Collect and Organize Abstract Submissions for Your Next Annual Meeting

There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors in the abstract management pipeline of an annual meeting.  I like this metaphor because, to the casual onlooker, everything appears to happen automatically—as if by magic.  They never give the labor that goes into abstract collection and organization a second thought. Speakers send proposals, and sessions fill the final agenda. Voila!

Behind the scenes, it’s even smokier. Your email inbox is flooded with correspondences between speakers, staff, reviewers, and session chairs, leaving you to sift through the static for details. But this isn’t a foggy night in Victorian London, and it shouldn’t take an investigation to get to the bottom of your abstract submissions process.

Simplify Abstract Management for Your Annual Meeting

There are loads of software tools that can streamline, automate, and simplify the abstracts runaround.  Collect and organize your abstract submissions with:

• An Online Form Builder: Form builders are essential to cutting down on the email deluge.  Build an abstract submission form into your organization’s website so you don’t have to sort through emails manually.  And they can do a ton of things, such as:
  • Help presenters self manage
  • Collect fees
  • Include any custom fields unique to your annual meeting or abstracts conference
  • Sync with user databases (like your AMS)
  • Add field validation and eligibility rules that filter out unqualified abstracts
  • Collect and store media uploads for graphical or video abstracts
  • Keep every submission in a uniform format
• Mobile-Friendly Review Platforms: Prospective speakers and presenters need more prompting and more assistance when the submission process is full of friction.  Cut down on limitations by letting presenters or reviewers work on their submissions with mobile devices, at their own pace, wherever they have the free moments to make progress.
• A Visual Scheduler: Eventually, all those abstracts will have to transform into a cohesive schedule of sessions.  Ditch the whiteboard and the spreadsheets. Look for an agenda builder application that can pre-populate sessions with related abstracts and drag-and-drop those sessions into a visual schedule.  The best thing about scheduling software is that it can eliminate human error from the equation, so you’ll avoid scheduling conflicts.
• API Integrations: The ideal abstract management system is flexible and well-integrated with any other software you’re using.  The right APIs can seamlessly tie all your systems together.  For example, your AMS could send pre-existing lists of reviewers into your abstract review system to accelerate the review team setup.

OpenWater Handles Abstract Collection, Organization, and Review

Once upon a time, our young company was working with a trade association when—in response to a business need—we developed an application and submission software. This breakthrough product became OpenWater, a full-service application management system that can help you organize abstracts before, during, and after your annual meeting.

The popularity of OpenWater has propelled it to ever-greater capabilities as the cornerstone of our service offerings.  The old way of handling abstract submissions needed a facelift, and it’s here. OpenWater is all about bringing simplicity to your annual meeting planning process.  We’re proud to offer a one-stop software solution with all of the tools mentioned above in a single, robust, easy-to-use platform.

David Lincoln

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