional support.”
WANTED: RELATIONSHIPS At OSA, Mirabal takes a long-term view, looking for destina- tions with scientific and academic resources that align with her organization’s industry specialties, and that will extend beyond the course of a single meeting and promote the soci- ety’s growth. At IMEX America in Las Vegas in October, Mira- bal deliberately scheduled meetings with destinations where OSA did not have high concentrations of members, but where
72 PCMA CONVENE DECEMBER 2012
The Science of Meeting Face-to-Face
Maryann P. Feldman, a professor of public policy at the University of North Carolina, works at the intersection of geography and innovation. Her research, she explained to Convene, looks at “why certain places are able to generate greater innovation and economic activity, while investments made in other places are not as productive.”
In studying interactions in economic clusters, Feldman has observed that “when you bring together a community of people in a confined geographic space, they are going to bump into each other. The opportunity for chance interactions — serendipity, if you will — and bumping into someone who may have an answer or whose work or products you may have heard of, is really rich.”
What is true about computer scientists who clump together in places like Silicon Valley also is true about people interacting at conferences. “What we believe is that the transfer of knowledge is enhanced by face-to-face conversation,” Feldman said. “While people could email each other, or they could read papers or correspond in a variety of ways, the ability to meet and ask questions is something that is much more fruitful.”
“In Glasgow, our academic community understands the importance of conferences to assist with their knowledge-exchange objectives,” said Aileen Crawford, head of conventions for the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau. More than 2,400 professionals from medical, scientific, and academic backgrounds act as “Conference Ambassadors,” collaborating with the bureau to bring national and international conferences to the city.
There are big benefits for both the bureau and the academics. By hosting a conference in their specialist field, Crawford said, academics “can network with their peers and establish a platform for national and international collaboration.” More than 80 percent of the international conference business in the city comes as a result of the involvement of the ambassadors’ involvement, Crawford said, including 70 conferences confirmed last year.
In the United States, supporting access to conferences is “a really important science-policy issue,” Feldman said. “With all the budget craziness, a lot of scientists who work for federal agencies are not able to participate in conferences to the same extent as they had been.” And if scientists are precluded from the discussions they have at conferences, we won’t realize the full benefit of all of the investment we make in federal research and development, Feldman said. Curtailing scientists’ travel to conferences, she said, “is a policy that is penny-wise and pound-foolish.”
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