ASCO Annual Meeting Tips

ASCO Annual Meeting Tips

Abdul-Rahman Jazieh, MD, MPH

@jaziehoncology
May 07, 2012
ASCO is the most important oncology meeting in the world, with more than 30,000 attendees and hundreds of presentations. Recently, I have been asked by many people how to get the maximum benefit from the Annual Meeting, so I have put together the following tips:

  1. Review the meeting program as early as possible and register early for ticketed sessions, as it will be difficult to find a seat on site if you want to attend specific sessions.

  2. Familiarize yourself with the various types of activities, whether they are educational activities, oral sessions, poster discussion sessions, etc.

  3. Pay attention to Thursday and Friday pre-ASCO programs, as there will be a number of interesting seminars.

  4. Arrive early, at least the day before (Friday AM) and get the Proceedings and the program booklet. You can also download these in advance of the Meeting through the Attendee Resource Center: chicago2012.asco.org/attendee. Log in with your badge number or ASCO.org username and password.

  5. Make a calendar of activities you'd like to attend using the ePlanner on your computer, or the iPlanner for mobile devices.

  6. If you are interested in tracks, e.g., breast, lung, etc., you can follow the program track.

  7. This year, there are 24 questions by NCI that you can track.

  8. Never miss the morning sessions, "Highlights of the Day," from 8:00-9:30 AM, in which there will be a review of best presentations from the previous day.

  9. Do not miss the Plenary Session, as best abstracts are presented there.

  10. Read ASCO Daily News to grasp the big picture.

  11. Some evening industry activities are of great scientific value.

  12. Have a set time for networking and catching up with colleagues.

  13. Schedule time for fun and leisure, especially before or after the meeting. Chicago is one of the best cities in the world.

  14. Do not forget to complete the Evaluation to get CME.

  15. Stop by ASCO Central (#7004) and Membership Services and ASCO Connection to hear more about the advantages of this great Society.

  16. Stop at the exhibits and look for opportunities to learn about or collaborate on upcoming studies.

  17. If you are interested in a specific poster, be there in the first hour of the schedule as presenters will be near their posters. If you need certain information from presenter, you can exchange contact information.

  18. In Poster Discussion Sessions, experts will review the posters at a specified hour, in different locations.

  19. Most importantly, prepare notes for your post-ASCO Annual Meeting presentations at your institution or region. Take advantage of asking the authors about certain information you need to complement the abstract’s limited information. This means you have to identify abstracts of interest the day before the meeting and list your queries or questions.

  20. If there is conflict between two interesting activities, don't worry--you can view any sessions you've missed through Virtual Meeting

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Comments

Nagwa Abdel Rahman Ibrahim, PharmD, PhD

May, 07 2012 12:46 PM

Dr. Jazieh, Thank you for the impressive tips for ASCO annual meeting. It is considered marvelous assistance for attendee making their live much easier helping them to have the utmost benefit out of the meeting.

I will attend the ASCO meeting this year and definitely will consider these tips myself.
Thanks again

Soufiane Khelifi-Touhami, MD

May, 07 2012 1:58 PM

Thank you very much ...

Michael A. Thompson, FASCO, MD, PhD

May, 08 2012 5:17 PM

Thanks.

RE: #20 - "If there is conflict between two interesting activities, don't worry--you can view any sessions you've missed through Virtual Meeting." 

I thought I read/heard somewhere, that if you attend ASCO from morning to night without breaks you can only go to 10% of the sessions.  That made me feel better and less overwhelmed.  Pick and choose, go to the important stuff (to you) and have fun.

Salem Abdullah Alfaifi, MBBS

May, 09 2012 1:23 PM

I am really proud to be your student :)

Hammouda Boussen, MD

May, 13 2012 11:39 AM

Dear Abderrahman 

Shukran jazil for the tremendous work that you're doing
Hoping to see you in Chicago may be

Hamouda Boussen 

Abdul-Rahman Jazieh, MD, MPH

May, 13 2012 3:19 PM

Thank you dear colleagues for your comments.
We are looking forward to having another wonderful meeting this year.
Wishing you the best.
ARJ
 

Abdul-Rahman Jazieh, MD, MPH

Jun, 07 2012 8:07 AM

Dear Colleagues who attended ASCO 2012:

Please provide me with feedbacks about ASCO Meeting Tips so we can improve this list in the future and update it to incoprporate your feedback.

Thank you
AR Jazieh, MD, MPH 

Kakil Rasul

Jun, 07 2012 7:23 PM

thank you  Dr. Jazieh very valuable tips which make guidline for attendee of the ASCO meeting in the future as you a founder of guidlines.

Nagwa Abdel Rahman Ibrahim, PharmD, PhD

Jun, 09 2012 11:51 AM

Thanks Dr. Jazieh, ASCO meeting tips were of great help to plan a head and priorties my calender activities.    

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