Welcome and thank you for joining the Society for Clinical Research Sites for SCRS Talks. I'm Jimmy Bechtel, the Vice President of Site Engagement with the Society. SCRS Talks allows our partners and those that we work closely with to take a few minutes to address issues of industry concern, share exciting achievements, and to learn more about our community. Today, we have Karri Venn and Allyson Small, part of our Summit Development Team.
Here to share some exciting updates about the upcoming 2023 Global Site Solutions Summit taking place down in Hollywood, Florida, October 6th through the 8th. Allyson and Karri, it's great to have you with us today sharing some updates and some exciting announcements related to the summit. Love to learn a little bit more about the two of you very briefly. Karri I'll start with you. A brief introduction, if you wouldn't mind.
Sure. Thank you, Jimmy. Carrie Venn. I'm currently the COO of Centricity Research. It's a site network across North America and obviously chair of this wonderful conference.
Thanks, Carrie and Allison.
Thank you, Jimmy. I am the Chief Operating Officer with the Society for Clinical Research Sites. I joined the organization soon after we launched in 2012, and I am incredibly proud to be part of SCRS contributing to the many solutions to the challenges our industry is facing. My true passion lives within the SCRS advocacy efforts, ensuring the site's voice is heard, and sites have a seat at the table and. Overseeing each site solution summit is something I take great pride in.
The summits are where the magic happens. This is where the solutions are created. And I am extremely lucky to be part of this incredible SCRS team who is dedicated and truly cares and values our mission.
Great thanks, Allison. Thanks, Carrie. Again, really excited to have this conversation with the two of you about the Global Summit, and we're gearing up. It's coming up here in just a couple of couple of months at the time of this recording, and we have a new theme this year, Ignite the Possibilities. So I'd love to hear from each of you, what does igniting the possibilities really mean when you put that in the context of events like the Global Site Solutions Summit and the work that SCRS does?
I'll start with that one. Jimmy. Our Summits are a place where industry comes together to create a beautiful burst of energy and transformation from one tiny spark. One small idea. So fireworks are a great way to represent this vision. And that's how Ignite the Possibilities came to light. Ignite the Possibilities encourages us to share and nurture ideas together. Growing them into something much bigger, growing them into collaborative solutions.
So creating beautiful fireworks, creating a place where industry can come together to bring solutions to the challenges that we face. So the more sparks, the more ideas that come together, the bigger the lasting impact. Hence how we came up to with the Ignite the Possibilities theme.
Yeah, and honestly really just resonated with me, Allison. I think what I love so much about SCRS is the fact that you can come and brainstorm and that's with various parts of this industry. I think it's the whole element of, you know, vendor to sponsor to, you know, site and we can sit there and brainstorm, share ideas, the collaboration and, really challenge everyone when they come to the conference to really take something, change something when you go home.
We are an industry that's riddled with risk. Sometimes I say dysfunction, but we really have to change and igniting the possibilities as a big theme that we have to take forward and move into this future of clinical research.
And thanks for sharing that part of that, Carrie, because SCRS does take great pride in being solution focused. I think it's, you know, important that we identify our challenges. But we're at a place where it's critical that we are talking solutions when we're coming together.
I couldn't agree more. Great sentiments to start our conversation off today and, and a really positive message for us to perpetuate as we enter summit season, global summit season here. So thank you both for providing context around what ignite the possibilities. Really means and as a lot of our previous attendees who might be listening.
Know we're always refreshing our speakers and our topics to bring you the most relevant industry leading content so that you can take this information back to your organizations and inspire change as a result of the result or ignite the possibilities within your own organization.
So Karri maybe start us off by sharing What kind of sessions can attendees expect this year and maybe a little bit about what you're most looking forward to as you've helped us develop the content for this year's conference
for sure. When we came together as a group really brainstormed wanting to make it solution focused for various parts of the business. And so if you actually take the time to go through the agenda, you can see very clear details of what department that session would be most applicable to. So whether it be Finance, regulatory, recruitment and retention. So you could certainly see all those breakout sessions stay within one theme, or you could actually bounce around to the different themes.
So it's very clear. We really looked at the hot topics. What are the current challenges? What is the information that a site needs to walk away with? And the variety of speakers, I think it's just been an incredible turnout of interest and you're going to see The facilitators and the panelists are really esteemed colleagues within this industry and bringing all walks of conversation to these challenges that we face.
Also, you know, we're bringing back something that we really valued in the beginning days, which is the TA roundtable. So having therapeutic roundtables. And strategically, they've been parked in the beginning of the conference so that you can meet people within your same, let's call it pipeline or therapeutic area of interest. So hopefully that's a way to kind of network throughout the entire conference. You know, to me, pipeline is very important.
It's what keeps us from a sustainability perspective. And so any intelligence that we can actually garner is, is something that's of high value. You'll see it kind of at the beginning. I would suggest if you're going with a group, you know, divide and conquer, make sure that you have someone representing each of those T. A. S. to get as much information as you can. And then really at the tail end of this conference, we have a really great pipeline industry trends.
update two different groups that will speak to it, someone who does market analysis as well as toughs that will come together and and present some really important data for you to know from a business perspective about where the pipeline is going. Obviously, patient voice. You know, we have two really great presentations, various different disease areas. You know, we have patient plus caregiver.
Including a pediatric one in sickle cell and the other one in ALS and really just going through their experiences with respect to the clinical trials and, and those are always very important to us. It really is why we're doing research. So always being reminded of these stories is really what inspires that kind of heart and desire to continue to, to, to work towards these you know, challenges that we face.
That's great, Carrie. I, too, am really excited for those particular sessions. But, Allison, what about you? Your perspective? Any sessions that you're looking forward to?
That's a tough one, Jimmy. I have to say that the summit planning committee was right on. I mean, putting together Such an incredible, unique agenda. It's difficult to just pick one, but I think if I had to pick a session that I'm looking forward to, it's probably the SCRS site landscape presentation. I know this is one of those sessions that is a staple in our agenda, but it is so important to our industry that we present this.
Data. It drives the direction of our advocacy efforts and our initiative work, and it's truly critical to ensure site sustainability.
That's exactly right, Allison. I think the data that comes out of the site landscape is of critical importance to the industry and advancing the work that not only the sites do from a benchmarking perspective, but also the sponsors, CROs and service providers that use some of that data for their own assessments of what they can do to help sites.
Jimmy, I have to say I have one more that I'm looking forward to and that is the site reception that takes place after the gala and that's where we celebrate the sites and this year it's sponsored by Park Cell and I know everyone's going to be excited to hear that the band Misfit Youth is back this year. I'm pretty sure that there was not an open spot on the dance floor last year. Carrie, I think you can attest to that. Oh yeah, definitely. But I am waiting for Forward to that event sites.
We have to celebrate the incredible work that sites are doing.
I'm gonna put you on the spot. Are we can actually have fireworks to ignite the possibilities.
Well,
you know, for now you'll have to, you'll have to come and find out. Now I'll say this too, also you know, obviously we have our, our dress at the gala. That's always Unique to this conference. But I do wanna you know what was made mentioned last year is that what. People loved about the SRS is how casual it was from a conference perspective.
So really want to encourage participants, that's industry as well as sites, to come, bring your flip flops, bring your beach shirts let's do this casual, let's get back to kind of where we were, what brought the uniqueness part of this conference back so just wanted to put that one out there.
Thank you both so much. I think that It's shaping up to indeed be a really special event year over year. We bringing new content and some really great things to be excited about. Allison, I want to continue with you from an SCRS leadership perspective. What will make this year's summit a little bit different from some of the other ones? Maybe talk about some of the new things. I know you alluded to some of them, but what's going to be different this year?
Well, as. Our attendees know SCRS is known for making each summit a unique experience. There is not two summits that are alike. And we really take pride in that. We take pride in ensuring that not only attendees walk away with incredible content, ideas, solutions, they make connections, but they also walk away with an experience like no other conference.
One thing that's unique about our summits is that they are all inclusive, all sessions, meals, drinks, networking events, contact hours, CMEs, the gala, slides, etc. are all included in your registration. I am going to bring up the site landscape presentation again because we are going to present this from a past, present, future perspective this year.
So not only will we be looking at present industry data that will drive the direction of our advocacy efforts and initiative work, we will also present. Past data to show the growth we have achieved and also identify areas where we still are challenged and not have made progress. We will then look at where industry needs to be with this data in the future, which. We all know this isn't critical to ensuring site sustainability.
We do have a new award this year which is the Global Site Excellence and Diversity Award which recognizes clinical research sites that exemplify their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in clinical trials. The winner, the recipient, will be announced at the gala.
And Carrie already, also already addressed the therapeutic roundtables but just to let you know this year, the therapeutic roundtables will replace workshop sessions, so there will be no additional cost for Friday sessions that is all included in the registration. And then we will also, something unique this year, is we will offer a quiet room where patients And speakers will have a space to relax, rest, absorb, look at their notes, check out the agenda, and have a place where it's quiet.
You will also see the summit theme intertwined throughout the entire summit. So a lot of unique things going on. A lot of sessions where we're just changing them a bit, but a lot of
excitement. Yeah, I'll just put a shout out to always interested to see what outfits you guys all have. That's always a fun thing to look forward to. And honestly, the exhibit hall, I think this is a pretty jammed exhibit hall this year for for you all and just great place to network. You can never forget. There's no shortage of networking at these conferences.
Great. And you are right. The Exhibit Hall is to capacity. We actually are out in the hallway this year, down the hallway, even near registration. So that's pretty exciting. And just the support from our sponsors, CRO, solution providers, sites so there'll be a lot of great conversations happening.
Exactly right. Carrie, speaking to some of those ideas, and I think Allison mentioned a lot of really great new opportunities, but what should the attendees know about the summit and do maybe before they head to the summit to be ready for some of those amazing opportunities that you and Allison have mentioned?
Absolutely. You Know, I'll kind of share some of what we do at our own organization, you know, kickoff meetings. We absolutely scour that agenda. The, if you haven't noticed already whether it's the app that you download and or on the website they have all the speakers listed. You can obviously read the bios of those particular speakers. So, you know, really making sure you have your agenda of, of what speakers you want to go to and whom you may want to.
I would suggest, you know, getting your bio already set up if you haven't already done so within the app. So those are all good kind of tips. If you're obviously going in a team, certainly divide and conquer, make sure you're spread out so that you can, you know, get as much out of this actual conference. So those are types of things that you want to do. But honestly, it's, you know, you really want to. Use this time wisely, I would suggest, and just really mark off what you want to do.
Reach out to people even before you head down to kind of set up some side conversations. The lobby is a wonderful place for those conversations to continue post sessions so I encourage you to participate as much as possible.
Excellent. I think those... Would be wonderful opportunities and great ways to maximize Those opportunities.
And actually I will add one more, Jimmy also just to remind everyone about the symposiums. I believe there's six in total this year happening between Thursday and Friday. And so if you really want to attend those, you have to register as soon as possible because I do know there's a capacity as to how many can actually go into those particular symposiums. So that's one other thing that you want to get on your agenda to complete before you head down.
And to add to that, Karri, that is a site only meeting, and to Carrie's point, They do fill up quickly. So if you haven't registered for a symposium and you are a site, don't miss out on that opportunity.
Great. Thank you both so much for those those insights there. I want to begin to wrap our conversation up and end us on a on a message of how then now that we've moved through what to look forward to and what's going to make this summit different. What can they do then to maximize their experience at that summit? Thank you.
I mean, honestly, I think the key is that don't be afraid to speak up, share your ideas. This gets to the ignite the possibilities. If you're not obviously sharing a solution, then that solution will never be thought of. So don't be afraid. Don't be shy. Definitely get out of your comfort zone, make the effort to introduce yourself. Those are all important. So we have the new reception, international reception as a, an opportunity to also kind of meet and greet people. So we've.
Try to really create kind of those opportunities for people to network, whether it be those roundtables. You know, this is about sharing. I mean, I think again, you can go to a typical conference and listen to some present, but half the time the value is what others are sharing and so really trying to embrace some of those situations where people will teach each other. You'll learn from one another and and you know, those are the types of sessions I would encourage you to participate in.
And to add, do you have any thoughts?
Yeah, yes, absolutely. I just want to remind everyone that the SCRS team is here for you, leading up to the meeting, throughout the meeting. Don't hesitate to ask questions and help. We can help bridge those introductions. We are here to ensure you make the most of your meeting and walk away with solutions, new connections, and an incredible energy and celebrate. The work you are doing
excellent message to end things on Allison. Carrie. Thank you both so much for sharing the insights and giving us all a little sneak peek and a preview about what's going to be different at this summit. A little bit about the theme and some of the sessions that we as attendees can look forward to. So thank you again for your time today and previewing the 2023 global site solutions summit with us.
Thank you. Thank you, Jimmy. Thank you, Carrie.
For everyone listening, make sure that you register for upcoming summits like the Global Site Solutions Summit, October 6th through 8th, 2023, down in Hollywood, Florida, as well as other ones being held throughout the year by visiting the summit page on our website, myscrs. org. While you're on our website, be sure to also check out other resources and publications built for the research site community in the publications section of that same website.
We appreciate your listening and participation in today's program and look forward to having you join us for more great content coming out very soon. Thanks for listening.