Conference & Meetings World Supplements Canada Supplement | Page 5

Canada
opportunities, arrange living lab
tours and help promote business
events to their membership,
growing conference attendance in
the process.
Creating content that matters
to delegates
With hot spots for cancer research,
radiation therapies, regenerative
treatments, brain and vascular
health from coast to coast,
multinational organisations
recognise that life-changing
advancements in patient care
are happening in Canada.
Developing opportunities to
showcase local advancements to
visiting delegations is one means of
creating content that’s meaningful
to delegates and beneficial to
conference organisers.
In the lead-up to the 2018
International Mesothelioma Interest
Group conference in Ottawa, for
example, organisers connected
with researchers at the University of
Ottawa to help organise, develop
and promote the meeting to their
worldwide network. Their efforts
resulted in increased submission of
abstracts, which translated to an
increased number of conference
delegates.
At the University of Saskatchewan
the One Reproductive Healthcare
programme studies animal and
human reproductive health issues
and helped draw experts from
a diverse range of specialties to
the One Health World Congress
in 2018. Vikram Misra, a University
of Saskatchewan Professor of
Microbiology in the Western
College of Veterinary Medicine
also helped lead these efforts.
Toronto is acclaimed worldwide
for the cutting-edge work being
done in cancer research. The
IASLC 19th World Conference on
Lung Cancer hosted its conference
in the city and set records for
attendance (7,433 from across
the globe), as well as delivering a
lasting impact on delegates.
When the 35th International
Conference of International Society
of Blood Transfusion was hosted
in Toronto organisers ran tours of
transfusion labs and research
centres at St Michael’s and Toronto
General Hospitals. In fact, there
were so many parallel sessions,
the 2,400+ delegates had a hard
time choosing which session to
attend.
Cross-sector connections
Canada is on the forefront of new
technologies and innovations
across sectors that impact Life
Sciences. The country’s lead in
developing Artificial Intelligence
has led to advancements in
deep learning and reinforcement
learning technologies that are
steering the future of medtech,
including robot-assisted surgeries
and medical manufacturing.
Future proofing
Business Events Canada has not
only changed the discussion in
terms of the value of meeting in
Canada, but its pan-Canada
approach enables mid-size cities
to compete for business, and offers
decision-makers more choice of
host destinations.
By leveraging Canada’s
intellectual capital in the Life
Sciences, Canada is future-
proofing its meetings and events
industry.
CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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