Can Your Conference Abstract Management System Do This?

What if someone told you that your abstract management system could do a lot more than just manage conference abstracts? You may wonder, ‘well, what can it do?’ Here are a few questions to ask (and the answers we’d give if you did):

Can it collect money?

It can’t print money (shucks), but an abstract management system like OpenWater can accept payments and fees. Unless your conference is free, you’re going to need a payment gateway to gather registration or submission fees, and your conference abstracts software can do double duty by saving you the extra step of working with a separate vendor to set up that payment system.

It’s of even greater importance that you choose a payment system with a reputation for being encrypted and safe in this era of data breaches regularly hitting the news. An excellent abstract management system will sport API integrations for all of the most trusted payment gateways, like Paypal, Stripe, and Chase.  As an added benefit, all attendee data is centralized in a single, secure cloud-based software, so there are fewer avenues at risk of a breach.

Does it already know you?

Your association might already use an AMS like iMIS or Personify to organize its members. Why complicate the process when your user list and their login credentials already exist?

A sophisticated abstract management system—like OpenWater—will let you log in with the same credentials as your AMS, CMS, or CRM.  Single sign-on API integrations save you the extra step of creating a new profile in the abstract management system itself (and the hassle of remembering a new password).  

If you’re not using a membership software that already knows you, pre-existing Google accounts are another easy option.  The API would replace the abstract management software’s login field with the one from your preferred system.

These integrations also allow bi-directional data synchronization, so any new data about the users in your abstract management system (proposal status, payments, etc.) is also updated in the external system.

Will it plan your conference agenda?

Much like a personal wedding planner, the ideal system is an end-to-end solution for planning and managing the sessions at your conference. From the call for proposals to the final presentation, it’s there to make things go smoothly. 

An abstract submission and review platform is ideally situated to build out and share your conference agenda.  It’s already got all of the approved abstracts, so the next logical step is for the software to provide session chairs with an easy way to group abstracts into conference sessions (perhaps even auto-adding abstracts to sessions with related topics).  

Ultimately, you need a way to turn them into a schedule. A visual, online schedule-builder like the one offered by OpenWater is a perfect example:  

This abstract management system lets you create sessions with assigned rooms and time slots, then easily drag-and-drop them into a compelling presentation calendar.

And why stop there?  OpenWater also lets you show off your accepted conference abstracts in a public gallery, where attendees can see each one (organized by sessions) right on your website.  The American Association of Public Opinion Research shows off this feature of OpenWater in the example below:

In addition to on your website, the abstract management system should integrate with mobile conference apps (like Core-Apps).  That way, it can push the schedule and session information out to attendees on the go in an app that’s easily downloadable from the App Store (for iPhone or Android).  Event management has never been so easy.

OpenWater can, does, and will help you with all of the above.

Curious about what else it can do?  Our conference abstract software was built to be an all-in-one solution that streamlines and organizes all aspects of abstract management so your conference comes together without a hitch.  Give us a call to learn more about how OpenWater can help you save time and master the details.

David Lincoln

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