A Meeting Designed to Inform, Interest, and Stimulate the Oncology Community

A Meeting Designed to Inform, Interest, and Stimulate the Oncology Community

Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FASCO, FACP

@CliffordHudis
Mar 27, 2014

As you read this, our 50th Annual Meeting is rapidly approaching. Tens of thousands of travelers are planning their time in Chicago, and hundreds of presenters and discussants are finalizing their posters and slides while many more ASCO volunteers and staff are making final preparations to guarantee the best possible experience for all attendees. The Annual Meeting is the defining event of the year for ASCO—although it is truly just one of a great many projects and initiatives that may be less visible. For many of ASCO’s members, the Annual Meeting is the reason they belong and the most palpable aspect of their involvement with our Society.

 

The Cancer Education Committee, chaired this year by Dr. Gini Fleming, met in the fall of 2013 and planned a program that incorporates state-of-the-art practice and research while paying homage to the accomplishments of ASCO’s members and contributors over these past 50 years. In mid-March, the other key component of the Annual Meeting was designed and finalized by the members of the Scientific Program Committee, who met in Alexandria for a day and a half. Under Dr. Jedd Wolchok’s leadership, more than 150 members onsite at the meeting, along with ASCO staff, sat at round tables, reviewed the scores they had assigned to the more than 5,500 submitted abstracts, and assembled them into thematic scientific sessions meant to inform, interest, and stimulate our entire community.

 

As President, the days leading up to the Scientific Program Committee meeting in Alexandria, and now the “window” between the planning and execution, are nerve-wracking. One is always concerned that this will be the year when there are no practice-changing results, no breakthrough science, no new translational efforts to capture our imaginations and tangibly improve patient care. It is, perhaps, in our collective nature to worry, but I can say now that it was needless. We received more submissions than ever before, and, as I write this, our registrations are ahead of last year’s, two facts that testify to the continued relevance and centrality of the Annual Meeting even as the world is tied more closely together through efficient electronic communications.

 

I have both asked and been asked several times this year, and indeed throughout my time on the Board of Directors, about the viability of a big annual gathering. The physical and logistical challenges are real, and, objectively, the travel is not “green.” Why, then, is it deemed important and worthwhile? And perhaps more importantly, what is its future?

 

The answers to these questions were on display as the Scientific Program Committee met in Alexandria. The fluidity and efficiency of face-to-face communications sped the resolution of innumerable disputes and conflicts that arise as hard choices are made about where to place abstracts on the program. Electronic communications are great, but one can ignore an email or fail to log on to a website, whereas committee members gathered around a table had to make decisions in real time. The efficiencies gained seem to make up for any efficiencies lost in such a gathering.

 

I suspect that the continued success of the Annual Meeting is testimony on a larger scale to some of these same realizations. Sometimes, we can get more done when we sit together and focus on a challenge. Furthermore, the introduction of technology once feared as a destructive process for so-called “archaic” meetings actually serves to enrich them. Last year saw #ASCO13 trending at the highest levels globally, and I predict social media conversations will have even greater visibility this year. If you don’t have a clue what I am talking about, please go here now: asco.org/socialmedia.   

 

Onsite, social media can engage our audiences in real-time discussions of the data and presentations as they unfold. If you have not figured out how to “tweet,” that’s okay. At this year’s Meeting, just ask for help setting up your own social media account and follow along (okay, “lurk”) to read the thoughtful comments of your colleagues. The link above can help you get started as well.

 

Raised on the philosophy of “under-promise but over-deliver,” I am not going to say much more about the Annual Meeting. It contains exciting results and the best educational talks anywhere. It is attended by the broadest array of dedicated, passionate clinicians and researchers devoted to addressing the myriad problems that cancer presents, and their presence in one place provides untold opportunities for interaction and collaboration.

 

But you, our members, will be the final judges of the Meeting, and we will endeavor, as always, to learn from it so that we can do even better next year. I am, however, confident in this: When our seven founders met in Chicago in 1964—a year in which the Surgeon General publicly associated cigarette smoking with lung cancer, the Civil Rights Act was passed, and the Beatles landed in New York and performed on the Ed Sullivan Show, among many other notable events—there is no way they could have imagined the scale and scope of the Meeting you are about to attend and the organization that brings us all together.

 

ASCO at 50 has done amazing things to make the world a better place. As you enjoy the upcoming Meeting, think about our founders and what they might have done with the resources we have today. Let me or any of your leadership or Board Members know what you think. Together, we can make sure that we are optimizing ASCO and our Annual Meeting for the greatest good.

 

Disclaimer: 

The ideas and opinions expressed on the ASCO Connection Blogs do not necessarily reflect those of ASCO. None of the information posted on ASCOconnection.org is intended as medical, legal, or business advice, or advice about reimbursement for health care services. The mention of any product, service, company, therapy or physician practice on ASCOconnection.org does not constitute an endorsement of any kind by ASCO. ASCO assumes no responsibility for any injury or damage to persons or property arising out of or related to any use of the material contained in, posted on, or linked to this site, or any errors or omissions.

Comments

Shona Milon Nag, MD

Apr, 01 2014 12:11 PM

I really look forward to this meeting - being a part of ASCO has made me feel part of the "International Oncology Community"  - I keep abreast of the advances and know that i am able to deliver standard of care to the best of my ability in a country as diverse as India!
Thank You 


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