EDITORIAL
Vol 21 No 2 July 2005
Conference attendance is an essential part of professional development. It provides opportunity for education and networking and, as well, presents a relatively stress free environment with opportunity for recharging batteries. However, over the years the introduction of streaming has seen conferences become something of a juggling act for both participants and speakers.
I cannot pinpoint when streaming crept in but, having been around for many years, can certainly remember a time when it did not exist. Therefore it was extremely refreshing to attend a conference in Singapore which had all sessions in the same room, and over the two days followed a logical progression in relation to the theme of moving forward advanced nursing practice. (See Conference Report in this issue.) My initial reaction at seeing that the programme lacked discrete sessions and streams was one of dismay. This unease was quickly dispelled as the advantages became obvious. Participants had few decisions to make. It avoided pitfalls such as disappointment of finding oneself in a session which did not deliver what was expected; the dilemma of wanting to change streams only to find that, because of altered timing, sessions overlapped; and of having perhaps to sit on the floor among 80 people crowded into a tiny room while in the main room the speaker may have had only 20 people in the audience.
For presenters assurance of a reasonable sized audience brought the satisfaction of knowing that the journey (which might have been across the world) had not been wasted. What is more, the distraction of people arriving late or leaving the session early was largely avoided. In terms of time the sessions were tightly managed. Each speaker had 15 minutes for presentation with five minutes allowed for questions. For those who had submitted an abstract which was not selected for oral presentation there was opportunity to present a poster. Poster presenters were expected to be by their stands at coffee breaks to answer any questions.
Personally I found this conference both stimulating and relaxing. As a presenter and participant I found the single session approach enjoyable. I particularly liked the way it allowed for logical development of the conference theme.
Interestingly many other people commented on this aspect and how the fact of us all having attended the same sessions generated lively discussion at meal times. While for very large international conferences with many delegates and diverse interests there is obviously a place for streaming, this may not be the best option for a small country like New Zealand where many nursing conferences have 200-300 participants at the most. I suggest that it may be time for us to rethink how we organise conferences and so ensure that maximum benefit is derived by both participants and speakers.
Jenny Phillips RN, MA, NP, MCNA(NZ)
