Subjects - Business

In difficult economic times, the question of how to deliver value to conference attendees while keeping the cost under control is truly a conundrum. Determining what activities conference attendees see as valuable can be quite elusive,

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

as in your coercive effort to attract them.

What do today’s conference attendees want? First, explore the basic types that attend conferences, especially when travel is required. The old paradigm conference attendee is a bit like the g

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

ood ol’ boy—attending his industry meeting regardless of the time of year, location or quality of the meeting. He just wants to meet with his buddies, network a bit, golf and drink. The conference is his well earned get-away.

Then ther

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

e is the new paradigm attendee, both men and women. They are younger, have families and have the attitude that they will participate if they see the capability for synergy. Golf and partying is not their motivation, but rather the desir

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

to obtain new strategies, tactics and the skills necessary to improve their business. They only want to rendezvous with value.

Of which group is your association’s membership tilting? Has the ratio been changing over the last few year

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

s? I bet it has been changing, but perhaps nobody noticed? Then there is the paid verses volunteer leadership element with which you must be attentive. This becomes crucial when a volunteer leader from a small company follows one from a

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

large company.

My observation in over a decade of interviewing volunteer association leaders and speaking at association meetings is that generally (but not always) a leader from a large company tends to be more strategic in their thi

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

nking and those from smaller companies tend to be more tactical. While both are necessary, tactics without strategy is like traveling to a far-away land without a map—who knows where you’ll end up?

One tactic for reducing costs that a

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

umber of associations have recently engaged is that of inviting suppliers to present educational sessions rather than hiring experts, authors and /or professional speakers. Industry presenters usually manage to wrap their presentation a

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

round a sales pitch for their product. An important point that is rarely broached in the above mentioned tactic is what effect does inviting one company to present have on other supplier companies?

Since suppliers, or allied members as

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

they are sometimes called, generally pay a disproportionately larger amount to attend a conference than other members, they want value too. Forcing a number of suppliers to endure a competitor’s veiled sales presentation can be conside

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

red cruel and unusual punishment. And they never forget.

What does create value for today’s conference attendees? Many attendees, especially those at national meetings, are looking to be recharged. They need and want both the motivatio

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

and tools for doing battle in the trenches for another year. What percentage of motivation verses skills? Regardless of what I have been told by meeting planners, over the years I have learned that in both general sessions and concurre

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

nt sessions alike, the scales tilt more toward motivation. This is something that a non-professional speaker can rarely deliver.

For a meeting organizer, the rendezvous with value challenge can be enormous. You say, “How in the world c

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

an I deliver all the value my diverse group of attendees demands and needs in a time of diminished registrations?” Your answer is in numbers. Just how many of your attendees demand that costly golf outing? Is it a large number or just a

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

few that are quite vocal in their personal demands? Must you have an open bar reception? If so, cut the hours in half.

A great question to ask oneself is that of memory—what will your attendees remember? Will they remember their fourt

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

free whiskey at the reception? Or, will they remember that the speaker from XYZ Company spent the entire hour talking about their own company’s capabilities? What will stick in your attendees’ minds that will urge them to return to the

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

conference the next year? If they are old paradigm; they’ll just come again no matter what. But, for the new paradigm attendees, you must help them to rendezvous with value.

Currently, suppliers to the meetings industry are offering g

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

enerous discounts; including hotels, resorts, airlines and also professional speakers. This is simply because of supply and demand. If you truly want to deliver value to your attendees, take advantage of the times and give them more tha

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

n a free whiskey by which to remember their conference. This may take an additional effort in helping your volunteer leaders to understand the value, and, they themselves may be the ones that need the inspiration and motivation the most

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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So you want to go paperless? Not sure where to start? The answer is literally right under your nose. If you have plans to eliminate or reduce your business’s paper consumption and records storage, the best place to start looking is on your desk. The typical desk is loaded with paper - mail, file folders, notebooks – you name it. Chances are the paper that is filling your file cabinet, the file room or the third floor – whatever the case may be – passed over your desk or the desks of your colleagues.

Employers should accomodate permanently inured employees under California law. There is a recent trend, that employers are not accomodating employees and as a result are getting sued. The article describes how they should evaude whether an acccomodation should be granted.

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Subjects - Associations Deliberating the Conference Conundrum

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