In October 2011, 650 people from 13 cities participated in the Satelital Workshop, organized by the Mexican Association of Psychiatry, thanks to satellite communication technology.
Specialists in psychiatry and neurology participating in the symposium discussed and reviewed the latest advances and treatments in the field of mental illness.
Organized by the Mexican Association of Psychiatry and sponsored by AstraZeneca, the symposium featured a number of national and international keynote speakers, including Dr Manuel Sanchez Carmona, president of the Mexican chapter of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD), Dr Mark A. Frye, head of the Psychiatric and Psychology Department of the Mayo Clinic (USA), and Professor Allan H. Young, Chair of Psychiatry and director of the Mental Health Centre of Imperial College London (UK).
It was not the first multi-site meeting experience for Professor Allan H. Young, the symposium’s chief keynote speaker. According to Young, "a scattered audience can pose technical problems and the result can seem less personal. Bringing together a large number of specialists and reaching more people in one session creates a greater synergy, is more convenient and, in addition, profitable. Furthermore, it benefits both virtual participants and the event’s organizers."
Two hundred specialists participated in the symposium held in Mexico City, with another 450 specialists from 13 key Mexican cities following the proceeding live via satellite. In this way, they could actively participate in discussions and clinical case studies thanks to a chat service allowing them to pose questions in real time, vote electronically on questions and instantly obtain voting data.
PowerVote brings a new dimension to multi-site meetings
PowerVote technology was used to facilitate audience interaction in this complex multi-site context. The voting system allowed all the participants to reply to a series of questions, and the speakers to obtain instant voting results and to compare the answers from the 13 cities. Despite the fact that the audience was geographically dispersed, the resulting discussion was very stimulating, thanks to the chat system. Both the audience and the speakers welcomed the use of technology.
In the words of Dr Manuel Sanchez de Carmona, president of the Mexican chapter of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD), and the symposium’s moderator, "multi-site meetings should offer something more than a filmed presentation." In his opinion, the satellite connection during the Satelital Psychiatry Workshop allowed specialists to fully participate in the meetings, regardless of their physical location. In fact, he admitted that "everyone was highly impressed by the technology. Throughout the day, I tried to make sure that the virtual members of our audience felt just as involved in the process as our physical audience in Mexico City."
The key factors of success for medical events depend to a great extent on the use of technology to involve the audience; and they are based on careful organization and planning, training speakers so that they can adequately use the technology, and good technical support, as was the case with the multi-site symposium in Mexico City. Dr Manuel Sanchez de Carmona added: "Preparing a list of relevant question both for the speakers and the audience is essential for ensuring that interactive technologies continue to be valuable tools. Voting is very effective, whether the event is a general meeting, training workshop or the aim is to determine the audience’s knowledge of specific issues."
Professor Young concluded: "The use of the PowerVote system at the Satelital Psychiatry Workshop was a very positive experience. The tool allowed the audience to feel involved and to participate virtually, which made the event more interesting. Voting is a powerful tool for facilitating proceedings at multi-site medical meetings, since it allows the members of the audience to get involved proactively."
