COVID-19: adapting to the challenge

DISCUSSIONS 20th April 2020

Amy:  A virtual format is not ideal, but on balance I think it would be better than cancelling the event completely. I agree with the previous comments that the pricing will need to change to reflect this.  At my University we have had the funds in our School (non-grant related) codes seized to plug gaps in funding elsewhere. Much of this money would have gone towards funding student conference attendance and sadly it appears that some of our students may no longer have the opportunity to attend a conference during their PhD.  If company sponsorship could be used to cover at least student attendance this could go some way to making up for the opportunities that they have lost.

[#4: Very Unlikely]

DISCUSSIONS 13th April 2020

John:  I believe this is an excellent opportunity for BMSS to bring together our community with some form of virtual event.  I favour a virtual poster event, spread over a few days – also  give the poster presenters the opportunity to share a Teams or equivalent QR code to allow them ‘be at their poster for questions’.  Add to this an on-line plenary and a few lectures that showcase the role MS has and is playing in tackling the Covid problem would give us a focal point.  This event should be FOC and accessible to whomever wants to join.  This should be a celebration of MS and BMSS for all.

[#4: Very unlikely]

Alan: Many good ideas here and keeping something going I believe is essential. If a virtual conference is created it could continue and become an annex to the regular annual conference, increasing the reach and accessibility of BMSS. A smaller fee for just the online version, regular delegates having access to both.

[#2: Likely]

DISCUSSIONS 3rd April 2020

Anonymous3:  I’ve just attended a virtual conference (not MS related). It should have been 3 days in California, but ended up being over 9 days virtually. It worked really well. Rather than having a big block of talks it could easily be spread over time, reducing the mental load. Speakers were still live, with online comments and question. There could have been chance for posters and to have the author narrate them (but that wasn’t relevant). And it saved me the cost of getting to the sunshine. https://blog.keyshot.com/virtual-keyshot-world-2020

[#5: No Preference]

Clare: I think it’s a good idea to be virtual but not crammed into a few days but maybe more like a festival week? I cannot sit at my PC all day….  Need to find a way for the young people to present their posters on-line – really important for them – as well as the young researcher oral presentations. I am doing a meeting, which was supposed to be in Manchester Central in October, and this is what we are considering… happy to feed in any ideas we get from that.

[#5: No Preference]

Susan: I agree we need to keep the community going even though we will lose one of the main advantages of the annual meeting this year - the face to face interactions. However, be need to be aware that when things start to normalise there will be a lot of catching up to do and industry / vendors will be focussed on delivery. I would think either separate, short, focussed meetings or something larger with focussed sessions will be the best, most supported options. Resource to attend interesting but less related sessions will be limited, and money will be tight everywhere so careful thought is needed when calculating if such meetings are feasible for the Society.

[#5: No Preference]

Perdita Barran:  We are all facing budget cuts and uncertainty, and in the meantime getting on with online working. By September we will all be used to watching webinars and contributing by WhatApp/slack/twitter etc. A virtual meeting is being planned by ASMS and we ought to watch that closely. I do not think we should pay for a virtual meeting, although sponsors may wish to get advertising space. But/and we do need to keep the community strong. Suggest smaller focussed events and support from a BMSS eplatform in offering and hosting Webinars. This *might* work well in collaboration with CAMS and RSC.

[#2: Quite likely]

Anonymous2: This might be a good opportunity to invite non-BMSS members to join the conference. With the virtual format they can drop in and out of lectures as needed. It does not cost BMSS to include them and it could be a positive PR exercise for BMSS which might encourage more members once they see the benefit of the meeting. It would also help your sponsors to reach a wider MS community, which would add real value in this crisis.

[#5: No Preference]

Alina: I’d attend a smaller targeted meeting or an educational course online gladly. I can’t quite imagine how a large event could be held online, where networking and debate is the important part of it. Saying that, if the technicalities are sorted, I’d attend.

[#5: No Preference]

Gavin:  Attending my first virtual conference. It has two parallel sessions, an exhibitor hall, a poster hall and a networking room. All are access though a "lobby" which has banners from the major sponsors. It is free to attend and so far it is actually working quite well. People submit questions on line and the moderator reads them out after the talk for the speaker to answer. I am fairly impressed !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsth47AoTrA&feature=youtu.be 

[#5: No Preference]

Anonymous2: I think it is important to provide a virtual meeting; having an arena to present new research to the MS community is as important as ever, especially for early career researchers.  A virtual format is not ideal, but it is far better than cancelling the event. I agree with previous comments that the format and pricing will need to change – as the overheads will be much lower, maybe company sponsorship could be used to allow delegates to attend FOC. This is an important event for the MS community and it would be better to keep it going.

[#5: No Preference]

DISCUSSIONS 2nd April 2020

David: It's clear for the short and medium term we have to find new ways of working, communicating, and socialising as a community. If a physical conference is not a possibility, a virtual event is an excellent idea. Smaller SIG event could be used to trail the logistics of running these in the next few months (e.g. the upcoming Biomolecular SIG online event). 

[#1: Very Likely]

Jakub: BMSS annual meeting is the primary opportunity to present and get instant feedback on new unpublished research. Stockpiled results go out-of-date faster than food. This new virtual format may have many benefits: 1: Flexibility with choice of invited speakers. 2: an opportunity for interactive content in posters. 3: it may be easier for some people to ask questions via chat rather than stepping up to the microphone. 4: ease of access for people who would not be able to attend normally due to work/family/health reasons. If successful, virtual content could be incorporated into future face-to-face meetings. Let’s give it a go!

 [#1: Very Likely]

Robert:  I think a virtual meeting could be a good idea for the community to stay in touch and share experiences, though in a remote fashion. Currently, the Proteomics in Cell Biology and Disease Mechanisms meeting is in virtual format. It was scheduled to take place this week at the Genome Campus in Hinxton (the organizer is Lucy Criddle).

[#5: No Preference]

Rob:  I would continue with the meeting in some virtual/electronic form – to stop for a whole year is not something that I think we should do. I think ASMS will do this also.

[#1: Very Likely]

Alan (LECO): We try to create new ideas to add to the conference & improve our visibility. To replace the networking, sponsors need multiple talks to create pull, but this diminishes the data and results approach.  Without direct interaction, the ROI is reduced considerably.

LECO will of course support, although with a moderate offering.

[#1: Very Likely]

Alan (Personal): The Virtual Analytical Summit is currently live. Exhibition hall is a page of logos. Join a talk at an allotted time, then leave. In – Out. Creating something special will be very difficult.  Something like SecondLife may work, but is a huge undertaking. The RSC Twitter Conference style may be a better bet this year, and come back stronger next year.

I’ve ordered some mothballs for The Suit.

[#3: Unlikely]

James: Great to raise this debate – I would definitely support virtual meeting (if in person not possible) – whether pre-recorded or in live (which works best should be carefully looked at). 

[#1: Very likely]

DISCUSSIONS 1st April 2020

Frank: I'd still hope we can have the meeting in person (and would prefer that), but failing that an online meeting is a good alternative! Would be missing out on the fun bits though in the breaks and in the evening - online dinners are just not the same!

[#1: Very Likely]

Stephanie: Whereas a virtual event could never replace a physical conference, I do think BMSS could host some smaller, more targeted virtual events in the interim to continue to support collaboration and knowledge sharing. There are plenty of examples of successful online events already, such as the RSC Twitter poster conference and the various virtual seminars that have already taken place recently (e.g. via Zoom).

[#2: Quite Likely]

Chris: I am positive about the possibility to share great science, I am aware of the challenges of presenting online, unless all is pre-recorded (with live questions). If there is a way to provide a platform for the great science in the UK then this must be explored. This year more than ever people want to share positive, exciting news about their work. However, my concern is the lack of face-to-face and physical interactions, also the challenge to replicate this digitally. This makes justifying sponsorship more challenging, especially in this uncertain business environment. My concern is this would make the meeting a financial drain for the BMSS and financially challenging to attend for both individuals and sponsoring companies.

[#5:  No Preference]

Meetings Secretary: The financial model for a virtual Annual Meeting 2020 is a key issue that the BMSS will have to rationalise in short order. From my point of view (purely as an ordinary member) I would advocate that the Society should support & enable the MS community in this time of extreme stress. It is no secret that the BMSS has a cash reserve. IMHO if the Society is ever going to dig into that reserve - this would probably the appropriate time!

[#5: No Preference]

Clive: I spoke at a virtual conference in 2016 organised by EuroSciCon (a UK company). I have also been using GoToMeeting and it works very well & easy to use. I suggest that you try it for free to see what you think. It appears that you could have up to 3000 people attending a meeting. I am sure that advertisements may be possible. Posters would have to electronic and on-line only.

[#5: No Preference]

Anton: On Monday next week several of us working in the field of structural MS will be having a virtual meeting, with two speakers, via Zoom. If this goes well we envisage using this sort of platform - either for regular small online events, or periodic larger virtual meetings - to “replace” the BMSS Biomacromolecular SIG in 2020. After Monday’s event we will evaluate how it has gone, get feedback, and decide how we proceed. Happy to share our experience if that will be helpful in your efforts for a virtual solution to BMSS41.

[#2: Quite Likely]

Meetings Secretary: Thank you Anton! Please share your feedback with us all, …and have a great virtual event on Monday!

[#5: No Preference]

Ann: Limitations of the current annual meeting are cost and travel so a virtual meeting may be popular with some in far-flung places. It would be good to be able to select sections of the programme to join in with and to pay only for these.

[#2: Quite Likely]

Rhodri N. Owen: I feel that a virtual conference is an excellent idea if the annual meeting can not take place. The poster sessions could be easily replaced using a similar format to the RSC’s successful 'poster twitter conference' as inspiration. The mass spectrometry course and oral sessions could be replaced by live webinars or alternatively pre-recorded audio over a PowerPoint presentation and convert to a video for delegates to browse at their leisure. Of course a virtual conference will not be able to replicate the whole experience of being at a conference in person such as the exhibition, networking and social programme.

[#2: Quite Likely]

DISCUSSIONS 31st March 2020

Andy: I think BMSS needs to continue to support the great science that’s done within our field so I’m very much in support of a virtual meeting in some form.

[#1: Very Likely]

Rian: Current advice is rapidly changing and the institution I work for have now advised that no conference registrations will be authorised for this and the next academic year. It is unclear whether registration for a virtual conference would be approved.

[#5: No Preference]

Steve: A personal view (not a company view).  While it’s a noble cause looking to keep the flag flying, much of the attraction and benefit of the BMSS meeting is in networking. Other bigger meetings are likely to be cancelled and offer a virtual event, so we would be in competition. Once we are allowed back into offices and labs, we’re gong to be playing catch so it will be difficult getting commitment to attend. I would vote to postpone until another meeting can be organized.

[#4: Very Unlikely]

Kersti: Why do you not do a webinar meeting and invite everybody and speakers? 

[#5: No Preference]

Tony B: How about a reduced format virtual 2020 and then back with all thrusters in 2021. I would be happy to help with a virtual conference and I would also like to offer a presentation on mass spec in big pharma and its evolving world with new challenges. Also, a real opportunity to deliver virtual training, both the established MS course and also look to expand to other continued professional development such as communications skills.

[#2: Quite Likely]

Anonymous: Just to let you know that The Wellcome Trust Sanger institute at the Genome Campus in Cambridge has had to cancel a Proteomics in Cell Biology and Disease Mechanisms international meeting from 30-31 April and they are currently running it as a virtual meeting. If you would like some advice on how to run such a meeting please get in touch with them.

[#5: No Preference]

Don:  I know that the community will rise to the challenge. We are probably all experienced in delivering “virtual” presentations and despite the lack of face-to-face networking/catching up I think this would be a very positive thing to do. Also, I expect some of our colleagues to have Covid-19 related research, which will be fascinating.

[#1: Very Likely]

Patrick: Whilst I enjoy the social aspects of the BMSS meeting and find that the opportunity to meet with friends, collaborators and manufacturers invaluable BMSS should continue online. I think identifying the best platform for posters is important as these represent the majority of the science presented.  Online presentations are ok but magnify the qualities of the speaker – good ones are very good, poor ones very very poor.

[#3: Unlikely] 

Kyle: In principle virtual events are a nice idea. In truth the technology is a little way off where we need to be, with interactivity and networking completely absent. I think the connections, interaction, and networking are the true values of events like BMSS. it would be debatable whether we would see ROI from a sponsorship perspective. Sadly, I fear execution of a digital event would drain time, money, and ultimately leave the customers unsatisfied. Unfortunately, it’s a double edged sword too – if it shows glimmers of success it could also compromise future in-person events. So, I would vote for a postponement – perhaps move to January.

[#4: Very Unlikely]

Meetings Sec: FYI the BMSS team are currently evaluating professional virtual conference platform options (e.g. iVent) that do facilitate sophisticated delegate-delegate and delegate-sponsor interaction, enable extensive CRM options for exhibitors and hi definition (pre-recorded) oral presentations and interactive poster sessions.

[#5: No Preference]