Organization of scientific conferences & productivity
Analyzing the evolution of conferences held in Portugal in the last five years, we have noticed a strong increase in scientific meetings aimed at the Portuguese scientific community and the establishment of major international congresses.
This growth, which is transversal to the different areas, demonstrates that the scientific activity in Portugal is dynamic and widely recognized. To complement the quality of the science that is done here, Portugal has good logistical conditions – low operating costs, good catering and accommodation… in short, good infrastructures – and has therefore gained worldwide distinction in the area of tourism.
Not always this increase of conferences is accompanied by technical evolution and good organization practices. Serious logistical problems, bad handling of personal data and lack of timely planning are still recurrent. These points introduce errors in the different phases of organization, affecting efficiency, security and often the budget itself.
In an exhaustive analysis of different entities, we find that many neglect the use of conference management software, giving priority to google forms, email registration, submission of abstracts by email or even hybrid organization – registration in one platform, abstracts in another, payments and/or invoicing in a third, mailing to participants through a fourth platform and, finally, management of accommodations or tours still in a fifth platform!
This fragmentation of resources strongly conditions the efficiency – learning curve of different software, difficulties in integration and migration of data between platforms, greater investment in management software, greater likelihood of errors and data losses – and increases the disrespect for current data protection policies.
To improve this dynamic we suggest that you centralize as many resources as possible in one application. A convergence of administrative resources simplifies life for the organization and the participant. It will possibly even reduce costs and time.
More information can be found at www.sci-meet.com
