Client: International Genetic Epidemiology Society
Type of event: Residential conference
Group size: 250 day delegates (118 residential)
Venue: Queens' College & King's College
Date: 9th-11th September 2017
Background
Since 1991, the International Genetic Epidemiology Society (IGES) has provided opportunities to bring together international leaders, innovators, and students of the interdisciplinary fields comprising the study of genetic epidemiology. This is achieved through its website, its peer-reviewed Genetic Epidemiology journal, and its annual meetings which are held in the US and Europe every third years. In 2017 the 26th annual meeting came to Cambridge for the first time.
Brief
Josée Dupuis, Professor and Chair, Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health and Past President of IGES was the Local Organizing Committee Chair for the 2017 event.
She says: “Choosing Cambridge as a location meant that we were able to partner with another society – the Genomics of Common Diseases – to hold a joint symposium entitled ‘Big Data Analytics for Genetics in Personalised Medicine’ at the Wellcome Genome Campus, in the time window between the GCD conference and our own meeting.
“In terms of choosing the Cambridge venue, the size of the auditorium was key. Typically we attract around 220-250 delegates to meetings outside the US and the Fitzpatrick Hall at Queens’ College was able to accommodate 250 people.
Event
“In planning this event, we used the service offered by Meet Cambridge – at the early planning stage, to find a suitable and available venue and also to source the location for our banquet conference dinner which was held at the Hall at King’s College. This was very helpful in saving us time and putting us in touch with the right people.
“Approximately half the delegates used residential accommodation at Queens’ College which worked well. We also provided details for hotels in the vicinity.
“Cambridge was definitely an attractive location for delegates. Its history and academic reputation was a draw and using a College provided a very different setting from other venues in the past.
Feedback
“The 2017 meeting was a huge success and we had excellent feedback from delegates. The Queens’ College conference team was helpful on-site and the AV technician who was present throughout ensured everything ran smoothly. To handle the conference logistics, we used an event management company which was highly professional and ensured all arrangements went to plan.”
