14AUG2013

How to Get the Most from

Clinical Research Conferences 

Dear Reader,By popular demand, we’ve combined another of our blog series,

How to Get the Most from Clinical Research Conferences, into a single PDF file.

Wherever your next big clinical research gathering takes you, we hope you gain a few

behind-the-scenes insights from our expert.

Happy trails,The goBalto Team

A word from our CEOWith conferences getting more expensive, make sure you maximize your ROI by

coming away with more than a bunch of useless souvenirs and brochures.

I have the distinct pleasure of introducing someone many of you are already familiar

with: Norm Goldfarb! I first met Norm while attending the Partnerships in Clinical Trials

event in Phoenix in the spring of 2010. As chairman of MAGI, Norm has been a vocal

champion of standardizing best practices for clinical research. I hope you enjoy this

piece and make the most out of your next conference.

Jae  | CEO/Founder, goBalto

Part 1: NetworkingSet objectives

Done properly, half the benefit of attending a conference derives from networking, i.e., meeting people and building relationships. The speakers might not address the issues that interest you or explain them well, but the people you meet can fill in the gaps. They can also provide leads for good sites, good studies, and good service providers. They can help in numerous other ways. Plus, it’s reassuring to know you’re not the only clinical research professional with challenges to face. Networking is more than a random series of chats. Successful networking requires knowing what you want to accomplish, so start with three things:

1. Choose your conference. Large meetings have lots of people, but only a small fraction you want to

meet. Specialized meetings have few attendees, but you want to meet most of them.

2. Establish your objectives. How many people do you want to meet? When you leave the meeting,

what relationship do you want to have with them? Do you want to make new acquaintances or renew old ones?

3. Identify your target audience. Are you looking for potential customers, suppliers, employers,

employees, advisors, kindred spirits, or people with their own networks of contacts? Are you targeting people at pharmaceutical companies, academic sites, or government agencies? Are they project managers, study coordinators, or executives?

Once you answer these questions, you’ll know what you’re trying to accomplish. In the next section, we’ll discuss how to start networking.

One approach I’ve found effective in getting the most out of a conference is scheduling meetings, before the conference, with speakers you want to meet. You can usually secure a list of speakers from the conference’s website. Once you get the list, browse your LinkedIn connections and send an invitation to meet. If the individual in question isn’t a connection, send a brief email indicating that you’d like to meet and why such a meeting would be in the person’s interest. Answer the question, what’s in it for them? Give yourself at least 3-4 weeks to cultivate the relationship and then lock in a meeting over coffee or at a booth.

{ Another word from Jae }

Part 2: Getting StartedWorld-class athletes don’t just walk from the street to the field and start playing at a world-class level. Some mental preparation is good idea…and don’t forget the uniform. Start networking with these four steps.

Step 1: Put your game head on.

Most people at conferences are hoping against hope that someone, anyone, will acknowledge their existence. They desperately cling to a colleague – or the first person they meet – to avoid the possibility of rejection. They want to be your friend, but are just too terrified to ask. Show some kindness and introduce yourself. At worst, you’ll gain experience and the confidence that you’re not like them. You don’t have to enjoy it, but it’ll probably be less painful than you expect. If networking doesn’t come naturally, just grit your teeth and do it; you have nothing to lose but your desolate solitude in a world with seven billion people.

Step 2: Fly solo.If your objective is networking, do not fraternize more than necessary with people who are already in your network, unless they can introduce you to someone you want to meet.

Step 3: Identify yourself.

Wear your name tag prominently. Make it easy for people to find you by wearing distinctive clothing. (“Joe? He’s over there with the rubber chicken on his head.”) Take the initiative in introducing yourself. Unless you interrupt when someone’s talking, people are happy to meet you, or at least go through the pleasantries.

Step 4: Manage your time.If you meet a good contact, spend enough time to begin the relationship, and then move on. If you’re sure someone is completely useless to you, excuse yourself and move on. Say something like, “It was very nice to meet you. The space aliens are after me, so I better keep moving.”

Once you get started, the hard part is over. Next we’ll discuss where to find the people you want to meet.

Part 3: Finding the Right PeopleThere’s nothing more frustrating than attending a meeting with thousands of people but meeting nobody of interest. To meet the right people, first you have to find them.

Step 1: Go where people are easy to meet.

It’s relatively easy to meet people sitting next to you at a session, at lunch tables, in groups when you know someone, and who are alone.Step 2: Go where your targets go.

You increase your odds if you spend time in your targets’ natural habitats. Regulatory specialists are relatively likely to attend sessions on regulatory topics. Sponsor personnel are relatively likely to be in the vicinity of CRO exhibit booths.

Step 3: Talk to people in exhibit booths.

People in exhibit booths are paid to talk to you. They have to be polite; they even have to show interest. While you’re there, meet other people visiting the booth.Step 4: Keep an open mind. 

Only a small fraction of the people you’re likely to meet at a big conference will fit your target profiles. But many of the others may know those people or help you accomplish your objectives in other ways. Meet popular people. Merely by standing next to popular people, you can meet more people.

Meeting the right people is the hardest part of networking, but you know how to do that now.

About the author

Norman M. Goldfarb is Chairman of MAGI, a voluntary organization with over 7,000 members

that’s standardizing best practices for clinical research operations, business, and regulatory compliance. (“MAGI” is pronounced with “G” as in Georgia and “I” as in Ireland.) Contact him at 1.650.465.0119 or ngoldfarb@magiworld.org.

© 2011 Norman M. Goldfarb

About MAGI

MAGI’s Clinical Research Conferences promote networking in many ways. As a result, 83% percent of attendees rate the networking at MAGI conferences better than at other conferences. MAGI’s next conference, October 27-30, 2013 in Las Vegas, will feature a coherent program emphasizing practical tips based on real-life examples:

- Over 500 people will attend- 90+ sessions and workshops in seven tracks: sponsor operations, site operations, regulatory compliance,

contracts, budgets & billing, quality and special topics- 23+ continuing education contact hours (CME, CNE, CLE, CCB, other)- Excellent networking: Two-thirds of attendees will have 5+ years of experience- About 50% of attendees will be from sites, 25% from sponsors, and 25% from CROs and other service providers