For the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM), each year's annual meeting brings a convergence of physicians, scientists, and technologists involved in molecular imaging. The 4,000 professional attendees choose from an ever-expanding array of sessions, with hundreds of speakers presenting. At the 2007 SNM Annual Meeting, held June 2-6 in Washington, D.C., planners coordinated more than 100 oral sessions, 72 continuing education courses, and 45 technology sessions. More than 1,600 abstracts were presented on the latest research in the field. It is the kind of full-throttle, complex meeting that requires digital solutions that sidestep connection and communication issues.

SNM worked with AVW-TELAV (www.avw telav.com) to arrive at the best way to manage the delivery of the meeting's content. Among the services AVW-TELAV provides for the society to choose from: Digital Signage, Presentation Management, Overflow-on-Demand, OnlineEvent, Information Kiosks, and Audience Response Systems.

These services work in tandem, interconnecting and allowing for seamless transition, regardless of the number of sessions and presenters. The society had used AVW-TELAV's Presentation Management and OnlineEvent products successfully at previous meeting, and in 2007 planners added Digital Signage. With Presentation Management, a centralized server distributes electronic files to the appropriate meeting room ahead of time. Each speaker could take advantage of a speaker ready room to run through their presentations, preview technology tools, and ask questions of technicians.

"Everything is running and automatic by the time they leave the room, and it helps the flow of the meeting," said Lisa Lefebvre, SNM course manager. "They don't have to wait for people to load things, and if there's anything quirky in their presentation, they can make sure it works."

Since very few speakers give presentations without PowerPoint and often with video feed, that chance to work out the kinks of the process has proven crucial. "Back in the old days, you would have speakers come into a meeting room with their presentation that would have to be loaded at that point in time," said Jane Day, CMP, SNM's director of meeting services. "I can't believe what we used to go through."

Because all the presentations are held on a network, each speaker's file is directed electronically to a certain room. If rooms change, the electronic feed can adjust easily. "It's a lot easier to change things over by just moving a folder on the computer," Day said.

The society offered another way for speakers to simplify their time on site with OnlineEvent's option for pre-loading presentations in the weeks before the meeting. The idea struck a chord with the society, but the implementation hit a snag. "Speakers could go in and load their material online, but, unfortunately, most of our speakers usually finish their speeches on the plane," Day said. "They'd need to be more organized and work ahead of time to make it work."

Content capture met expectations perfectly, though. A committee selected which sessions should be recorded based on current issues and hot topics, then AVW-TELAV captured those sessions to re-broadcast. "It's like a Webcast, but they'll provide us with a master DVD," said Lefebvre. Participants will receive the DVDs for free, while others can buy them.

Digital Signs provide a variety of display possibilities: LCD displays, data projectors, and CRT monitors. The electronic displays can be updated quickly and easily. SNM offered the signage to exhibitors, and the society used the signs at four strategic points, including the registration area. "The signs can be changed immediately," Day said. "You can use a DVD or hook it up to the Internet. You can update it with information, acknowledge attendees, and adjust it to whatever you need."

° Contributing Editor Ginny Phillips is a freelance writer in Birmingham, Ala.