A Guide to the Diagnosis and Assessment of Alzheimer's Disease

Meeting Organization Guide
Meeting Organization

• Chairperson/speaker(s)
• Participants
• Venue

Chairperson/speaker(s)

• Make contact early and provide clear details of what is expected of them
• Run through the content of the meeting

First contact with chairperson/speaker(s)

Contact the speakers as long before the meeting as possible. A personal visit for first contact provides the best opportunity to communicate your ideas; however, a letter is often a more practical option (Attachments 1 and 2). Once the initial contact has been made, specific details of the meeting may be provided in a follow-up letter (Attachment 3 and 4).

During the communication:

• Explain the objectives
  – Who is attending the meeting
  – The purpose of the meeting
  – The anticipated outcome of the meeting
  – The make-up of the audience
• Establish conditions
  – Who has overall control of the meeting
  – Reimbursement expenses
  – Honorarium
• Provide information
  – Slides for presentation
  – Background reference material
  – Briefing document
• Discuss meeting format
  – The length of the meeting/presentation
  – The time provided for questions

Participants

To ensure that key participants can attend the meeting, contact these individuals as early as possible (Attachment 5). Although a draft program may not be available, communicate the aims of the meeting and any relevant background information.

Following agreement to attend, participants will need to know:

• The purpose of the meeting
• The nature of the audience and numbers
• The program outline and speakers
• Whether the meeting is interactive and how questions will be addressed
• How long the meeting will be
• Transportation, accommodation and catering arrangements

These facts may be included in a follow-up letter (Attachment 6) or within a participant fact sheet or bulletin (Attachment 7).

Venue

• When choosing the venue, consider the following points:
• Participant numbers
• Size of room and availability of equipment
• Effectiveness of the air conditioning/heating system
• Room for speaker preparation or refreshments, if applicable
• Telephone and photocopying service
• Room access times
• Accommodation and catering facilities

Additional items

It may be appropriate to consider providing some of the following delegate materials:

• Delegate folder
• Abstract book
• Presentation ‘handouts’
• Information Booklet and Reference Card
• Workshop: scientific papers (sent to delegates prior to the meeting)

In addition, to help further in the organization of the meeting, the following are also included:

• Chairperson’s briefing notes (Attachment 8)
• Questions and answers (Attachment 9)